Sándor Kocsis

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Sándor Kocsis
Personal information
Full name Sándor Kocsis Peter
Date of birth September 21 1929
Place of birth Budapest, Hungary
Position Forward
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
1943-44
1945-50
1950
1950-57
1957-58
1958-65
1961		 Kobanyai TC
Ferencváros TC
ÉDOSZ
Honvéd
Young Fellows Zürich
CF Barcelona
Valencia CF		 X (X)
X (X)
X (X)
X(X)
X(X)
75 (42)
X (X)
National team**
1948-56 Hungary 68 (75)
Teams managed
1972-74 Hercules CF

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of August 25 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of August 25 2006.

Sándor Kocsis Peter (born Budapest, Hungary, September 21, 1929; died Barcelona, July 22, 1979), also referred to as Kocsis Sándor, was a Hungarian footballer who played for Ferencváros TC, Budapest Honvéd, Young Fellows Zürich, CF Barcelona and Hungary. During the 1950s, along with Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti, he was one of the legendary Mighty Magyars. After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution he moved to Spain where he became a prominent member of the successful CF Barcelona team of the late 1950s. In 1961 he also played as a guest for Valencia CF and helped them win their own summer trophy, the Trofeo Naranja. He scored in both games as Valencia beat Botafogo and FC Barcelona.

Nicknamed Golden Head, Kocsis was a prolific goalscorer for both Budapest Honvéd and Hungary. While playing for Honvéd, he was the top goal scorer in any European league in both 1952 and 1954. He also scored 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary. This included a record seven hat tricks. 11 of these goals and two of these hat tricks were scored at the 1954 World Cup. He became the first player ever to score two hat tricks in a World Cup and finished the tournament as top scorer. Only Just Fontaine has scored more goals in a World Cup.

Kocsis retired as a player in 1965 and opened a restaurant in Barcelona called Tete D’ Or. He also worked as a coach with CF Barcelona and managed Hercules CF between 1972 and 1974. However his coaching career was cut short when he was diagnosed with leukemia and then stomach cancer. On July 22 1979, aged 49, he fell to his death from the fourth floor of a hospital in Barcelona. He allegedly committed suicide although it may have been an accident.

Contents

[edit] European Top Goalscorer

Kocsis began his career as a junior with Kobanyai TC before joining Ferencváros TC where he won his first Hungarian League title in 1949. He then had a spell at ÉDOSZ before joining Honvéd in 1950. His team mates at Honvéd included Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor and József Bozsik. During his time at the club he won three more Hungarian League titles in 1952, 1954 and 1955. He finished as top goalscorer in the league on three occasions in 1951, 1952 and 1954 scoring 30, 36 and 33 goals respectively. On the latter two occasions he was also the top goalscorer in any European league.

[edit] Mighty Magyars

Kocsis made his debut for the senior Hungary team in 1948. Together with Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti, he formed the nucleus of the legendary team that went unbeaten for an incredible 32 consecutive games. This record still stands today. On November 20 1949 he scored his first international hat trick in a game against Sweden and he scored a further one on June 22 1952 against Finland. Kocsis also scored six goals at the Olympics in Helsinki as Hungary became Olympic Champions in 1952. On October 19 1952 he scored his third international hat trick in a game against Czechoslovakia.

Kocsis and friends also twice gave England a footballing lesson. In 1953 they stunned England with a 6-3 win at Wembley Stadium and then in 1954 they gave them a 7-1 hammering in Budapest. During the latter game Kocsis added a further two goals to his increasingly impressive talent. In 1953 Hungary also won the Dr. Gerő Cup, a nations cup for Central European teams.

[edit] 1954 World Cup

Although the 1954 World Cup would end in disappointment for Hungary, it was a personal success for Kocsis. He finished the competition as top goalscorer, scoring 11 goals and two hat tricks. In the opening game he scored his first hat trick of the tournament against South Korea as Hungary cruised to a 9-0 win. In the next game against West Germany, he went one further and scored four of the goals in an 8-3 win. In the quarter-finals Hungary played Brazil, in a game infamously referred to as the Battle of Berne, Kocsis scored twice in a bruising encounter which saw Hungary win 4-2. Hungary then reached the final after they defeated reigning World champions Uruguay in the semi-finals. The game was 2-2 in extra time until Kocsis scored twice to seal another 4-2 win. In the final they met West Germany once again. However for the first time in the competition Kocsis failed to score and the Germans won 3-2.

On October 24 1954 he scored his sixth international hat trick and second against Czechoslovakia. He completed his seventh and last hat trick for Hungary on November 5 1955 in a game against the same opponents, Sweden, that he had scored his first.

[edit] Honvéd World Tour

In 1956 Honvéd entered the European Cup and in the first round they were drawn against Atlético Bilbao. Honvéd lost the away leg 2-3, but before the home leg could be played, the Hungarian Revolution had erupted back in Budapest. The players decided against going back to Hungary and arranged for the return with Atlético to be played at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. Despite drawing 3-3 they went out on 6-5 on aggregate.

Elimination left Honvéd in limbo. The players summoned their families from Budapest and, despite opposition from FIFA and the Hungarian football authorities, they organised a fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal, Spain and Brazil. After returning to Europe, the players parted ways. Some, including Bozsik, returned to Hungary while others, including Czibor, Kocsis and Puskás, found new clubs in Western Europe.

[edit] CF Barcelona

Kocsis spent one season with Young Fellows Zürich before another Hungarian refugee, Ladislao Kubala, persuaded him and Zoltán Czibor to join him at CF Barcelona. He subsequently scored on his La Liga debut in a 4-1 win over Real Betis and as part of a legendary team that also included Ramallets, Evaristo and Luis Suárez, Kocsis won a Copa del Generalísimo/La Liga double in 1959 and a La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. CF Barcelona also reached the final of the European Cup in 1961 and this saw Czibor and Kocsis return to the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, where in in 1954, while playing for Hungary, they had lost the World Cup Final. Despite both of them scoring, they finished on the losing side once again. They also lost by the same 3-2 score again, this time to SL Benfica.

Although no longer the prolific goalscorer he was in his earlier career, Kocsis still proved a useful player for CF Barcelona. He scored twice in the 1959 Copa del Generalísimo final as CF Barcelona defeated Granada CF 4-1. In the 1960 European Cup he scored four of the goals in a 5-2 quarter-final win over Wolves. He also scored a hat trick against Real Sociedad in a La Liga game in 1961 and scored all three goals in the 1962 Fairs Cup final that they lost to Valencia CF 7-3 on aggregate. Kocsis also scored in the 1963 Copa del Generalísimo final as it made a rare visit to the Camp Nou. CF Barcelona beat Real Zaragoza 3-1.

[edit] Honours

Olympic medal record
Competitor for Flag of Hungary Hungary
Men's Football
Gold 1952 Helsinki Team competition

Hungary

Ferencváros TC

Honvéd FC

CF Barcelona

Valencia CF

  • Trofero Naranja
    • 1961
Preceded by
Ademir		 FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe
1954		 Succeeded by
Just Fontaine

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Golden Team

Gyula Grosics • Jenő Buzánszky • Gyula Lóránt • Mihály Lantos • József Bozsik • József Zakariás • László Budai • Sándor Kocsis • Nándor Hidegkuti • Ferenc Puskás • Zoltán Czibor • Coach: Gusztáv Sebes

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