Ilie Oană

Ilie Oană (16 August 1918 – 27 April 1993) was a football player and manager.

Ilie Oană

Personal information
Date of birth	(1918-08-16)16 August 1918
Place of birth	Indiana Harbor, United States
Date of death	27 April 1993(1993-04-27) (aged 74)
Place of death	Bucharest, Romania^[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Șoimii Sibiu
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1935–1937	Șoimii Sibiu
1937–1951	Juventus București^[a]	143	(56)
International career
1939–1948	Romania	2	(0)
Managerial career
1952–1964	Petrolul Ploiești
1962–1963	Romania (assistant)
1965–1967	Romania
1968–1969	Petrolul Ploiești
1969–1971	Panserraikos
1971–1973	Petrolul Ploiești
1973–1977	Politehnica Iași
1978	Universitatea Craiova
1979–1980	Farul Constanța
1980	Gloria Buzău
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Ilie Oană was born on 16 August 1918, being nicknamed "Americanul" (The American) because his place of birth was in Indiana Harbor to Romanian parents who emigrated from Transylvania before the outbreak of World War I.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} In 1921, his parents moved back to their homeland, settling in Sibiu after the 1918 Union of Transylvania with Romania.^[1][2][4] Oană began his football career in 1935 with local side Șoimii Sibiu in Divizia B.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} He then joined Divizia A club, Juventus București where he made his debut under player-coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan on 12 September 1937 in a 6–2 away loss in front of Universitatea Cluj.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]} In following years, Oană was an important member of the team, consolidating his place in the first 11, however the team's results were poorer season after season, eventually relegating by the end of the 1939–40 season but he stayed with the club helping it promote after one season by contributing with 9 goals scored in 7 appearances, however the team did not get to play in the following season in Divizia A as the championship was interrupted because of World War II.^[8][9][10] In the first season after the war, Oană played 14 games in the 1945–46 București championship, scoring 11 goals that helped Juventus earn a position at the end of the season that granted the participation in the 1946–47 Divizia A season.^[11][12][13] He stayed with Juventus, playing Divizia A football until his retirement in 1951.^{[1][2][5][14][15][16][17][18]}

International career

Ilie Oană made two appearances for Romania, making his debut under coach Virgil Economu in a friendly which ended 2–2 against Hungary in October 1939.^[19][20][21] He also played in a 0–0 against Poland at the 1948 Balkan Cup.^[19][22]

Managerial career

"His great quality was that he knew how to make a team. He didn't choose players randomly. He didn't have 9 stars out of 11. He always had the courage to promote footballers. He rarely took footballers of great value. He was looking to promote"

–Mircea Dridea, former Petrolul Ploiești player talking about Ilie Oană^[3]

Ilie Oană became a football coach shortly after he retired from playing in 1952 at the club he ended his playing career, Juventus which was renamed Petrolul and moved from Bucharest to Ploiești.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} In his first season as the team's coach Petrolul relegated to Divizia B, so with the help of the coach from the youth center, Traian Ionescu he created a new team promoting young players like the Dridea brothers, Mircea and Virgil, Vasile Sfetcu or Constantin Tabarcea and mixed them with talents he founded in the lower leagues like Ion Zaharia or Ion Neacșu, thus forming a squad that would promote back to the first league in 1954 and win two consecutive Divizia A titles in the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons, also winning the 1962–63 Cupa României after a 6–1 victory against Siderurgistul Galați in the final and in the 1962–63 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup he led the team to the quarter-finals, a premiere for a Romanian team in European competitions where they were eliminated by Ferencváros.^{[1][2][3][4][5][23][24][25]} He left Petrolul after 12 years to coach Romania's national team for which he previously worked as an assistant of Gheorghe Popescu I and Silviu Ploeșteanu from 1962 until 1963, making his debut in a 3–0 home victory against Turkey at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers, during his two-year spell managing to earn victories in front of Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Switzerland or France but was dismissed after the "Zürich disaster" where he was defeated with 7–1 by Switzerland at the Euro 1968 qualifiers, having a total of 19 games at the national team consisting of 11 victories and 8 losses.^{[1][2][3][4][5][26]} He returned to coach The Yellow Wolves in the second half of the 1967–68 Divizia A season, the team finishing the season on the 5th place and in the following season barely avoiding relegation in the final round of the season.^[4] From 1969 until 1971, Ilie Oană had his only experience coaching abroad in Greece at Alpha Ethniki side, Panserraikos, afterwards returning for a third and final spell at Petrolul, leaving the team after two seasons in which it earned mediocre results.^{[3][1][2][4][5]} He then coached for four seasons from 1973 until 1977 Politehnica Iași, going to coach from January 1978, Universitatea Craiova with whom he won by the end of the season, the 1977–78 Cupa României after a 3–1 victory against Olimpia Satu Mare in the final.^{[1][2][3][4][5][27]} He ended his coaching career in Divizia B with two unsuccessful spells at Farul Constanța and Gloria Buzău, being unable to help them promote to the first league.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Oană has a total of 572 matches as a coach in Divizia A consisting of 232 victories, 124 draws and 216 losses, which makes him the second coach with the most matches in the league, behind Florin Halagian who has 878.^[28] He died on 27 April 1993 in Bucharest, the Ilie Oană Stadium from Ploiești was named in his honor, also having a statue displayed in front of it.^[1][3][5]

Honours

Player

Petrolul Ploiești

• Divizia B: 1940–41^[1][2]

Manager

Petrolul Ploiești

• Divizia A: 1957–58, 1958–59^[1][2]
• Divizia B: 1954^[1][2]
• Cupa României: 1962–63^[1][2]

Universitatea Craiova

• Cupa României: 1977–78^[1][2]

Notes

1. The Divizia A 1940–41 was the last season before World War II and the Divizia A 1946–47 was the first one after, so the appearances and goals scored during this period for Juventus București are not official with the exception of the 1945–46 regional championship, also the statistics for the 1950 and 1951 Divizia A seasons are unavailable.

References

1. "Legendele fotbalului: "Americanul", omul unui singur" [Football legends: "The American", the man of one club] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
2. "Aventurile marelui antrenor Ilie Oană, zis "Americanul": "La Craiova, unii jucători erau pe invers!"" [The adventures of the great coach Ilie Oana, called "The American": "In Craiova, some players were the other way around!"] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
3. "Povestea senzațională a lui Ilie Oană! Scenariu demn de Hollywood: "Americanul" care i-a crescut pe "lupi"" [Ilie Oana's sensational story! Hollywood-worthy scenario: "The American" who raised the "wolves"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
4. "Ilie Oana: "Fotbalul a dat un rost adevarat vietii mele"" [Ilie Oana: "Football gave a real purpose to my life"] (in Romanian). Doar Petrolul. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
5. "La intrarea în arena lupilor, statuia legendarului Ilie Oană dă semne de oboseală" (in Romanian). Telegrama. 18 September 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013.
6. Ilie Oană at National-Football-Teams.com
7. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XVIII – O EDIŢIE MODESTĂ" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XVIII – A MODEST EDITION] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
8. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XIX – MEMORABILUL 7-2 CU CAMPIOANA RIPENSIA" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XIX – THE MEMORABLE 7-2 WITH CHAMPION RIPENSIA] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
9. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XX – REORGANIZARE PĂGUBOASĂ" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XX – DAMAGED REORGANIZATION] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
10. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXI – "Promovare pentru niciunde"" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXI – "Promotion for Nowhere"] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
11. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXII – "ELIMINARE PREMATURĂ DIN CUPĂ"" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXII – "EARLY ELIMINATION FROM THE CUP"] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
12. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXIII – "Din nou bariera giuleșteană"" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXIII – "Again the Giulești barrier"] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
13. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXIV – "Ultimul șut aduce promovarea"" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXIV - "The Last Shot Gets the Promotion"] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
14. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXV – "LA 17 MINUTE DE LOCUL DOI"" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXV – "17 MINUTES FROM SECOND PLACE"] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
15. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXVI – PRIMA SCHIMBARE A NUMELUI" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXVI – FIRST CHANGE OF NAME] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
16. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXVII – CAMPIOANĂ A ŢĂRII LA JUNIORI" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXVII – JUNIOR CHAMPION OF THE COUNTRY] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
17. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXVIII – RETROGRADARE "DRIBLATĂ" ÎN ULTIMA ETAPĂ" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXVIII – RETROGRADE "DRIBBLED" IN THE LAST STAGE] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
18. "File de poveste – perioada Juventus! Episodul XXIX – CEA DIN URMĂ EDIŢIE "BUCUREŞTEANĂ"" [Story files - the Juventus period! Episode XXIX – THE LAST "BUCHARESTIAN" EDITION] (in Romanian). Ploiestiulpatrianoastra.com. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
19. "Ilie Oană". European Football. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
20. "Romania - Hungary 1:1". European Football. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
21. Siminiceanu, Radu (6 April 2003). "Romania National Team 1930-1939 - Details". RSSSF.
22. "Poland - Romania 0:0". European Football. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
23. Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (23 January 2003). "Greece 1969/70". RSSSF.
24. "Romanian Cup – Season 1962–1963". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
25. "60 de ani de la prima calificare a unei echipe românești în primăvara europeană: "Ne-am îmbogățit atunci... De promisiuni! Însă nimic n-ar fi egalat dragostea suporterilor"" [60 years since the first qualification of a Romanian team in the European spring: "We got rich then... From promises! But nothing would have equaled the love of the supporters"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
26. "Ilie Oană manager profile". European Football. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
27. "Romanian Cup – Season 1977–1978". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
28. "Top 60 antrenori" [Top 60 coaches] (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 14 November 2019.

External links

• Ilie Oană at WorldFootball.net
• at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 August 2018) (in Romanian)
• Ilie Oană player profile at EU-Football.info
• Ilie Oană manager profile at EU-Football.info