HÚSVÉTI TORNA REVIEW
— Unknown | 04/04/1934 —

Next up for reflection — the Ferencváros-Austria match... with 8 goals (six of them Hungarian and two Sindelar's masterpiece)... and all hopes were fulfilled. The first half of this match brought back memories of the most glorious Hungarian triumphs. Ferencváros, playing at their best, showed football at its best to 20.000 football fans and the four unanswered Hungarian goals of the first half took the most stubborn souls step by step to the heights of the greatest ecstasy. Sárosi's 16-metre shot from the goalpost was applauded, Székely's shot was also a hit, but the third goal, the lightning action of Sárosi and young Rátkai, and Sárosi's bomb with his head at the end, got the crowd going. It was a wonderful sight to see the crowd in ecstatic protest, bringing back to the arena the atmosphere of the big games of the peace era. In this atmosphere, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Sarossi would score another header. The grand Blackburn defeat, the 7:1 victory over the Italians, was already being talked about in the stands, the most glorious milestones in the recent history of Hungarian football.

Then... Sindelar's team also showed what they can do. After Sindelar's two productions, football fans clicked their tongues. This Ferencváros-Austria match perfectly justified the spirit of the Húsvéti Torna. This in itself did more to regain the honor of Hungarian football than all the managerial skills of recent years.

The other event on Sunday was already a strong slowdown compared to the opening. Hungária's team, made up of many youngsters of moderate ability, could not be captivated even by an atmosphere so well-suited to producing great performances. Hungária's performance on Sunday strongly kicked them out of the Húsvéti Torna, and it could not encourage Rapid to make a serious effort either.

WHAT DID WE SEE ON MONDAY?

Admittedly, we could not imagine that the performances on Sunday could be even better. We could imagine Hungária fighting with more honour and less grief to bury their heads under the axe of the Viennese once again, but we could not even realistically expect a repeat of Ferencváros' great performance on Sunday. After all, on Sunday the Hungarian green and white team must have been more rested and fresher than the next day with 90 minutes under their belt, and the opponents were more united and combative than the day before, and on the first day they had a much easier task than Ferencváros, who played a half of the game in full flow.

But it was as if the good Lord and our valiant playing staff wanted to compensate us for the failings that our football administrators have caused over the years to the expert public, who are eager to see good international football.

Already, Hungária, which had a bad performance on Sunday, has already cooked those who buried it in advance against Sindelar. Six Hungária goals are also an event in league matches these days, even against Austria, the winner of the Mitropa Cup. This result should not be considered realistic for a moment, but in any case, we should be happy that this Húsvéti Torna football venture had salutary effects so quickly. Because it cannot be disputed that many of Hungária's green-eared players endured the oppressive atmosphere of the international match incomparably better on Monday. No miracle happened, Hungária didn't become a good team all of a sudden, but this time most of the blue and white players got rid of the ball with a thought earlier, they already tried to run to the hole like Sindelar and fought their way through. And so that we don't forget, Titkos, the ever-increasing force of the blue-white forward line, started again, even if a little limping... Hungária still fought with many mistakes, but honestly and bravely was not unfaithful neither to him. As they say, "everything worked out"... The audience, the good audience, was happy to see half a dozen Hungária goals and forgave the blue and whites a lot — for the sins of the previous day.

— Was it the first game that brought the sensations today? — people wondered between the two games on Monday. Because what sensation could come after such a Hungária victory?...

But Ferencváros didn't let their fans down today, beating all expectations and delivering one of the finest games in their glorious history, and one of the finest victories in their history. Ferencváros's forward line reached magnificent heights in this match and the world-famous Kaburek-Bican-Binder trio were second only to the Ferencváros ball-wizards. Today, as on the first day, Sárosi was the brains, the soul, the instigator and most of the time the finisher of the Ferencváros attacks and the green and white forward line, flying on wings, led such sumptuous attacks, scored such wonderful goals that after the last whistle there could not be an unsatisfied Hungarian in the spectators' gallery, however fastidious his taste.

The performances of Sárosi and his magnificent forward line, who stepped into the corner, can only be described in the highest terms. But the cover line also deserves and gets a share of the credit for the success. It is in this difficult atmosphere that Móré's abilities really begin to unfold, and with the two most important points of the team, his axes, properly filled, Ferencváros have endured the weakness and unreliability of their two full-backs, even against the big opponents. The youngsters in the forward line have also improved magnificently from one game to the next, and with the prospect of a strengthening of the defence to come, you have to believe that this great team is on the road to world class again.

Because the opponent was great. Rapid entered the game in a completely different way, they attacked with a completely different momentum than the first day, and no matter how decisively Ferencváros tried to win, Rapid was able to open up the fight in every phase of the game, was able to threaten and create goals, but — Ferencváros gave away two goals, and even this pride of Austrian football could not keep up with them in this match.

FERENCVÁROS F.C.

We must begin our detailed criticism by praising Ferencváros and Sárosi. What this fine crop of Hungarian hummus produced in these two games deserves to be written in the most beautiful pages of football history, alongside the greatest footballers. Orth, the greatest Hungarian footballer of all time, came to our minds on Easter two days, as the many new colours and triumphs of this wonderfully versatile talent unfolded before our eyes, which we had perhaps never even imagined or doubted before.

Yes, dear captain Nádas, let's throw ashes on our heads and admit that the best centre-half in the world has become such an excellent centre-forward that Sindelar, one of the greatest centre-forwards in the world, has paled in comparison.

Sárosi, Sárosi, Sárosi... this young boy was the hero of the Húsvéti Torna, scorer of nine goals in two games and contributor of another six. This great achievement must be appreciated and if only a decent centre-half is offered to succeed Sárosi in the national team, then — with a modern revision of old views — Gyurka Sárosi should be retained as a goal-scorer.

And it should be mentioned here that János Móré is also starting to prove his worth to those who trust him. He has played two games in two consecutive days without making a mistake, taking only a short five-minute rest, but then many national team centre-halves (to mention only the most recent ones: Kompoti and Bukovai) have done that before him. His perfect ball handling was impressive, he passed the ball accurately, especially as it should be: forward and at the end of the game he had the power to send the ball out to the wing with a nice long kick.

Sárosi and Móré, the two wing-backs, were the team's two most solid supporting pillars. Lázár's carelessness annoyed me a few times this time too, but his skill makes up for a lot, and his speed and stamina make up for a lot. Lyka was the epitome of reliability, he sticks to the ball like his other teammates and there is no excuse for his long, accurate passes.

Along with Sárosi, the other three centre-forwards of the tournament also produced a flashy, useful and fast building game, we saw little of Takács II., because his appearance was reduced to a quarter of an hour due to injury, but during that time he showed that his strengths (accurate ball handling, shooting) can be counted on today. Székely is a skilful substitute, who, although he is in poor physical condition, is a poor runner and has a weak heart, but he is impeccable with the ball, passes cleverly and dares to shoot. We almost have to admire Toldi's development in the field. We kept saying that Toldi can indeed be taught to handle the ball, to stop, and now they have finally solved this task, which had been classified as impossible. Toldi became a player who plays smoothly in the field, who seems to have forgotten his shooting skills... but with his bombs and miracle goal on Monday, he also changed our relevant opinion to a favorable one.

The two wingers also grew up to play well inside. Kemény is over his decline period, as if he has improved in sprinting and his old virtues (ball technique, serving) are unchanged. Maybe he needs to improve in shooting. The big gain of the tournament is the amateur Rátkai. This cheeky little boy arrived in one or two. He is fast, tough, centers magnificently and shoots so bravely that we just stared.

The two bearish full-backs had no particular difficulty behind the good half-backs, but they could not impress. If Polgár's speed could be combined with Papp's kicking technique and coolness, and a bit of agility could be added from somewhere, then Ferencváros would have full-backs worthy of the rest of the team. Because in goal, Háda has proved himself to be the best Hungarian goalkeeper this tournament.

HUNGÁRIA F.C.

Hungária's performance was generally only at an acceptable level. On the first day, besides old Mándi, we didn't get any performance from anyone, not even a performance that would have hit this modest level. On the second day, Titkos' lineup brought up Cseh, Dudás, and even the annoyingly slow, terrible late-passing Kardos. Kis also improved, Kocsis, who replaced Mándi, and the Egri—Sebes duo also fought well, but the latter pair mainly limited themselves to defense. Sebes devoted all his ambitions to the capture of Sindelar, and his merits here are undoubted, but he could have been in a good position sometimes. Klamár's substitution cannot be said to have been successful, which is not surprising (Rátkai's case is something to be admired). In any case, he has more imagination than Szegő. Magyar did not show much.

Szabó, the national team's goalkeeper, is particularly classy in the blue-white team. His performance on the first day was not convincing, but even then, on the second day, he repeatedly showed his courage, his quick and decisive action and that his ball handling could be a little more sure.

Hungária's second place looks a bit funny after the course of the tournament, but even if it is not quite realistic, it is in any case an encouragement and a promise for the long-awaited and well-deserved better next year. However, the great enthusiasm shown by the blue and whites on the second day was certainly a valuable factor in the secret of Hungária's success on Monday.

S.K. RAPID

Our old, dreaded opponents, the green and white team from Vienna, Rapid, could hardly have imagined, after Sunday's easy win, that they would conceed nine goals on their second day. No Easter is the same, you might have thought, for this team is the great Rapid, the worthy successor to the Kuthans and Brandstetters: a superbly balanced, hardy side today.

Scoring five goals against Ferencváros: no small feat, and the famous Rapid inside trio proved their reputation. Their game is not as colorful as Sindelar's, but they attack the goal with a frightening sense of purpose and can shoot very well. We didn't like Bican, the famous centre-forward, as much as the two insiders. Kaburek took on a particularly big job in the field, but on the first day he also gave a serious sign of his ability to manage in the centre-forward position. Binder is the Vienna tank. His goals rivaled those of the Hungarian bombers. Even the wingers know. Especially Ostermann, but neither does Skoumal seem to have moved forward from the half-back line. Weselik is old.

Smistik is an old acquaintance of ours in the half-back line. He's still a pillar of his team, but little Wagner can do more than him. Wagner was replaced on Monday by Fiala and Pesser is now behind. Jestrab is the more cautious of the hard tackles. Raftl is a superb goalkeeper. He's been in on a goal or two, but that happens in nine. He also made some great saves. It was bad luck to face such a Ferencváros.

F.K. AUSTRIA

It is a strange twist of fate that Mitropa Cup winner F.K. Austria finished last. Yet at the beginning of the first day, against Ferencváros, we could understand the great success of the purple team. There are a lot of injured players in the team now, and it has really affected their performance.

However, there is a lot of footballing talent in this team, and Sindelar, one of the tournament's greatest sensations, was there. We can't agree with captain Hugo Meisl on the basic lessons of Húsvéti Torna: we shouldn't ignore Sindelar for Bican's sake. After all, there are few men who can create situations as easily, shoot with as much position and power as he can. It's hard to put him in the same league as Sárosi. One is different from the other. We like Sárosi better, but F.K. Austria's three goals were three Sindelar masterpieces, which deservedly rank among the best performances of the tournament. And if Sindelar were ours, we'd be satisfied with Sárosi's centre-half play. 

Besides Sindelar, the best cluster includes Viertl, who reminds me of Markos, the youngStroh, Nausch, Najemnik, who is also admired in England, but the full-backs are pretty poor and the reserve goalkeeper has not done his team any credit. Mock was able to impress even when injured until he was permanently disabled, but Gall is no longer the same, along with Molzer. Youngsters cannot replace ageing greats.

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See also: Column #33
See also: Húsvéti Torna 1934
See also: Sindelar: Húsvéti Torna 1934
See also: Becske: Interviews regarding Húsvéti Torna 1934
See also: Dr. György Sárosi - Húsveti Torna 1934
See also: Matthias Sindelar - Húsveti Torna 1934
See also: Josef Bican - Húsveti Torna 1934
See also: Nádas and Fabián: Húsvéti Torna 1934