Ferenc Sas (16 August 1915 – 3 September 1988), born as Ferenc Sohn, in Argentina known as Francisco "Sas" Sohn, was a Hungarian football player. With the

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

he played in the final of the World Cup 1938. With Hungária MTK FC and CA Boca Juniors he won national championships.

Life

Ferenc Sas was born as the son of Leopold, who fell in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and Roza Sohn. His parents were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He later hungarised his name, selecting "Sas", the Hungarian word for "Eagle", in order to get easier access to the Hungarian national team. The right winger debuted in 1934 with Hungária FC, today's

MTK Budapest Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre is a multi-sports club from Budapest, founded in 1888. It has sections for football, handball, basketball, volleyball, futsal, ice hockey, water polo, cycling, gymnastics, athletics, fencing, canoeing, boxing, wrestlin ...

. He impressed with his speed and technical abilities, one-on-ones were not his strength. He played in the front row alongside

Pál Titkos Pál Titkos (8 January 1908 – 8 October 1988) was a Hungarian footballer. He played for MTK Hungária FC and the Hungary national football team. He scored two goals in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, including one in the final itself. He coached ...

and the Austrian Heinrich "Wudi" Müller in the team coached by Alfréd Schaffer that won the Hungarian Championships of 1936 and 1937. In April 1936 Sas played for the first time for the national team, alongside Jenö Vincze on the right outfield, defeating Austria 5–3. A few days later in a match against Ireland he scores his first goal for the Magyars. Sas remained part of the Hungarian standard formation for the next two years. In 1937 he was part of a Central-European selection that played in Amsterdam against a Western-European XI. In this match, which was organised by FIFA, he contributed with assists from

György Sárosi György Sárosi (; 5 August 1912 – 20 June 1993) was a Hungarian footballer. Sárosi was a complete footballer renowned for his versatility and technique among other things, and he played in several positions for Ferencváros and the Hungary ...

and Italy's

Silvio Piola Silvio Piola (; 29 September 1913 – 4 October 1996) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He is known as a highly prominent figure in the history of Italian football due to several records he set, and he is regarded as one of th ...

two goals to the 3:1 victory of his side. In 1938 he participated with Hungary at the World Cup in France. After 6-0 and 2-0 wins against Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia) and Switzerland, Hungary, coached by Alfréd Schaffer, defeated Sweden in the semi-final 5–1. Despite of the support of the majority of the crowd, in the final Hungary had little chance against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, led by

Giuseppe Meazza Giuseppe "Peppino" Meazza (; 23 August 1910 – 21 August 1979), also known as il Balilla, was an Italian football manager and player. Throughout his career, he played mainly for Inter Milan in the 1930s, scoring 242 goals in 365 games for the ...

and Silvio Piola, arguably two of the greatest players of the era, and lost 2–4. After the World Cup he migrated to Argentina. In December 1938 he debuted in a friendly for CA Boca Juniors. In the ensuing season he played 24 matches for the Juniors, scoring 9 goals, sharing the club's top scorer honours with two other players. The following season, he won the championship of Argentina. Sas, now called Francisco Sohn, however faced strong competition within the team and only played four league matches in that season. A friendly in March 1941 was his last match for Boca Juniors. From the beginning of 1943 he played for three seasons in the second division with

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

. There he scored 12 goals in 72 matches. He continued to play at amateur level with ''Macabi'', where he also coached. He also coached at the ''Colegio David Wolfsohn''. In Argentina he married his fiancé who followed him from Hungary with whom he shared a son and three grandchildren. In later years he worked for the renown clothing store ''Raitor'', cinemas and a jeweller's store.

References

External links

*
Ferenc Sas (Sohn)
', EU-Football (List of international matches of Ferenc Sas) *
Sas, Ferenc Sohn - Trayectoria y Biobrafia
'', Historia de Boca, (all matches of Ferenc Sohn Sas for CABJ) * Javier Roimiser:

', Te Acordás Bicho?, 14.9.2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sas, Ferenc 1915 births 1988 deaths Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's international footballers Footballers from Budapest Jewish men's footballers Jewish Hungarian sportspeople MTK Budapest FC players Boca Juniors footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Argentine Primera División players Hungarian football managers Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina 1938 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football midfielders Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina