Hungarian from Germania, or six months old, was enough to have his name f

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A new Brazilian reporter appeared in the Sporthírlap columns on July 24, 1930: Zoltan Halmus. Calling him as a reporter is of course a slight exaggeration, as Halmos was an active player at the time, who – once he threw his fate in São Paulo – grabbed a pen and reported on Hakoah’s tour of New York in Brazil with several Hungarians.

The same name appeared in our other National Sports daily on February 9, 1931, but this time it is no longer composed but as the subject of the report. Zoltan Halmus, former goalkeeper for “33” FC, rose to the ranks of Sao Paulo’s best goalkeeper – The report was announced abroad. Hungarian athletes from Brazil are proud to come here again. Once again, a Hungarian sports talent gained recognition and success, who had to take the stick in his hands just six months ago due to miserable conditions in Hungary. Hermann, a former VAC player and later BSE, escorted him to Germania training, where the team leaders were impressed with the great talent and advanced knowledge of the Hungarian boy in first training. Three weeks later, he defended the first-team goal, and since then, newspapers have reported on the Hungarian Germania goalkeeper in weekly articles, which amazes the fans. The Hungarian athlete, who leads a calm, modest and sporty life, also deserves praise, and precisely because of his good human qualities, he also enjoys full love and respect in the Hungarian colony. Six months was enough for the anonymous name to become an often enviable concept.

Who was Zoltán Halmos, this name hadn’t been known in São Paulo for ninety years, but it quickly became understandable (and soon forgotten). Zsolt Gulyás, A. 120The author of the blog, researcher on the relations of Hungarian-Portuguese and Brazilian-Hungarian football Use. Because not much can be learned about Halmos today, in the age of the Internet, various search engines, aggregators and databases.

Halmus, practically unknown in Hungary, was born on March 15, 1906, in Budapest. His father, Zsigmond Halmos, was a merchant and at a younger age, in the early years of the century, was an MTK athlete, a flat-top runner and a high-top jersey. At the time it was still called Zsigmond Herlinger, and it was only Hungarian in 1904. Zoltán Halmos was – as the contemporary Brazilian press revealed – a sports-obsessed lover and athlete in all respects. In addition to football, he also played other sports: boxing, rowing, tennis and athletics. He partially injured his father, and at the age of sixteen he finished third in the 100 meters flat in the Hungarian Schools Championship in 12 seconds, as wrote A. Gazzetta, a resident of São Paulo, on December 17, 1931. According to several Brazilian newspapers, he started playing football At club level at UTE, it is doubtful that he grew up in the KSC operating under the auspices of the Youth Football Association. At least in 1923, he moved from here to Fez.

As he was going through a hard time, which is not at all surprising, he only stepped on his teenage years. In the fall of 1923, he was unable to kick the ball behind the other three routine goalkeepers, Kotroch, Nergis and Ceska, and left him with Vasse II. In August of the following year, he defended in a friendly match against the big Vasas team (“Halmos Promises of Encouragement at the Iron Gate”), And at the end of the month, instead of Kutrucz, he was in the Hungary Cup. In the fall of 1924, Halmos was back up Kutrucz on a regular basis, but he wasn’t able to present himself in first class – he broke his nose at the end of the year. He left Vasse in mid-1925, presumably his next stop was Lourdes of the Second Class, and from there – in the summer of 1926 – he made his way to Buda 33. He had to fight with the living legend of the era, one of the best Hungarian goalkeepers of all time, Karoly Zsak, to join the main team, and he fought it off! In the fall, Zsák was still protected, but in the spring it was mostly Halmos – this was the first championship announcement after the introduction of professionalism (1926-1927). Buda has just remained 33 in the first league, while reaching the semi-finals of the Hungarian Cup, thanks in large part to Halmos.

Then suddenly he decided to immigrate to Brazil.

This is how we arrived in the fall of 1927, when the excellent goalkeeper continued his career in Austria, In Hakoah Wien, that is, in the Sándor Nemes Club, Béla Guttmann, Ernő Schwarcz and Rezs Nikolsburger. Halmos would later state, on October 19, 1932, in the columns of Jornal dos Sports that in addition to his monthly winnings, he had earned 40 shillings for each winning match, 20 shillings equaled, even in the event of a defeat. Earn money, 10 shillings. He did not waste his money: he covered his studies with his income from football and earned a degree in commerce. However, due to studies, he did not have time to train, so he stopped playing football for two years, and worked in a small company.

Sporthírlap (20 February 1930) summarized this period as follows: “The professional footballer, who has been resting for two years, waits in vain for the amateurs’ return, because Blaze constantly“ forgets ”the search for the Austrian Federation. (…) Zoltan Halmös, the young goalkeeper for Buda 33 FC, signed for the Hakuah player in Vienna in August 15, 1927. His contract expired on December 31, 1927, when Halmus returned to Budapest and stopped playing football.In the fall of 1929, he received a letter from relatives in South America inviting the 24-year-old footballer to the home of the world champions saying that he Very welcome there, and even aside from football, he can be brilliantly positioned, making it the smartest way to emigrate.Halmus allowed himself to be persuaded, determined to travel to South America and try to fix his shattered Budapest presence there. However, given the “amateur status” “In South America, Halmos, in its order and manner, has dared to apply to BLASZ for its re-audit.”

The story has been known for some time. Halmus arrived in Brazil in the early summer of 1930. He settled in Sao Paulo and contracted with a squad founded by German immigrants, trained by Hungarian Hermann Aladar. In 1931 – as the first foreigner – he became a national polyst, overwhelmed with papers, and dubbed the “miracle”.

But in the spring of 1932 his career took one hundred and eighty degrees. He suffered a serious hand injury in a training match against Corinthians, and despite standing in the fight again very quickly, he was only counted on the second team in his new club now – Corinthians. As a result, he also participated (1932-1933) in the Hungarian Athletic Federation of São Paulo, Harngaros Paulistanos, then hung his soccer shoe on a nail. His name disappeared from Hungarian sports magazines by 1933, From Brazilian newspapers not only because he continued to work as a newspaper writer. And also as a trader. In his last position he was better, in 1940 he was managing a joint venture with Estevan Mattei and Sandor Mandel. Retail Sale of Used Furniture, Carpets and PicturesAs stated in a statement issued by the Diário Oficial do Estado de Sao Paulo.

By that time, his parents had already followed him to Brazil, where the life of Hungarian immigrants had radically changed in World War II. In the final years of World War II, Brazil and Hungary became warring parties in the aftermath of the South American nation’s war. Then the name Zoltán Halmos appeared in the local newspapers: relatives from his homeland sent him letters.

What happened to him after the war is unknownIn the Brazilian databases we visited, it was only until 1945 that we could follow its course.