Emilio "Emili" Sagi Liñán (15 March 1900 – 25 May 1951), was a footballer who played as a forward for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. Born in Argentina, he played for the Catalan XI and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

national teams during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the son of Emilio Sagi Barba, the Catalan

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

singer, and Concepción Liñán Pelegrí, a dancer, and as a result, was widely referred to as Sagi-Barba (father's surnames together in a single surname). During his playing career he played 455 games and scored 134 goals for

and is best remembered for forming a successful partnership with Paulino Alcántara. Together with

Josep Samitier Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI, and Spain. He later ...

Ricardo Zamora Ricardo Zamora Martínez (; 21 January 1901 – 8 September 1978) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for Spain. As a man ...

, Félix Sesúmaga and, later, Franz Platko they were prominent members of the successful FC Barcelona team coached by Jack Greenwell. His younger brother, Luís Sagi Vela, followed in his father's footsteps and also became a successful

singer. His son, Victor Sagi, later ran one of the biggest advertising agencies in

and in 1978 announced his candidacy for the presidency of

, but withdrew before the election was held.

Early life

Sagi-Barba was born in Bolívar,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina, where his father regularly toured and performed, but returned to

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

when he was three. He was educated at the Colegio Condal and Colegio Bonanova and his childhood friends included

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

and

. During holidays at the Catalan resort of Cadaqués, the trio played football together. He also played football at school and as a junior with FC Catalònia, before joining

in 1915.

FC Barcelona

In 1917, as a 17-year-old, Sagi-Barba made his senior debut with

and during the 1918–19 season he helped the team win the Championat de Catalunya. In 1919 he left

to study in

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

. After getting married, he briefly retired from the game. However, in 1922 he rejoined

and embarked on a successful career which saw him win ten ''Championats de Catalunya'', four

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

and the inaugural

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

International career

Between 1922 and 1936 Sagi-Barba played at least 15 games and scored at least 5 goals for the Catalan XI. However, records from the era do not always include accurate statistics and he may have played and scored more. Together with Paulino Alcántara,

and

he helped the Catalan XI win an inter-regional competition, the Prince of Asturias Cup, twice during the 1920s. In the 1924 final, he scored a late equalizer in extra-time to salvage a 4–4 draw and force a replay, in which he helped the Catalan XI win 3–2. He also played once for

, in a 4–2 win over

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

in 1926.

Honours

Barcelona * Spanish League:

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

* Spanish Cup:

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

* Catalan Champions: 1918–19, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32 Catalan XI * Prince of Asturias Cup: 1923–24,

References

External links