Gyula Mándi

Club

Mándi was born in Budapest, Hungary. As a footballer, he was dubbed "the artist of positioning, and world champion of timing." Playing club football, he won 10 league titles. He was part of the greatest era of MTK, the 1920s and 1930s. He was signed by MTK in 1919 at 20 years of age. He played alongside the likes of Franz Platko, Béla Guttmann, Gusztáv Sebes, Jenő Kálmár, Imre Schlosser, Iuliu Baratky and Ferenc Sas. Between 1919 and 1925 he won seven consecutive championships with MTK. The professionalisation of the game in Hungary weakened MTK's absolute dominance, but they remained amongst the leading sides. Until the end of his career in 1937, he could celebrate three more championships. Between 1923 and 1933, he also won cups with the club; altogether, Mándi made 325 appearances for MTK.

International

Mándi's career with the Hungary national team commenced in June 1921 with a match against Germany. Soon he featured regularly in the side, forming the defense together with Károly Fogl. He won 32 international caps. Hungary participated in the football tournament of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Hungary's hopes rose after a decisive first round win over Poland. However, a sensational 0–3 defeat at the hands of Egypt in the second stage ended the aspirations of the Magyars. Mándi played in both matches. A knee injury prevented Mándi from continuing his international career until 1929, when he again featured regularly until 1932, including five…

After retiring as a player, Mándi became a coach and was the manager of the Hungary national football team during the era of the Mighty Magyars. His training regimen for the team was unusual for the time, as he encouraged the men to practice athletics and mountaineering, and to train with the ball and in match situations. From 1956 to 1958 he coached Brazil. In mid-August 1957 Mándi became coach of America FC in Rio de Janeiro. His spell there with a mid-table placing at the State Championship of Rio 1957 and a joint last place at the Rio-São Paulo Tournament of 1958 was considered unsatisfactory and ended at the end of April 1958. Between 1959 and 1964, Mandi had two spells as coach of Israel, with whom he reached the final of the 1960 Asian Cup.

Player

MTK Hungária FC

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

Manager

Israel

AFC Asian Cup: Runner-up, 1960