Janos "Jim" Benedek (June 9, 1941 – March 30, 2009) was a Hungarian-American

soccer 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 ...

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who later coached at both the collegiate and national team levels. Benedek was an All American collegiate soccer player before spending six seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. He earned four

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with the U.S. national team in 1968 and was a member of the team that attempted to qualify for the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Player

College

In 1963, Benedek immigrated to the United States. He attended

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

where he was a 1965 first team All American at outside left. In 1961, he was also a member of Chicago Schwaben as that team toured West Germany and later served in the U.S. Army.

Professional

After graduating from Ithaca, he attempted to gain a place on several European clubs in Austria, France and Germany, but ultimately returned to the U.S. and signed with the

Houston Stars The Houston Stars were an American professional soccer team based out of Houston, Texas. The Stars were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA) in 1967 and when the USA and rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) merg ...

of the

(NASL) in 1968. The

folded at the end of the 1968 season and Benedek moved to the

Kansas City Spurs The Kansas City Spurs were an United States, American professional soccer team who played in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kansas City M ...

for the 1969 season. In 1969, the Spurs won the NASL championship. Benedek then moved to the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

where he played a single season, his most productive, as a defender. He was again a member of a championship team when the Tornado took the 1971 NASL title. He was also a member of the Dallas team that won the first-ever NASL-sanctioned

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tournament in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, scoring two goals in the opening match and being named to the All-tournament squad. He left the NASL following the 1973 season to become a college soccer coach.

Olympic and national team

Benedek was a member of the U.S. soccer team which attempted to qualify for the

. On May 21, 1967, he scored in a 1–1 tie with Bermuda in the first qualification game. The U.S. lost the away match and did not qualify for the tournament. Benedek earned four

with the U.S. national team in 1968. His first game with the U.S. came in a 3–3 tie with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on September 15, 1968. His last two games, both played in November 1968 against

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were qualifiers for the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May t ...

. While the U.S. won both games, it failed to qualify for the finals after several losses in 1969.

Coach

In 1974,

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

(SMU) hired Benedek to begin a men's soccer team at the school. He remained with the team through the end of the 1984 season. Benedek also spent several years as an assistant coach with 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 1999, he coached the

West Texas Heat West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

of the W-League to an 8–2 record and the second division title. He also coached the Texas Toros of the

USL D-3 Pro League The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

. In 2001, he coached the West Dallas Kings of the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

. He went on to coach the men's and women's soccer team at

North Lake College Dallas College North Lake Campus (often referred to as North Lake or NLC) is a Public college, public community college in Irving, Texas. It is part of Dallas College. It opened in 1977 and enrolls about 5,000 credit students and an additional ...

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before succumbing to cancer. He died in March 2009 of prostate cancer.

Legacy

In 2009, Jim was inducted to the FC Dallas Walk of Fame.

References

External links

* * *
NASL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedek, Jim 1941 births 2009 deaths Footballers from Budapest Hungarian emigrants to the United States American soccer coaches American soccer players Chicago Schwaben players Dallas Tornado players Houston Stars players Kansas City Spurs players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players SMU Mustangs men's soccer coaches United States men's international soccer players Association football defenders Association football forwards