Iuliu Bodola ( hu, Bodola Gyula; 26 February 1912 – 12 March 1993) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n- Hungarian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

striker who played internationally both for Romania and Hungary. His nickname was ''Duduş''/''Dudus''. He is Romania's third all-time top goalscorer, and he is also the all-time top goal scorer of the

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. Overview The first edition featured Romania, ...

Club career

Bodola started his career in 1929 (aged 17) for

Clubul Atletic Oradea Club Atletic Oradea (Nagyváradi Atlétikai Club) (), commonly known as CA Oradea (Nagyváradi AC), or simply as CAO (NAC), is a Romanian Association football, football club based in Oradea, Bihor County, which competes in the Liga IV. The team ...

, before joining

Venus București Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, with whom he was the champion of

in 1938–39 and 1939–40. When

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

became part of the Kingdom of Hungary in August 1940, he preferred to play for

Nagyváradi AC Club Atletic Oradea (Nagyváradi Atlétikai Club) (), commonly known as CA Oradea (Nagyváradi AC), or simply as CAO (NAC), is a Romanian football club based in Oradea, Bihor County, which competes in the Liga IV. The team was founded as ''Nagy ...

, and with them he was

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

of Hungary in 1943–44. After the end of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, he returned to Romania (

Ferar Cluj-Napoca Ferar Cluj ( hu, Kolozsvári Vasas) was a football club from Kolozsvár/Cluj that played both in the Hungarian and the Romanian Championship. History Founded in 1880 as ''Kolozsvári Atlétikai Club'', the football section was founded in 1904 ...

), but in 1946 he left again for Hungary ( MTK), where he lived 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 ...

until the end of his life. In November 2008, the name of the ''Municipal Stadium'' in

Oradea Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...

was named after him, becoming the Stadionul Iuliu Bodola.

International career

Bodola was a very prolific scorer for

, scoring a then-national record of 31 goals in 48 caps. He and Wetzer were the top two goalscorers of the 1929–1931 (first) edition of the

(which

won). They scored seven goals each for their country in that tournament alone. He was also part of the Romania team that won the 1933 Balkan Cup and 1936 Balkan Cup, contributing with 2 goals in each tournament. With 15 goals in the Balkan Cup, he is the all-time top goal scorer in the competition's history. Bodola was the hero of the 1936 Friendship Cup, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, and with these 3 goals, he is also the all-time top goal scorer of the Friendship Cup. This was Bodola's third international hat-trick (the first two having come in 1931, in a friendly against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

and in the 1929-31 Balkan Cup against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

), which still remains a national record. He played at both the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

and

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beat ...

for Romania, failing to score a single goal at both tournaments. When

became part of the Kingdom of Hungary in August 1940, he decided to play 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 ...

, scoring on his debut on 1 December 1940 against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in a 1-1 draw. For a long time (50 years) he was the absolute top scorer of the Romanian national football team - with 31 goals. Subsequently, he was overtaken by

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe "Gică" Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner and manager of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of ...

, and then by

Adrian Mutu Adrian Mutu (; born 8 January 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder. Mutu star ...

, both with 35 goals scored. Seven decades after retiring, Bodola still occupies the third place in the all-time top scorers list of the Romanian national football team, with 31 goals, the first place being shared by Hagi and Mutu, both having 35 goals in Romania's shirt.

Personal life

He died in

in 1993 (aged 80). His son György Bodola was a Hungarian illustrator.

International goals

Goals for Romania

:''Romania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bodola goal.

Goals for Hungary

:''Hungary score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bodola goal.

Honours

;Venus București * Romanian Championship League: 1938–39, 1939–40 ;Nagyváradi AC * Hungarian Championship League: 1943–44

International

;Romania

: *Champions (3): 1929-31, 1933 and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

Individual

*Top goalscorer of the

1929-31 Balkan Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * 19 (film), ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * Nineteen (film), ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 sci ...

with 7 goals.

References

External links

* * * *
Iuliu Bodola player profile
at Labtof.ro
Iuliu Bodola manager profile
at Labtof.ro {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodola, Iuliu 1912 births 1993 deaths Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent Sportspeople from Brașov People from the Kingdom of Hungary Romanian footballers Hungarian footballers Association football forwards CA Oradea players Venus București players MTK Budapest FC players Liga I players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Romania international footballers Hungary international footballers 1934 FIFA World Cup players 1938 FIFA World Cup players Dual internationalists (football) Romanian football managers Hungarian football managers Diósgyőri VTK managers Szombathelyi Haladás football managers Nemzeti Bajnokság I managers Pécsi MFC managers