In 1929, while Ferencváros embarked on a tour to South America, Hirschl is said to have met wealthy Brazilian businessman and president of
Palestra Italia (now known as Palmeiras), Eduardo Matarazzo, in Paris while attempting to procure a visa to
New York. They later reunited in
São Paulo, where it is said that Matarazzo's commitment to his club led Hirschl to agree to work there as an assistant coach, and later as head coach, for two games in 1931. In the early 1930s, New York City side
Hakoah All-Stars undertook a tour of South America. This led him to cross paths with
Béla Guttmann, who is said to have employed him as a masseur. This continued until, whilst on the Argentine leg of their tour, the American side was forced to terminate his contract as they could no longer afford to pay him. Hirschl then offered his services to the different clubs in the
Buenos Aires area, under the spurious claim that he was the ex-coach of Hakoah All-Stars, and successfully acquired the coaching job at
Gimnasia La Plata in 1932. With Gimnasia, he lost the first three games and won only three in the first half of the season, but in this era the club generated the nickname "El Expreso Platense". He guided them to a seventh-place finish in the
Argentine Championship that season. He gained the nickname "El Mago" ("The Wizard") from fans and media. In 1933, Gimnasia was involved in a close title race, but two highly controversial referee decisions in the final phase of the season in games against
Boca Juniors and
San Lorenzo put an end to hopes. Gimnasia finished sixth, within four points of the title, scoring 90 goals. In his time at Gimnasia, Hirschl introduced some major players in the club's history, notably
Arturo Naón who would go on to become Gimnasia's record goal scorer. At the beginning of 1935 he took the coaching position at Argentine club
River Plate, with whom he won back-to-back league titles in 1936 (two titles were won that year) and 1937. Hirschl also led River Plate to a domestic cup and two continental trophies during his tenure. In 1938 he was replaced by Renato Cesarini. In 1939 he took the coaching position at
Rosario Central. After reportedly spending the early 1940s with Gimnasia whilst they toured South America, he moved to Buenos Aires club
Banfield before, in 1943, switching to San Lorenzo. There, however, he was brought before the sports courts in December 1943 where he was one ten individuals who were suspended from footballing activity in connection with a cheating scandal at Banfield. This severely damaged his reputation in Argentina. In August 1944, the Brazilian Sporting Council gave Hirschl permission to coach the local club
Cruzeiro-RS in
Porto Alegre. He took up the position there in early 1945 and remained at Cruzeiro until his resignation in June 1946, when he decided to coach the first division club
Marte in Mexico City, where he signed a two-year contract. His successor at Cruzeiro-RS was Telemaco Frazaeo de Lima, a former
Grêmio player. In March 1949, Hirschl signed with Uruguayan club
Peñarol. It is reported that his first training session gained a crowd of 1,500 spectators. Hirschl, who went by the name
Emérico Hirsch in Uruguay, coached the capital side until at least 1951. Hirschl continued his predecessor
Randolph Galloway's usage of the
WM Formation and won the
Uruguayan Championship in 1949 and 1951 as well as three domestic cups. According to Luciano Álvarez, he remained Peñarol manager until 1953, returning in either 1955 or 1956 for a brief second spell. In January 1961 he returned to Buenos Aires and River Plate for a short period of time. == Achievements ==