Sándor Kocsis

Sándor Kocsis Peter was born in Budapest, Hungary, on September 21, 1929. Also referred to as Kocsis Sándor, he was a Hungarian footballer who played for Ferencváros TC, Budapest Honvéd, Young Fellows Zürich, CF Barcelona and Hungary. Along with Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti, he was one of the legendary Mighty Magyars. After the Hungarian Revolution he moved to Spain and played for the CF Barcelona team of the late 1950s.

Kocsis, nicknamed Golden Head, was an inexhaustible goal scorer for Budapest Honvéd and Hungary. While playing for Honvéd, he became the top scorer in any European league in both 1952 and 1954. He scored 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary. This included a record seven hat tricks. He became the first player ever to score two hat tricks in a World Cup and became that 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 coached for CF Barcelona and managed Hercules CF between 1972 and 1974. After being diagnosed with leukemia and then stomach cancer, he had to end his coaching career. On July 22, 1979, by the age of 49 Kocsis fell to his death from the fourth floor of a hospital in Barcelona. It is still unclear if it was an accident or suicide.