Norberto Höfling

Dinamo Cernăuți

Höfling, who was of Jewish origin, was born on 20 June 1924 in Cernăuți, Kingdom of Romania. He began playing junior-level football at local club Dinamo. He started his senior career in 1945 by playing for Dinamo in the Soviet Union's lower leagues and the Spartakiad.

Ciocanul București

In 1946, Höfling went to play for Ciocanul București, making his Divizia A debut on 25 August 1946 under coach Béla Guttmann and scoring the game-winning goal in a 1–0 home win over Ferar Cluj. Höfling scored 22 goals by the end of the 1946–47 season, which made him the top-scorer of Ciocanul and the third top-scorer of the league, after Ladislau Bonyhádi and Iosif Kovács. In the first half of the 1947–48 season, he scored two goals in 10 matches.

MTK Budapest

In 1948, Höfling joined Hungarian side MTK Budapest, making his Nemzeti Bajnokság I debut on 8 February under coach Márton Bukovi in a 2–0 loss to Újpest. In the following match, he scored his first goal in the competition in a 6–1 win over ESMTK. Höfling netted 14 times until the end of his first season, which included five goals in a 9–0 victory against Szolnoki. In the first half of the 1948–49 season, he scored 11 goals, including a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Tatabánya.

Lazio

In January 1949, Höfling went to play in Italy for Lazio. He made his Serie A debut on 13 February under coach Mario Sperone in a 1–1 draw against Atalanta. He scored his first goal in the competition on…

In 1957, at the age of 33, Höfling began his managerial career at the Belgian Second Division club Club Brugge. He successfully guided the team to promotion into the Belgian First Division by the end of the 1958–59 season. After six years, a dispute with the team's star player, Fernand Goyvaerts, prompted Höfling to leave and take over as coach of the Dutch club Feyenoord. Though sacked from Feyenoord after just one year, he returned to Belgium shortly after signing with Racing White Brussels, once again leading his new squad to a first-division promotion. Höfling returned to Club Brugge and helped the team win the 1967–68 Belgian Cup after defeating Beerschot in the final. Subsequently, in 1968 he was appointed head coach at Anderlecht. He led them during the 1968–69 European Cup campaign, as they got past Glentoran in the first round before being defeated 4–3 on aggregate by Manchester United in the second round. In 1969, Höfling went to coach for two seasons at the second-tier club Daring Club Brussels but failed to help them gain promotion to the first division. However, he guided them to reach the 1970 Belgian Cup final, where they suffered a 6–1 loss to Club Brugge. Later he was employed by AS Oostende, leading them to promotion from the third division to the second and then from the second to the first. He went to work in the 1977–78 season at the second-tier club Gent. His last coaching experience took place in Italy in the early 1980s at the club for which he…

Manager

Racing White Brussels

Belgian Second Division: 1964–65 Club Brugge

Belgian Cup: 1967–68 Daring Club Brussels

Belgian Cup runner-up: 1969–70 AS Oostende

Belgian Third Division: 1972–73