France mourns former internationals

France is mourning the loss of two former internationals from the 1950s following the recent deaths of André Strappe and Joseph Ujlaki.

Prolific scorer
Ujlaki, who died on Monday at the age of 76, was born in Budapest but was granted French citizenship despite having represented Hungary at youth level. He went on to win 21 caps for Les Bleus between 1952 and 1960, although he missed out on the FIFA World Cup finals of 1954 and 1958. He was part of the OGC Nice side that lifted the French Cup in 1954 and claimed the Ligue 1 championship two years later, and scored 189 goals in the French top flight during spells with Stade Français 92, FC Sète, Nîmes Olympique SC and Paris Racing CF 92. His total is still the seventh highest of all time.

Stappe successes
Strappe, who passed away last Thursday aged 77, played alongside Ujlaki at international level and against him in the French league. He occupied a less attacking role but still managed to score four international goals in 23 appearances for his country. Strappe's most successful spell came with his local club LOSC Lille Métropole between 1948 and 1958 where he won the league title in 1954 either side of successes in the French Cup in 1953 and 1955. He then moved on to Le Havre AC, where he won the cup for a third time in 1959, before ending his career with spells at FC Nantes Atlantique and SC Bastia.