Izidor "Dori" Kürschner, in
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 ...
primarily known as Dori Kruschner, (29 June 1885 – 8 December 1941), was a Hungarian
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player and coach. As player he was successful with
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 ...
club
MTK, and 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 ...
. As coach he succeeded in Germany, winning the national championship with
1. FC Nürnberg. His greatest triumphs were to follow in Switzerland with the
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...
, where he won seven titles. Kürschner's arrival to Brazilian football brought tactical innovations which helped to establish the country as one of the world leaders in the sport.
Kürschner was born in Hungary, and was Jewish.
Playing career
Kürschner was a defensive player on the left side of the field who also found use as centre half. He impressed less with his physique and technique then with his astute positioning and his penchant for headers. His game was marked by simplicity and decisiveness.
He played for
MTK in his hometown Budapest and contributed to their Championships in 1904 and 1908 as well as their three consecutive wins of the
Magyar Kupa
The Hungarian Cup ( hu, Magyar Kupa) is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association, the ''Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség,'' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of the Hungarian ...
between 1910 and 1912. Between 1907 and 1911 he also was called up five times to play for the
Hungarian 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 appe ...
.
In 1911, to supplement his income, along with fellow MTK player
Gyula Kertész
Gyula Kertész (also known as ''Julius Kertész''; 29 February 1888 – 1 May 1982) was a Hungarian international footballer who played as a winger alongside his two brothers, Vilmos and Adolf. Kertész was born in Kálnica in what was then Hung ...
he set up a photographic studio.
Coaching career
Beginnings in Budapest and Stuttgart
Kürschner commenced his coaching career in 1918 with MTK in Budapest taking over from the previous coach
Jimmy Hogan
James Hogan (16 October 1882 – 30 January 1974) was an English football player and coach of Irish descent. He enjoyed some success as a footballer, reaching an FA Cup semi-final with Fulham in 1907–08, but his primary legacy is as a pion ...
, but departed the following year, moving on to
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers.
History
In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...
in the south-west of Germany. There he stayed for two years and won in 1921 the championship of
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
, which qualified the club for the Southern German Championship.
Championship with Nürnberg
Stuttgart were ousted soon, thus Kürschner became available to lead title defenders
1. FC Nürnberg through the play-offs for the national German title. There the Nürnbergers defeated in the final ''Vorwärts 90'' from Berlin (a precursor club to today's
SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin) with 5–0.
After this short-term engagement
FC Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...
hired Kürschner for the next season as successor to the great Englishman
William Townley
William James Townley (14 February 1866 – 30 May 1950) was an English football player and coach.
He scored the first hat-trick in the history of the FA Cup final, but his lasting legacy is defined as an important pioneer of the game in Ger ...
. Bayern only managed second place in the Southern Bavarian Championship behind local rivals ''FC Wacker Munich'', and thus failed to qualify for the national tournament. This freed Kürschner to guide Nürnberg through their play-off campaign once more.
He led the team to its third consecutive German Championship final where the ascending
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
was the opponent. Two epic matches over altogether more than five hours in what is referred to in German football folklore as the "eternal final", did not produce a winner, and in the consequence no title was awarded in that season.
In the next season Kürschner was made the first full-time coach of
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...
. With only one defeat Frankfurt wins the Group I. of the North Main (→ river
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
) league, which was then one of the many divisions that constituted first level football in Germany. However, in the matches for the overall North Main championship the local opponent ''Germania 94 Frankfurt'' prevails.
Great success in Switzerland
After this Kürschner was to work for many years in Switzerland. His first appointment was in 1923–24 with ''FC Nordstern Basel'', where he also was the first full-time coach in club history. Leading them to promotion to the first division laid the cornerstone to the grandest period in Nordstern's history.
Olympic Silver for the national team
In 1924 Kürschner joined up with
Teddy Duckworth
Thomas Crook "Teddy" Duckworth (born 1882) was an English professional football player and manager. As a player, he was an outside right. He played in the Football League and the Southern League for Blackpool, West Ham United and Blackburn ...
and
Jimmy Hogan
James Hogan (16 October 1882 – 30 January 1974) was an English football player and coach of Irish descent. He enjoyed some success as a footballer, reaching an FA Cup semi-final with Fulham in 1907–08, but his primary legacy is as a pion ...
to prepare the players of the
Swiss national football team
The Switzerland national football team (german: Schweizer Fussballnationalmannschaft, it, Nazionale di calcio della Svizzera, french: Équipe nationale suisse de football, rm, Squadra naziunala da ballape da la Svizra) represents Switzerland ...
in regional groups for the Olympic Games in Paris. Of these coaches Hogan deserves particular attention as he is considered one of the great English football pioneers on the continent. His name will remain forever associated with the Austrian Miracle Team of the 1930s, and indirectly also with the rise of Hungarian football which led to the great triumphs of the
Magic Magyars in the 1950s.
In Paris the team, under the leadership of Duckworth, made it all the way to the finals. Only the giants of that era
Uruguay
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 ...
could eventually put a halt to the Swiss juggernaut when they defeated them 3–0 in a hopelessly overcrowded stadium and thus retained their Gold from the previous tournament. To date, this remains the greatest success in the history of Swiss football. Incidentally, in the semi-finals the ''Urus'' overcame the Dutch side led by the aforementioned William Townley, who, in those days was also associated with the Swiss club
FC St. Gallen
Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League.
History
Founde ...
.
Later in that year, Kürschner briefly became the first full-time coach of
Schwarz-Weiss Essen
''Schwarz Weiss'' (English: ''Black White'') is a studio album by Austrian recording artist Christina Stürmer. Compromising alterations of songs from her first two albums '' Freier Fall'' (2003) and '' Soll das wirklich alles sein?'' (2004), it ...
in the west of Germany. In a friendly they defeated Kürschner's home team MTK 2–1.
Decade of triumphs with Grasshoppers
From 1925 until 1934 Kürschner was in the employ of the
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...
. The three national championships in 1927, 1928, and 1931 plus four wins in the Swiss cup final made him the second most successful coach in the history of this club.
The German language edition of ''Wikipedia'' notes in its article regarding the Grasshoppers, that in 1931 the club was voted the "fourth strongest European side by football experts from all over Europe".
After Kürschner's departure from Switzerland the legendary Austrian
Karl Rappan
Karl Rappan (26 September 1905 – 2 January 1996) was an Austrian footballer and coach. He played and managed mostly in Switzerland, where he won multiple titles. He had four tenures as coach of the Switzerland national team, which he managed i ...
followed the Hungarian on the bench and expanded on the success of the club until 1948. Rappan was also a founding father of the European cup competitions.
Innovator in Rio de Janeiro
He arrived in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
in March 1937 and within a month saw himself at the helm of
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 ...
which was then the team of the legendary striker
Leonidas da Silva
Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was son of King ...
, the famous ''Rubber Man''.
Flamengo
![Alma e Corpo - 1938 - Cart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Alma_e_Corpo_-_1938_-_Cart.jpg)
At the ''Mengão'' he succeeded
Flávio Costa
Flávio Rodrigues da Costa (14 September 1906 – 22 November 1999) was a Brazilian football player and manager. He managed the Rio de Janeiro clubs Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, as well as Colo Colo of Chile, and FC Porto of Portugal.
Co ...
who had been player-manager from September 1934 until January 1937. Costa became Kürschner's assistant and eventually his successor. Beyond this, Costa should once be regarded the probably greatest coach in Brazil in the earlier parts of the 20th century. He was to amass titles not only with Flamengo and local rivals
CR Vasco da Gama
Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (), commonly referred as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a professional sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally a rowing club, Vasco is mostly known for its football team, who it currently compet ...
, but he also led the
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...
to its then only third
Copa América
The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...
title and even to the, albeit for the local audience anticlimactical, second place in the World Cup finals of 1950.
Kürschner promoted a more controlled, defensive style of the game in Brazil. He introduced not only things like training without ball, but most importantly also the
WM system, which had been in use in England since the 1920s. In the course of the preparations for the World Cup 1938 in France – where Brazil was to debut amongst the top four – he familiarized the coaching staff of the association with state-of-the-art European football and training methodology.
His time with Flamengo came to an end on matchday one of the
Campeonato Carioca
The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...
campaign 1938 on 4 September – a match that was also used for the opening of the club's new
Estádio da Gávea
The Estádio da Gávea ("''Gávea Stadium''", in English), also known as Estádio José Bastos Padilha is a football stadium, inaugurated on September 4, 1938, in the Lagoa neighborhood, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It has a maximum capacity of 4, ...
. Flamengo lost 0–2 to Vasco da Gama. This triggered a crisis and led to the almost instantaneous sacking of Kürschner.
Botafogo
Later on in 1939 Kürschner was hired by
Botafogo FR
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 ...
, then based in a district close by to Flamengo, where he achieved a third consecutive second place in the
Championship of Rio. He nevertheless was let go from Botafogo in August 1940.
In April 1941 he was one of the contenders for the coaching position of the
Canto do Rio FC
Canto do Rio Foot-Ball Club, commonly known as Canto do Rio, is a sports and social club from Niterói in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is best known for being a secondary force in Rio de Janeiro's association f ...
of
Niterói
Niterói (, ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms ...
on the other side of
Guanabara Bay
Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói and ...
when the club prepared for joining the Rio Championship.
On the evening of 8 December 1941 he died from a heart attack in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. He was laid to rest in the
Cemetery São João de Batista in Botafogo.
Film
Kürschner can be seen in the Brazilian movie ''Alma e Corpo de uma Raça'' ("Body and Soul of a Race")
from 1938 by director Milton Rodrigues (1905–1972). In a scene describing real life in the young country he appears in the context of the famous
Fla-Flu Derby of Flamengo versus
Fluminense FC
Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...
.
See also
*
List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players
References
External links
Izidor Kürschnerat eintracht-archiv.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kürschner, Izidor
Stuttgarter Kickers managers
Grasshopper Club Zürich managers
Hungarian footballers
MTK Budapest FC players
Hungary international footballers
Hungarian football managers
Hungarian expatriate football managers
Eintracht Frankfurt managers
Schwarz-Weiß Essen managers
FC Bayern Munich managers
1. FC Nürnberg managers
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Expatriate football managers in Brazil
Expatriate football managers in Germany
Expatriate football managers in Switzerland
Switzerland national football team managers
BSC Young Boys managers
CR Flamengo managers
1941 deaths
1885 births
Association football defenders
Jewish footballers
Jewish Hungarian sportspeople
Burials at Cemitério de São João Batista