Gyula Mándi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Gyula Mándi

Personal information
Date of birth	(1899-07-14)14 July 1899
Place of birth	Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Date of death	26 November 1969(1969-11-26) (aged 70)
Place of death	Budapest, Hungarian PR
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1919–29	MTK	324	(12)
1929–37	Hungária FC
National team
1921–1934	Hungary	32	(0)
Teams managed
1950–1956	Hungary
1957–1958	America FC (RJ)
1959–1963	Israel
1964	Israel
Honours Men's football Representing  Israel (as manager) AFC Asian Cup Runner-up 1960
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Gyula Mándi (born July 14, 1899 – died November 26, 1969) was a famous Hungarian football player and coach. He was also known as Mándi Gyula or Julius Mandel. He played as a defender and fullback. Mándi played for the Hungarian national team in 32 matches. He also won 10 league titles with his club teams. Later, he became a successful manager for both club and national teams. Gyula Mándi was Jewish.

Playing Career: Gyula Mándi's Football Journey

Club Success: Winning Titles with MTK

Gyula Mándi was born in Budapest, Hungary. As a footballer, people called him "the artist of positioning." They also said he was the "world champion of timing." He was known for being in the right place at the right time on the field. During his club career, he helped his teams win 10 league championships.

Mándi played for MTK during their most successful period in the 1920s and 1930s. He joined MTK in 1919 when he was 20 years old. He played alongside many other great players like Béla Guttmann and Gusztáv Sebes. Between 1919 and 1925, he won seven championships in a row with MTK.

Later, football in Hungary became more professional. This meant MTK wasn't as dominant as before, but they still remained a top team. Mándi won three more championships before he retired in 1937. He also won several cups with the club between 1923 and 1933. In total, Mándi played 325 games for MTK.

International Matches: Playing for Hungary

Mándi started playing for the Hungarian national team in June 1921. His first game was against Germany. Soon, he became a regular player, often playing in defense with Károly Fogl. He played in 32 international matches for his country.

Hungary's team, including Mándi, took part in the football tournament at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Hungary had high hopes after winning their first game against Poland. However, they lost surprisingly to Egypt 0–3 in the next round. This ended Hungary's Olympic dreams. Mándi played in both of these matches.

A knee injury kept Mándi from playing for the national team until 1929. After he recovered, he played regularly again until 1932. This included five matches in the Central European International Cup. He didn't play for Hungary for two years after that. But he returned one last time for a World Cup qualifying game against Bulgaria in 1934. Overall, he played 32 times for his country.

Survival During World War II: A Story of Courage

Gyula Mándi was Jewish and survived the difficult time of the the Holocaust during World War II. He received help from his Christian brother-in-law, György Szomolányi. Szomolányi was in charge of a paper factory that was making wooden parts for rifles for the war. This allowed him to hire anyone he wanted.

In 1942, Szomolányi saved Mándi from being forced into a Jewish labor group. He gave Mándi papers to work in his factory. However, two years later, Mándi could not avoid forced labor. He was put on a train heading to Ukraine. Mándi quickly wrote a postcard to Szomolányi and threw it from the train. Someone found it and mailed it. When it arrived, it was torn, and only the word ‘KELPUSZTA’ could be read.

Szomolányi realized this must mean Ekelpuszta, where a camp for people waiting to be moved had been set up. He put on his old army uniform from World War I. He bravely walked into the camp and demanded five men for an important job. The guards were impressed and told him to choose his men. Szomolányi picked Mándi and four other people, saving them from a terrible fate.

Coaching Career: Leading Teams to Success

After he stopped playing football, Gyula Mándi became a coach. He was the manager of the Hungary national football team during the time of the famous Mighty Magyars. This team was known for its amazing skills. Mándi had special training methods for the team. He encouraged his players to do athletics and even mountaineering. He also made them practice a lot with the ball and in game-like situations.

From 1956 to 1958, he coached a team in Brazil.

In August 1957, Mándi became the coach of America FC in Rio de Janeiro. His time there was not considered very successful. The team finished in the middle of the table in the 1957 State Championship of Rio. They also finished last in the 1958 Rio-São Paulo Tournament. His coaching job there ended in April 1958.

Between 1959 and 1964, Mándi coached the national team of Israel two times. During his time with Israel, they reached the final of the 1960 Asian Cup.

Honours: Trophies and Achievements

MTK Hungária FC

• Hungarian League (10 times): 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1936, 1937
• Hungarian Cup: 1923, 1925, 1932; also runner-up in 1930, 1935

See also

• List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players

Images for kids

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  1924 Hungarian team; Károly Fogl, Zoltán Opata, Ferenc Hirzer, Rudolf Jeny, József Eisenhoffer, Béla Guttmann, Gyula Mándi, Gábor Obitz, József Braun, György Orth, János Biri, and Gyula Kiss.