SINDELAR AND HIS EXPERIENCE IN BUDAPEST
— Frigyes Becske | 03/04/1934 —

We spoke to Sindelar on Monday night at the Eastern Railway Station. The Austrian wonder centre-forward, who is a sports goods trader in his private life, is delighted that his own 'no-snitch' balls will be tested by MLSZ and has already taken two samples from Sindelar, who is no slouch in the trade, in Budapest. This is how the Austrian footballer, who is a favourite with the Austrians, talks about his experiences in Budapest:

Sindelar: Austrian football has such a well-established reputation today that after the results of the Húsvéti Torna, the foreign and Viennese football public will describe the Hungarian victories in a goal-zauber as an April Fool's joke. But between evenly matched opponents — if one of them is particularly lucky — such goal-scoring results are easy to achieve. There is the case of Aston Villa, who were beaten 6-1 by the same Manchester City, who were beaten 9-2 by Wolverhampton Wanderers. But even beyond the results, it must be acknowledged that the tournament victories of the Hungarian teams, even if exaggerated, were realistic. And it is also quite possible that on 15 April the newspapers will report another Austrian success, because it is different playing in Budapest than away. The best performances of the tournament came from the Ferencváros forward line. But it is worth considering that without Sárosi, even the Ferencváros attack would lose its formidable scoring power, because the new Hungarian attacking tactics are generally not yet fully developed. But in this area, too, I have seen a big improvement compared to the past few years.

» The first prerequisite for effective football is scoring goals, not W-formation destructive work — the offensive spirit, i.e. a constructive style of play. This is what appeals to the public, it is what recruits followers to football and the Húsvéti Torna produced great sport because the participating teams, correctly grasping the spirit of the game of football, strove for positive results. Weak defences made the strikers' job easier all along the line, with the possible exception of Hungaria, but this circumstance also benefited the crowd, who saw a variety of goals fly into the net. I don't think Ferencváros could have played better football than they did in this tournament and Hungária did their best on Monday, but we — F.K. Austria — were doomed to a modest performance in advance, given our injuries and reserves. Rapid played very well and really have no reason to be ashamed. The fact that Hungarian football is strong today is proven by the criticisms, in which the press does not overestimate the value of victories, but objectively points out the mistakes and the qualities of the opponent. With this attitude, there can be no bitter disappointment for the Hungarian sporting community, which has only just become aware of the strength of Hungarian football and will be able to take comfort in the knowledge that it will be easier in the future to take comfort from the occasional footballing flop.

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See also: Column #33
See also: Húsvéti Torna 1934
See also: Matthias Sindelar - Húsvéti Torna 1934