Iván Menczel

Iván Menczel (born December 14, 1941 in Karancsalja , Hungary , † November 25, 2011 in Salgótarján , Hungary) was a Hungarian football player and coach. With the Hungarian national team , he won the gold medal in soccer competition at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico , and he was also in the selection squad at the 1962 World Cup finals - albeit without being used.

Athletic career

Menczel played from 1953 in the youth of Salgótarjáni BTC , in 1959 the midfielder made his debut for the club's adult team in the Nemzeti Bajnokság . After relegation from the top division in 1963, he moved within the Hungarian championship to Tatabányai Bányász , where he took third place twice. In 1968 he moved to Vasas Budapest and was there again twice in the championship third . In 1970 he won the Mitropa Cup with the team in the finals against Inter Bratislava . Between 1972 and 1976 he played for Budapesti Vasas Izzó SK , where he also took up his first coaching position. He later trained with Fót, Vörös Csillag Gépgyár, Salgótarján BTC and Vasas Budapest.

Menczel was an early selection player. In 1960 he won the UEFA youth tournament alongside Antal Dunai , János Farkas and Kálmán Mészöly , in which he had finished third with Flórián Albert the year before . Two years later he was one of Lajos Baróti 's 22 players for the World Cup finals in Chile. But he stayed with the shirt number "15" without playing when the team moved into the quarter-finals, but failed there because of the later finalists Czechoslovakia . At the Olympic Summer Games in 1968 he was one of the more experienced players, in the second group game against Ghana he led the national team onto the field as team captain. In the first group game he scored the first goal of the Hungarians in a 4-0 win over El Salvador with the goal of the 1-0 lead. After another goal against Ghana, he was also successful in the 4-1 success in the final against Bulgaria , here too he scored the first goal in his team's game with the goal of the 1-1 intermediate result.

Menczel scored 49 goals in 279 league games in the Hungarian championship. He also ran in six games at the Olympic Games, scoring three goals.

Menczel died less than a month before his 70th birthday, and his ashes were buried in a grave of honor in the Illovszky Rudolf Stadium , the home stadium of Vasas Budapest.

Web links

• http://www.labdarugo.be/Menczel%20Ivan.html