FCBARCELONA.CAT

11.11.2008 13:10

The day Kubala scored seven

Àngels Prieto

Samuel Eto'o’s four goals on Saturday make him the top goalscorer in the Spanish league. But the Cameroonian still fell long short of the record for goals scored in the championship, which was set by Kubala.

After scoring four against Valladolid, Samuel Eto'o said "the most important thing was the win for Barça and the work done by the whole team". This was the same thing said 56 years earlier when another Barcelona legend, Ladislao Kubala, scored seven in a game against Sporting Gijón (9-0). That still stands as the all-time record for one player in a league match.

Kubala’s record

The Hungarian received a standing ovation from the crowd on the terraces of the old Les Corts stadium that day. Amazingly, the player himself had admitted earlier that he was not sure if he was in good enough physical condition to even play the game. Laszi scored twice in the first half (minutes 11 and 27) and then added five more in the second, two from the penalty spot.

Manchón: "That doesn’t happen very much in your life"

The date was February 10, 1952, and is still remembered by one of the forwards that day, Eduard Manchón, who scored one of the other two goals, and says that “scoring seven goals in one game is very difficult, that doesn’t happen very much in your life, especially for Barça.”

The former striker also commented on how it is only through teamwork that the ball gets into a position from which a forward can score, and also said that he doubts the feat will ever be repeated. “In modern football it’s hard enough just to score a hat-trick, imagine getting seven!”

As for the four scored by Samuel Eto'o, Manchón also felt Leo Messi deserves a mention, for "he almost has as much of the merit as Eto'o, because he gifted the ball to him on a plate".