Alexandru "Elek" Schwartz (23 October 1908 – 2 October 2000) was a Romanian professional

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 lea ...

and coach of the Netherlands national team. With S.L. Benfica he won the national Championship and Cup trophies of 1965 and led the club into the final of the

European Champion Clubs' Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the Association football, football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competiti ...

Playing career

RC Strasbourg - Finale de Coupe de France 1937

Elek Schwartz initially started playing near his hometown Recaş, in Timişoara. Later he played professional football in the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

with FC Hyères (1932–1934),

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed in 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 2 ...

(1934–36), Racing Strasbourg (1936–38) and Red Star Olympique (1938–39).Mister Schwartz, bănăţeanul care l-a antrenat pe Eusebio
romanialibera.ro (in Romanian)

Coaching career

Beginnings as coach on the Côte d'Azur

He started his coaching career in France with

(1948–49) and from there continued to

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

(1950–1952) and Le Havre AC (1952–53).

Early years in West Germany

In 1953 he was hired by SF Hamborn 07. In his second season with the club from the suburb of

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

he led the club to promotion to the western division of the five ways split first division of Germany, the Oberliga West. In 1955, he was appointed as manager by then German champions, Rot-Weiss Essen coaching among others

Helmut Rahn Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as ''Der Boss'' (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in 1954 FIFA World Cup Fin ...

there. In the next couple of years he led the team to ranks 4 and 8 in the Oberliga West.

Manager of the Netherlands national team

After leaving Rot-Weiss Essen, Schwartz joined the Netherlands football association, the KNVB and took on the reins of the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

. He guided the team through 49 matches. However, this was in an era when Dutch football had yet to achieve the standing it has held since the 1970s. Results varied extremely and included 7–0 defeat to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1959 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, as well as back to back 1–0 wins against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and world champions

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1963. He held the position of national coach until 1964, when

Denis Neville Denis Charles Neville (6 May 1915 – 11 January 1995) was an English association football, football player and manager who managed the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team between 1964 and 1966. Upon leaving the Nether ...

replaced him.

European Cup Final with Benfica

In 1964–65, he coached Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, then with

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 Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

. There he led them to their first third-consecutive league title.Goleada com o selo de Yaúca
''Record'' (in Portuguese) After this, Benfica overcame

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the quarterfinals of the European Cup of Champions and eventually even made it all the way to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, where Benfica had to yield to the masters of the Catenaccio, the

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

coached team of

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, who won 1–0, thus failing what would be Benfica's third European Cup title.

Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Porto spell

From July 1965 to June 1968 Schwartz coached – as successor to Ivica Horvat –

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. There he introduced the 4–2–4 system. Nevertheless, place 4 was as good as it got in the league. During the 1966–67 season he won the International Football Cup and the Coppa delle Alpi. In the same year he led his side to the semifinals of the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

. In 1969–70, he coached

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), 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 association footbal ...

. Not only that the Dragons exited already in the first round of the national cup competition and in the second round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – in the end Porto was only ninth in the league, the club's worst finishing ever.

End of the career in Munich and Strasbourg

In the 1972–73 season, Schwartz coached

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...

, but he could not help them to fulfill their aspirations to return to the Bundesliga after then three years of absence. He had more luck in 1976–77, when in the course of his last professional engagement he led Racing Strasbourg to

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the French

. After this he guided the Alsatian amateur side SR Haguenau, today's FCSR Haguenau, through the 1978–79 season.

Haguenau Haguenau (; or ; ; historical ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg ...

, he decided, was also a nice place for him to spend the rest of his life.

Tribute

In 1996, he was invited by the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

to the inauguration of the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

References

External links

Data about Elek Schwartz
racingstub.com

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Elek 1908 births 2000 deaths Footballers from Timișoara People from the Kingdom of Hungary Romanian men's footballers Romanian football managers Jewish Romanian sportspeople Jews from Austria-Hungary French people of Romanian-Jewish descent CA Timișoara players AS Cannes players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Red Star FC players Ligue 1 players Ligue 1 managers Eintracht Frankfurt managers Netherlands national football team managers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate football managers in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Eredivisie managers Bundesliga managers AS Cannes managers AS Monaco FC managers Le Havre AC managers Rot-Weiss Essen managers S.L. Benfica managers FC Porto managers Sparta Rotterdam managers TSV 1860 Munich managers RC Strasbourg Alsace managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Monaco Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Portugal Men's association football defenders 20th-century Romanian sportsmen