Ferenc Sas

Ferenc Sas - born as Ferenc Sohn, in Argentina known as Francisco "Sas" Sohn - (16 August 1915 in Budapest - 3 September 1988 in Buenos Aires) was a Hungarian football player. With the Hungary he played in the final of the World Cup 1938. With Hungária MTK FC and CA Boca Juniors he won national championships.

Life

Hungarian national team with Ferenc Sas (right)
(image from his estate)

Boca Juniors, champions 1940 back: Ibáñez, Lazzatti, Angeletti, Valussi, Estrada, General Viana centre: Sobral (trainer), Marante, Arcadio López, Carniglia, Francisco Sohn "Sas", Arico Suárez front: Tenorio, Alarcón, Sarlanga, Gandulla, Emeal

Ferenc Sas was born as the son of Leopold, who fell in world War I, and Roza Sohn. He later hungarised his name, selecting "Sas", the Hungarian word for "Eagle", in order to get easier access to the Hungarian national football team.

The right winger debuted in 1934 with Hungária FC, today's MTK Budapest. He impressed with his speed and technical abilities, one-on-ones were not his strength. He played in the front row alongside Pál Titkos 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 and Italy's Silvio Piola two goals to the 3:1 victory of his side.

In 1938 he participated with Hungary at the World Cup in Italy. After 6-0 and 2-0 wins against Dutch India (today's Indonesia) and Switzerland, Hungary, coached by Alfréd Schaffer, defeated Sweden in the semi-final 5-1, Sas scoring the 2-1 lead. Despite of the support of the majority of the crowd, in the final Hungary had little chance against Italy led by Giuseppe Meazza 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 won the championship of Argentina. Sas, now called Francisco Sohn, however faced strong competition within the team and only played for 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. 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 fiance who followed him from Hungary with whom he had a son and three grandchildren. In later years he worked for the renown clothing store Raitor, cinemas and a jeweller's store.

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: Un Húngaro en Argentinos Juniors, Te Acordás Bicho?, 14.9.2010