SANDOR KOCSIS

Sándor Péter Kocsis (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈʃaːndor ˈpeːtɛr ˈkot͡ʃiʃ]; 21 September 1929 – 22 July 1979) was a Hungarian footballer who played for Ferencváros TC, Budapest Honvéd, Young Fellows Zürich, FC Barcelona and Hungary as a striker. During the 1950s, along with Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti, he was a member of the Mighty Magyars. Kocsis was one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time (His 1.103 goals/game average is ranked No.1 for players past 43 caps in FIFA class-A competition) due to his unpredictable movement off the ball, excellent timing of runs, ambidextrous, agile and an composed as it gets in front of goal. Furthermore, despite being short of stature, he possessed prodigious aerial ability and was nicknamed 'Golden Head'. His link up play was also ahead of its time, with Kocsis dropping deep and being comfortable across the pitch, interchanging with his fellow forwards.

Ferencváros TC was where he won his first Hungarian League title in 1949. He was then conscripted into the army and joined the army club, Honvéd. 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. During the 1952 season at Honvéd, Kocsis was the world's top goalscorer in world 1st division football with 36 goals. He repeated that feat in 1954 with 33 goals. During the 1956 European Cup, Honved faced Athletic Bilbao in the first round over two legs, after the first leg in Spain, the Hungarian revolution broke out. Many Honved players didn't want to return to their home nation, and took the opportunity to find new clubs in Western Europe.

Kocsis spent one season with Young Fellows Zürich before another Hungarian refugee, László Kubala, persuaded him and Zoltán Czibor to join him at FC Barcelona. Kocsis won a Copa del Generalísimo/La Liga double in 1959 and a La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. FC Barcelona also reached the final of the European Cup in 1961 where they lost 3–2 to S.L. Benfica. in the 1962 Fairs Cup final Barcelona lost to Valencia CF 7–3 on aggregate despite Kocsis scoring a hat trick. Kocsis also scored in the 1963 Copa del Generalísimo final held at the Camp Nou. FC Barcelona beat Real Zaragoza 3–1. Kocsis retired as a player in 1966.

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 offensive nucleus of the Golden Team that went unbeaten for 32 consecutive games. Kocsis scored six goals at the Olympics in Helsinki as Hungary became Olympic Champions in 1952. In 1953, Hungary defeated England 6–3 at Wembley Stadium and then in 1954 by 7–1 in Budapest. During the latter game, Kocsis added a further two goals. In 1953 Hungary also won the Central European International Cup.He finished the 1954 World Cup as top goalscorer, scoring 11 goals including two hat tricks helping Hungary to storm to the final. In the final they met Germany. However, for the first time in the competition Kocsis failed to score and the Germans won 3–2. He was to never feature in a major international tournament again.