Béla Guttmann (; 27 January 1899 – 28 August 1981) was a Hungarian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and coach. He was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, and was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He was deported by the Nazis to a

Nazi slave labor camp The use of slave and forced labour in Nazi Germany (german: Zwangsarbeit) and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered t ...

where he was tortured; he survived

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Before the war, he played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

MTK Hungária FC Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre Budapest Futball Club or shortly MTK is a Hungarian football club based in Józsefváros, Budapest. The team currently plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II. The club's colours are blue and white. As one of the most suc ...

SC Hakoah Wien SC Hakoah Vienna (german: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish associati ...

, and several clubs in the United States. Guttmann also played for the

Hungary national football team The Hungary national football team ( hu, magyar labdarúgó-válogatott) represents Hungary in men's international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made 9 appearances in the FIFA World Cup and 4 app ...

, including at the 1924 Olympic Games. Guttmann coached in ten countries from 1933 to 1974, and won ten national championships and, most notably, two back-to-back

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

s with Benfica. He also coached the national teams of Hungary and Austria, having also coached club football in the Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, Uruguay, and Portugal. He is perhaps best remembered as a coach and manager after the war of

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube (), commonly referred to as São Paulo, is a professional football club in the Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1930. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista (the State of São Paulo's premier state leag ...

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

, Benfica, and

C.A. Peñarol CA or ca may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * Air China (IATA airline code CA) * CA Technologies, a U.S. software company * Cayman Airways, a Cayman Islands airline * Channel America, a defunct U.S. television network * Classi ...

. His greatest success came with Benfica when he guided them to two successive European Cup wins, in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

and in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

. He pioneered the 4–2–4 formation along with

Márton Bukovi Márton Bukovi (10 December 1903 – 2 February 1985) was a Hungarian association football player and manager. After playing for Ferencvárosi TC, FC Sète and Hungary he became a coach, most notably with Građanski Zagreb, MTK Hungária, O ...

and

Gusztáv Sebes Gusztáv Sebes (born Gusztáv Scharenpeck; 22 January 1906 – 30 January 1986) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. With the title of Deputy Minister of Sport, he coached the Hungarian team known as the ''Mighty Magyars'' in the 1950s. A ...

, forming a triumvirate of radical Hungarian coaches, and is also credited with mentoring

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

. However, throughout his career he was never far from controversy. Widely travelled, as both a player and coach, he rarely stayed at a club longer than two seasons, and was quoted as saying "the third season is fatal". He was sacked at Milan while they were top of

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, and he walked out on Benfica after they allegedly refused a request for a pay rise, allegedly leaving the club with a curse.

Early life

Guttmann was born in

, and was

. His parents Abraham and Ester were dance teachers. He became a trained dance instructor himself, at 16 years of age. He obtained a Psychology degree in Austria.

Playing career

Club career

Guttmann was a prominent member of the

team of the early 1920s. Playing halfback or center half alongside

Gyula Mándi Gyula Mándi, also referred to as Mándi Gyula or Julius Mandel (14 July 1899 – 26 November 1969) was a Hungarian Olympic national team (for whom he played 32 matches) and club footballer (with whom he won 10 league titles), who played as a d ...

, he helped MTK win

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...

titles in 1920 and 1921.Joseph Siegman (2020)
''Jewish Sports Legends; The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame''
/ref> Béla Guttmann (1925)

In 1922 Guttmann moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, to escape the

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

in Hungary of the

Admiral Horthy Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

regime, as during 1919 to 1921 up to 3,000 of his fellow Hungarian Jews were murdered in a campaign known as the

White Terror White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...

, orchestrated by the Hungarian nationalist government. In Vienna he joined the all-

club

and played for them as their

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

from 1922 to 1926 and in 1933. For the team's shirts, they wore the blue and white of the

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

national movement, and a large

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

was their badge. In 1925 he won another league title when Hakoah won the Austrian League. In April 1926 the SC Hakoah Wien squad sailed to New York to begin a ten-match tour of the United States. On 1 May a crowd of 46,000 watched them play an ''American Soccer League XI'' at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

, a US record for a soccer game until 1977.Gabriel Kuhn (2011)
''Soccer Vs. the State; Tackling Football and Radical Politics''
/ref>Kevin E. Simpson (2016)
''Soccer Under the Swastika; Stories of Survival and Resistance During the Holocaust''
/ref> The ASL team won 3–0. At least six of the Hakoah players were later killed in the Holocaust. Following the tour Guttmann, who was Hakoah's most prominent player, and several of his teammates decided to stay on in the US. After initially playing for

Brooklyn Wanderers The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. Later versions joined the original American Soccer League and the reorganized American Soccer Le ...

, he signed for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

of the American Soccer League (ASL), playing 83 games and scoring two goals over two seasons. In 1928, the Giants were suspended from the ASL as part of the "Soccer War", a dispute pitting the ASL and

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

. Guttmann and the Giants joined the

Eastern Soccer League Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

, but he soon moved to

New York Hakoah New York Hakoah is an American soccer club based in New York City, which takes its name from two earlier, defunct clubs. ''Hakoah'' (roughly translated as "strength" from Hebrew) is a frequent name for sport and social Jewish clubs around the wor ...

, a team made-up of former SC Hakoah Wien players, including

Rudolph Nickolsburger Rudolph Nickolsburger (born 21 March 1899, Hungary; died New York, December 1969), also referred to as Nikolsburger Rezső and Rudy Nichols, was a Hungarian footballer who played for Ferencvárosi TC, SC Hakoah Wien and Hungary. He later emigrat ...

. In 1929 he helped them win the U.S. Open Cup (then known as National Challenge Cup). After a merger with

Brooklyn Hakoah Brooklyn Hakoah is a former United States soccer team club based in Brooklyn, New York, that played in the American Soccer League. Brooklyn Hakoah I Originally formed by former players of SC Hakoah Wien, they played in the American Soccer Leagu ...

, they became the

Hakoah All-Stars Hakoah All-Stars is a former United States soccer club, based in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distribut ...

in 1930. In the fall of 1930 Guttmann rejoined the Giants, now known as the

New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club ( Youth Soccer Team ) was the name of a New York soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant Maurice Vandeweghe - the father and grandfather of later basketball stars ...

, but was back at the All-Stars in the spring of 1931 where he finished his career as a player. When he retired as a player he was 32 years old, and had played 176 ASL games. As well as playing football, while in New York, Guttmann also taught dance, bought into a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States d ...

, invested in the stock market, and almost lost everything after the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

.Alan McDougall (2020)
''Contested Fields; A Global History of Modern Football''
/ref>

Hungarian international

Between 1921 and 1924, Guttmann also played six times for the

, scoring on his debut on 5 June 1921 in a 3–0 win against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Later in the same month he also played against a ''Southern Germany XI''. His remaining four appearances all came in May 1924 in games against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. The latter two were at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. During the preparations for the competition Guttmann objected to the fact that there were more officials than players in the Hungary squad. He also complained that the hotel was more suitable for socialising than match preparation, and to demonstrate his disapproval he hung dead rats on the doors of the travelling officials.

Coaching career

Guttmann coached two dozen teams in ten countries, from 1933 to 1974, and won two

s, and ten national championships. He also coached the national teams of Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, Uruguay, and Portugal. As a coach, tactically he pioneered the 4–2–4 formation, and had his teams play fearless attacking football. In addition, he required that his players follow his regime of diet, rigorous fitness, and hard training.

Return to Europe; Nazi forced labor camp

Guttmann returned to Europe in 1932 and in the years before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he coached teams in Austria, The Netherlands, and Hungary. He had spells with his former club SC Hakoah Wien, and then Dutch side SC Enschede. He then had his first serious success with

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungarian professional association football, football club, based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in Nemzeti ...

in the 1938–39 season, winning the Hungarian League and the

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hungar ...

(the precursor to the

). Shortly thereafter, anti-Jewish laws introduced by the Hungarian government ensured Guttmann lost his job. During the destruction of Hungarian Jewry, after the Nazis occupied Hungary in March 1944 and sent most of Hungary's Jews to

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

s where they were killed, Guttmann initially hid in an attic in

Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary i ...

, aided by his non-Jewish brother-in-law. He was then sent to a

Nazi forced labor camp ''Arbeitslager'' () is a German language word which means labor camp. Under Nazism, the German government (and its private-sector, Axis, and collaborator partners) used forced labor extensively, starting in the 1930s but most especially durin ...

near Budapest where he was tortured. Years later he reminisced: "Our sergeant ... adlearned how to torture people... Was I a footballer from the national team, was I a successful coach? Was I even a man? Who cared, you had to forget all about it." He escaped in December 1944, just before he was about to be sent to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, together with Ernest Erbstein, another famous Jewish-Hungarian coach. His 78-year-old father Abraham, older sister Szeren, and wider family were murdered in Auschwitz. For many years the story of what happened to him during the Holocaust was unclear, until David Bolchover wrote about it in his biography of Guttman, titled ''The Greatest Comeback''. After the war Guttmann briefly took charge at Budapest side

Vasas SC Vasas may refer to: *Vasas SC, Hungarian sports club *Győri Vasas, former name of Hungarian sports club Győri ETO (1950-65) *Mihály Vasas (born 1933), Hungarian footballer and manager *Zoltán Vasas Zoltán Vasas (born 5 November 1977) is a ...

from July 1945–1946. He then joined Ciocanul in Romania in 1946.Alan McDougall (2020)
''Contested Fields; A Global History of Modern Football''
/ref> Due to food shortages, Guttmann insisted his salary be paid in vegetables. He subsequently walked out on the Romanian club after a director attempted to intervene in team selection. German journalist Hardy Grune believed that he was frustrated with the corruption in the Romanian soccer world. Guttmann then in early 1947 rejoined Újpest FC, then known as ''Újpesti TE''. He won another Hungarian League title. He then succeeded

Ferenc Puskás Sr. Ferenc Puskás Sr., born Ferenc Purczeld, also referred to as Puskás Ferenc (11 May 1903 – 12 June 1952), was a Hungarian footballer and manager of Danube Swabian origin. He was the father of the legendary Ferenc Puskás Jr., who is comm ...

as coach at Hungarian side Kispest AC. In November 1948, Guttmann attempted to take off fullback Mihály Patyi at whose ungentelemanly play he was furious, leaving the team with 10 players. Encouraged by the team captain,

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...

Jr, Patyi remained on the pitch and Guttmann retired to the stands, reading a racing paper, refusing to coach the team, quitting on the spot. This was his final game in charge of the team, and he departed soon after the falling out.

Italy

Like many other Hungarian footballers and coaches, Guttmann spent time in Italy. He first coached for spells with

Calcio Padova Calcio Padova, commonly referred to as Padova, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Padua, Veneto. Founded in 1910, Padova currently play in , having last been in Serie A in 1996. The team's official colours are white and red. ...

and

U.S. Triestina Calcio Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its ...

. Guttmann was then appointed manager of

in 1953. With a team that included

Gunnar Nordahl Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, ...

Nils Liedholm Nils Erik Liedholm (; 8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish football midfielder and coach. ''Il Barone'' (The Baron), as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of the Swedish "Gre-No-Li" trio of strikers al ...

, and

Juan Alberto Schiaffino Juan Alberto "Pepe" Schiaffino Villano (; 28 July 1925 – 13 November 2002) was an Italian-Uruguayan football player who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. A highly skilful and creative playmaker, at club level, he played for CA ...

, Guttmann had them top of

19 games into his second season in charge when a string of disputes with the board led to his dismissal. He later told a stunned press conference "''I have been sacked even though I am neither a criminal nor a homosexual. Goodbye''." From then on he insisted on a clause in his contract that he could not be sacked if his team were top of the table. He subsequently managed a fourth Italian club

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 ...

South America

Guttmann first went to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

on tour with the Hakoah All-Stars in the summer of 1930. In 1957, he returned as a coach with the Kispest AC team which included Ferenc Puskás,

Zoltán Czibor Zoltán Czibor (23 August 1929 – 1 September 1997) was a Hungarian footballer who played for several Hungarian clubs, including Ferencváros and Budapest Honvéd, and the Hungary national team before joining CF Barcelona. Czibor played as a ...

Sándor Kocsis Sándor Péter Kocsis (; ; 21 September 1929 – 22 July 1979) was a Hungarian footballer who played for Ferencváros TC, Budapest Honvéd, Young Fellows Zürich, FC Barcelona and Hungary as a striker. During the 1950s, along with Ferenc Pus ...

József Bozsik József Bozsik (; 28 November 1925 – 31 May 1978) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a central midfielder. He spent his entire club career at his hometown club, Budapest Honvéd. Bozsik was a key member of the legendary Golden Team as h ...

László Budai László Budai (19 July 1928 – 2 July 1983), also known as László Bednarik, or Budai II, was a former Hungarian footballer and coach. Budai was born in Budapest and played as a midfielder and forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Honvéd and Hung ...

Gyula Lóránt Gyula Lóránt (born Gyula Lipovics, 6 February 1923 – 31 May 1981) was a Hungarian footballer and manager of Croatian descent. He played as a defender and midfielder for, among others, UTA Arad, Vasas SC, Honvéd and Hungary. During the ...

, and

Gyula Grosics Gyula Grosics (; 4 February 1926 – 13 June 2014) was a Hungarian football goalkeeper who played 86 times for the Hungary national football team and was part of the "Golden Team" of the 1950s. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all ...

. During a tour of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Kispest AC played a series of five games against

CR Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

, and a ''Flamengo / Botafogo XI''. Guttmann then stayed on in Brazil and took charge in 1957 of

and with a team that included

Dino Sani Dino Sani (; ; born 23 May 1932) is a Brazilian former footballer and coach. Sani was an experienced playmaking central midfielder with goalscoring prowess, and a "team player", who was well known for his ball skills, technique, accurate passi ...

, Mauro, and

Zizinho Thomaz Soares da Silva, also known as Zizinho (; 14 September 1921 – 8 February 2002), was a Brazilian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for the Brazil national football team. He came to international prominence at the 195 ...

, won the

São Paulo State Championship The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and ty ...

in 1957. It was while in Brazil that he helped popularise the 4–2–4 formation, which had been pioneered by fellow countrymen

and

, and was subsequently used by

as they won the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

. Before finally retiring as coach, in 1962 Guttmann would return to South America to manage

, but was replaced in October by Peregrino Anselmo, who guided the side to the Uruguayan League title that very year.

Portugal

In 1958, Guttmann arrived in Portugal and embarked on the most successful spell of his career. He took charge of

and helped them overhaul a five-point lead enjoyed by Benfica to win his first of three Portuguese League titles in 1959. The following season, he jumped ship and joined Lisbon side Benfica. There he promptly sacked 20 senior players, promoted a host of youth players, and won the league again in 1960 and 1961. Under Guttmann, Benfica, with a team that included

José Águas José Pinto de Carvalho Santos Águas (; 9 November 1930 – 10 December 2000) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He enjoyed a lengthy professional spell with Benfica, never scoring less than 18 goals in 12 of his 13 first di ...

, José Augusto,

Costa Pereira Alberto da Costa Pereira (22 December 1929 – 25 October 1990) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Nacala, Portuguese Mozambique from a colonial White African family, Costa Pereira was noticed by S.L. Be ...

António Simões António Simões da Costa (; born 14 December 1943), known as Simões, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a left winger. He spent 14 professional seasons with Benfica, playing 449 official games and scoring 72 goals. In the lat ...

, Germano, and

Mário Coluna Mário Esteves Coluna (; 6 August 1935 – 25 February 2014) was a Portuguese footballer who played mainly as a central midfielder. He spent most of his career with Benfica, appearing in 525 official matches and scoring 127 goals during 16 p ...

, also won the

twice in a row. In

they beat

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

3–2 in the final and in

they retained the title, coming from 2 to 0 and 3–2 down to beat

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

5–3. After the game, he was held aloft by fans. Legend has it that Guttmann signed Eusébio after a chance meeting in a barber shop. Seated next to Guttmann was

José Carlos Bauer José Carlos Bauer (21 November 1925 – 4 February 2007), commonly known as Bauer, was a Brazilian football player and manager. Early life Born in São Paulo, he was the son of a Swiss man and an African-Brazilian woman. He was normally a ...

, one of his successors at São Paulo. The Brazilian team were on tour in Portugal, and the coach mentioned an outstanding player he had seen while they toured

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Eusébio had also attracted the interest of

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

. Guttmann moved quickly and signed the then 19-year-old for Benfica. To celebrate Benfica's 110th birthday, a statue of Guttmann holding ''his'' two European Cups was unveiled. The statue made by Hungarian sculptor László Szatmári Juhos was placed at door 18 of the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, its ...

The "curse" of Béla Guttmann

After the 1962 European Cup Final, Guttmann reportedly approached the Benfica board of directors and asked for a pay rise. However, despite the success he had brought the club, he was turned down. On leaving Benfica, he allegedly cursed the club declaring, "Not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European champions again". Later, on 6 April 1963, in an interview to ''

A Bola ''A Bola'' (; en, literally "The Ball", in this context "The Game of Football") is a Portuguese sports newspaper published in Lisbon. History and profile ''A Bola'' was founded in 1945 by Cândido de Oliveira and Ribeiro dos Reis, and was ...

'', he stated, "Benfica, at this moment, are well served and do not need me. They will win the Campeonato Nacional and will be champions of Europe again." Benfica went on to reach five European Cup finals (

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

) but did not win any. Before the 1990 final, played in Vienna, Eusébio reportedly prayed at Guttmann's grave and asked for the alleged curse to be broken. According to David Bolchover, in his biography of Guttmann, there is no documentary evidence on Guttmann saying anything related to a curse and that the alleged curse was first mentioned in May 1988 by newspaper '' Gazeta dos Desportos'', the day Benfica played their fifth final. The "curse" had its origins in March 1968 when ''A Bola'' published a loose and unsigned translation from German to Portuguese of an interview given by Guttmann to '' Sport-Illustrierte'' five months earlier, in October 1967. Moreover, in November 2011,

, who was coached by Guttmann, also denied the existence of the curse, calling it a "lie". In 2022, Benfica's under-19 team became European champions by winning the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League, thus ending the "curse".

Honours

Player

MTK Hungária FC *

: 1919–20, 1920–21 SC Hakoah Wien *

Austrian Champions Austrian champions (in German: Österreichischer Meister) is the general name for a champion in a team or singles competition Austria's elite national sport (bundesliga) competitions and is thus comparable with the title of German champions. In c ...

: 1924–25 New York Hakoah *

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

Manager

Újpest FC/Újpesti TE *

: 1938–39, 1946–47 *

: 1939 São Paulo * São Paulo State Champions: 1957 Porto *

Portuguese Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

: 1958–59 Benfica *

: 1960–61, 1961–62 *

Primeira Divisão The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

: 1959–60, 1960–61 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 1961–62 * Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

Peñarol *

Uruguayan Championship Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

runner-up:

Panathinaikos *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

: 1966–67

Individual

* World Soccer 9th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013 *

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

16th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013 *

France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusiv ...

20th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019 *

Deutsche Presse-Agentur Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (dpa) is a German news agency founded in 1949. Based in Hamburg, it has grown to be a major worldwide operation serving print media, radio, television, online, mobile phones, and national news agencies. News is avai ...

3rd Greatest

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

an Manager of the 20th Century: 1999

References

Bibliography

;General * * * * *

External links

Early life

Playing career

Club career

Hungarian international

Coaching career

Return to Europe; Nazi forced labor camp

Italy

South America

Portugal

The "curse" of Béla Guttmann

Honours

Player

Manager

Individual

See also

References

Bibliography

External links