BUDAPEST: Jozsef Verebes, former coach of Gyor and then Hungary, has aged 74 after battling lung disease.

Verebes made his name at Gyor between 1981-1986 and then again in 1993-1994. They won league titles in 1982 and 1983 to make them the first club outside Budapest to successfully defend their crown in the top flight.

He also worked as coach at Videoton, Kispest-Honved, Vasas Budapest, Diosgyori FC, Szeged and MTK Budapest, where he won the league in his first season in 1987.

Verebes became national team coach in 1987 for four games and later between September 1993 and June 1994. He was voted manager of the season in 1982, and in 2007 he awarded the Hungary’s Knight’s Cross.

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