Hungary clinch the Central European International Cup when he played in a 3–0 win against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico. Although teammates at MTK, Palotás and Nándor Hidegkuti were rivals for a place in the national side. By 1953 Hidegkuti had established himself as the first-choice deep-lying centre-forward for Hungary and as a result Palotás missed out on the two prestige friendlies against England. He travelled to England for the first game but remained on the bench. Despite this setback he continued to play regularly for Hungary until 1956. During the 1954 FIFA World Cup he scored twice in the group stage 9–0 win against South Korea and also played in the semi-final against Uruguay. On 19 May 1955 he scored a hat-trick against Finland before playing his last game for Hungary on 9 June 1956 against Portugal. Honours Club MTK Budapest FC Hungarian League: 1951, 1953, 1958 Hungarian Cup: 1952 Mitropa Cup: 1955 International Hungary Olympic Champions: 1952 Central European Champions: 1953 World Cup Runner-up: 1954 Individual Hungarian Football Federation Player of the Year: 1951 References Sources Behind The Curtain - Travels in Eastern European Football: Jonathan Wilson (2006) External links Article at www.uefa.com Hungary stats European Cup 1955–56 1929 births 1967 deaths Footballers from Budapest Hungarian footballers MTK Budapest FC players Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary 1954 FIFA World Cup players Hungary international footballers Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Association football forwards