Gyula Zsengellér (27 December 1915 – 29 March 1999) was a Hungarian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who played as a striker. A legend of

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

, he is most famous for his part in taking the Hungary national team to the

1938 World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the 3rd edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beating Hungar ...

Final. He was that tournament's second-highest scorer, behind

Leonidas Leonidas I (; , ''Leōnídas''; born ; died 11 August 480 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. He was the son of king Anaxandridas II and the 17th king of the Agiad dynasty, a Spartan royal house which claimed descent fro ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. His first international cap came on 2 December 1936, when Hungary lost 6–2 to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In total, he gained 39 caps for his country, scoring 33 goals. This makes him the eighth-highest goalscorer of all-time for the Hungary national side. Zsengellér also played 325 games in the Hungarian league and scored 387 goals between 1935 and 1947, making him the third-highest goalscorer of all-time in the Hungarian league. He began his career at Salgótarjáni TC, then moving to

in 1936. Zsengellér spent 11 years serving Újpest, when in 1947 he joined Italian side

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

. In the 1949–50 season Zsengellér played for

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

and he finished his career playing for Colombian Deportivo Samarios between 1951 and 1952. He was the Hungarian league's top-scorer in five seasons: 1938, 1939, 1943, 1944 and in the spring season of 1945. He was Europe's top goalscorer in 1939 and 1945. He was also the top scorer of the

1939 Mitropa Cup The 1939 season of the Mitropa Cup football club tournament was won by Újpest who defeated fellow Hungarian side Ferencváros 6–3 on aggregate in the final. It was the third consecutive final appearance for Ferencváros and it was Újpest's sec ...

(9 goals). After his retirement, Zsengellér started a long and successful managerial career, working mainly in Italy and Cyprus. He won the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

with

Pezoporikos Larnaca Pezoporikos Club Larnaca (, ''Pezoporikos Omilos Larnakas'') was a Cypriot sports club based in Larnaca with football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1927, the football club joined the Cypriot Championship in 1938, winning it twi ...

in 1954 and the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

with

APOEL FC APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

in 1976. He died in 1999 aged 83.

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

named Zsengellér the 7th most successful Top Division Goal Scorer of all time.

Career statistics

Honours

;Újpest *

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

: 1938-39,

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

, 1945-46, 1946-47 *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

;Hungary *

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the 3rd edition of the FIFA World Cup, World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy national ...

: Runner-up

References

External links

IFFHS link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zsengeller, Gyula 1915 births 1999 deaths Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian men's footballers Serie A players Categoría Primera A players Újpest FC players AS Roma players AC Ancona players Unión Magdalena footballers Anorthosis Famagusta FC managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia 1938 FIFA World Cup players Hungary men's international footballers Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy APOEL FC managers Apollon Kalamarias F.C. managers Niki Volos F.C. managers Cyprus national football team managers Hungarian football managers Hungarian expatriate football managers Men's association football forwards Nea Salamis Famagusta FC managers APOP Paphos FC managers Pezoporikos Larnaca FC managers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Sportspeople from Cegléd Footballers from Pest County 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen

Career statistics

Honours

See also

References

External links