Rudolf 'Rudy' Wetzer (17 March 1901 – 13 April 1993) was a Romanian football player and manager. He was the captain and team-coach alongside
Octav Luchide, under the management of
Costel Rădulescu of the first
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
n side to participate in a
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
. He was of
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 ...
ethnicity.
His brothers Ștefan and Ioan were also footballers.
Career
In club football Wezter played for
Juventus București (who were Romanian national champions in 1929–1930 season), as such he was a colleague of squad members Vogl and
Ladislau Raffinsky. In the 1920s he had played for
Unirea Timişoara (appearing, whilst with them, at the
1924 Olympic Games) and
Chinezul before moving on. His last matches for Romania (played while he was playing for
Ripensia were in 1932; his last match came in a 2–0 defeat to
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
in
Belgrade. Otherwise he played for
BSK Belgrade
OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...
,
Újpest FC
Újpest Football Club () is a Hungarian professional 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 1905 and has been relegat ...
,
Pécs-Baranya,
Hyères FC
Hyères Football Club is a football in France, French association football List of football clubs in France, team playing in the city of Hyères, Var. The club was founded in 1912 and played the first ever season of professional football in Fran ...
,
ILSA Timișoara
ILSA Timișoara (Industria Lânii Societate Anonimă Timișoara) (English: Society of Anonymous Wool Industry Timișoara) was a football team from Timișoara, Timiș County, Romania.
History
ILSA Timișoara was founded in 1922, with players and ...
and
Craiovan Craiova. While playing in Hungary, he used the name Rudolf Veder, in Serbia, Rudolf Večer.
When BSK brought Wetzer along another Romanian, Dezideriu Laki, to its team in 1924, they became the first foreign professionals to play in Serbia.
International career
During the
1930 FIFA World Cup Wetzer became Romania's team captain and team-coach alongside
Octav Luchide, under the management of
Costel Rădulescu. This was Rădulescu's decision in the weeks prior to the tournament. In May 1930 the Romanians had lost the
King Alexander's Cup (a two team event) to
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in
Belgrade. At the time
Emerich Vogl
Emerich (Imre) Vogl (born 12 August 1905 in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary (now Romania) – died 29 October 1971 in Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian football player and coach of Banat Swabian ethnicity who was a member of Romanian team which pa ...
was team captain. Wetzer was brought back into the side two weeks' later for a friendly 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 ...
in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
. This decision reaped considerable rewards for both Rădulescu and Wetzer because Wetzer scored 5 goals in an 8–1 victory for his team. Romania had been grouped with
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 ...
and
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
in the tournament, defeating the Peruvians 3–1 before losing to the eventual winners and hosts 4–0. The second of these games was held at the
Estadio Centenario
Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Ur ...
in
Montevideo.
Wetzer was a very prolific scorer for
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. He and
Bodola were the top two goalscorers of the
1929–31 (first) edition 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, ...
(which
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
won). They scored 7 goals each for their country in that tournament alone.
In total Wetzer was to play 17 times for Romania scoring 13 goals.
Coaching career
After retiring as a footballer Wetzer became a trainer. In 1958, during a purge by the ruling national party against "revisionism and bourgeois ideology, indiscipline and descriptive anarchic elements" Wetzer became subject to an order forbidding him from "leaving the collective in which he was engaged without good reason, under penalty of being expelled from the trainers' corps.
Honours
Player
Chinezul Timișoara
*
Divizia A:
1925–26,
1926–27
Juventus București
*
Divizia A:
1929–30
Coach
Ripensia Timișoara
*
Divizia A:
1934–35
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wetzer, Rudolf
1901 births
1993 deaths
Sportspeople from Timișoara
People from the Kingdom of Hungary
Romanian footballers
Romania international footballers
Romanian expatriate footballers
Association football forwards
Olympic footballers of Romania
Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Liga I players
Újpest FC players
FC Ripensia Timișoara players
FC Petrolul Ploiești players
OFK Beograd players
Yugoslav First League players
Expatriate footballers in Yugoslavia
Expatriate footballers in Hungary
Expatriate footballers in France
1930 FIFA World Cup players
Romanian football managers
FC Petrolul Ploiești managers
CSM Reșița managers
FC Dinamo București managers
FC Ripensia Timișoara managers
Austro-Hungarian Jews
Jewish footballers
Jewish Romanian sportspeople
Romanian emigrants to Israel
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia