Mircea Petescu
Mircea Petescu (15 May 1942 – 16 December 2018)[3] was a Romanian professional footballer and coach.[4]
| Petescu in 1962 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mircea Viorel Petescu | ||
| Date of birth | 15 May 1942 | ||
| Place of birth | Pecica, Arad County, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 16 December 2018 (aged 76) | ||
| Place of death | Vosselaar, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1959–1960 | UTA Arad | 10 | (1) |
| 1960–1963 | Știința Timișoara | 50 | (2) |
| 1962–1963 | → Viitorul București (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 1963–1967 | Steaua București | 80 | (1) |
| 1967–1973 | UTA Arad | 172 | (20) |
| 1973–1975 | FC Dordrecht | ||
| Total | 326 | (24) | |
| International career | |||
| 1964–1968 | Romania[a] | 5 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1973–1975 | FC Dordrecht (assistant) | ||
| 1975–1977 | NEC (assistant) | ||
| 1977–1978 | Telstar | ||
| 1978–1980 | Sparta | ||
| 1981–1982 | DS'79 | ||
| 1982–1984 | 's-Gravenzandse SV | ||
| 1985–1988 | Go Ahead Eagles (manager) | ||
| 1988 | Go Ahead Eagles (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
Club career
Mircea Petescu was born on 15 May 1942 in Pecica.[5][6][7][8] He made his Divizia A debut on 6 September 1959 playing for UTA Arad in a 2–2 against Steagul Roșu Brașov.[5] After only one season spent at UTA, he went to play for rival Știința Timișoara for three seasons, a club which loaned him at Viitorul București for a half-season.[5][6][7][8] In 1963, Petescu went to play for Steaua București for four seasons, where he helped the team win two Cupa României.[2][5][6][7][8] In 1967, he returned at UTA, where he would play for six seasons, helping the team under the guidance of coach Nicolae Dumitrescu win two consecutive Divizia A titles, contributing at the first with 8 goals scored in 27 appearances and in the second with 30 games played with one goal scored.[5][6][7][8][9] He also made some European performances with The Old Lady as leading the team as captain when they managed to eliminate the defending European Cup champions Feyenoord in the 1970–71 European Cup season and playing 8 games in the 1971–72 UEFA Cup campaign when the team reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur who would eventually win the competition.[5][6][10] Petescu ended his playing career at FC Dordrecht in Netherlands, he has a total of 326 Divizia A appearances in which he scored 24 goals and 22 appearances in European competitions.[5][6][7][8]
International career
Mircea Petescu played two games for Romania, making on 27 October 1968 under coach Angelo Niculescu in a 3–0 loss against Portugal at the 1970 World Cup qualifiers.[1][11] His second game was a friendly which ended 0–0 against England.[1] He also played three games for Romania's Olympic team at the 1964 Summer Olympics, helping the team finish in the 5th place.[12]
Managerial career
After years of preparation, Petescu and his wife defected while on a state-approved vacation to the Netherlands.[13] There he started a coaching career and became known for promoting youngsters in the teams he coached. He coached Louis van Gaal at Telstar and Sparta and discovered Danny Blind amongst many other players.[4][14]
Sports agent career
After he ended his career as a football player and manager, Petescu became a sports agent.[7][8] After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Petescu made the first important transfer for the Romanian football, Gheorghe Hagi's move from Steaua București to Real Madrid for 4 million $.[7][8] He also worked at the transfers of Gheorghe Popescu to PSV Eindhoven, Ioan Sabău to Feyenoord and Dorinel Munteanu to Cercle Brugge.[7][8]
Honours
Club
UTA Arad
Steaua București
International
Romania U18
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "Mircea Petescu". European Football. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d Mircea Petescu at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ "Voormalig trainer Mircea Petescu overleden" (in Dutch). sparta-rotterdam.nl. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- ^ a b Mircea Petescu: "Eu l-am descoperit pe Van Gaal!" Cine e Mircea Petescu? – Libertatea (in Romanian)
- ^ a b c d e f g Mircea Petescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
- ^ a b c d e f "A murit Mircea Petescu, impresarul care l-a dus pe Gică Hagi la Real Madrid. A fost căpitan la UTA, când arădenii au eliminat-o pe Feyenoord" [Mircea Petescu, the manager who took Gica Hagi to Real Madrid, has died. He was captain at UTA, when the Arad team eliminated Feyenoord] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "A murit Mircea Petescu, unul dintre primii impresari ai anilor 90, omul care i-a dus pe Hagi la Real Madrid și Gică Popescu la PSV Eindhoven. Fostul căpitan de la UTA suferea de Alzheimer" [Mircea Petescu died, one of the first sports agent of the 90s, the man who took Hagi to Real Madrid and Gică Popescu to PSV Eindhoven. The former UTA captain was suffering from Alzheimer's disease] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Mircea Petescu, cel care l-a dus pe Hagi la Real Madrid, a murit. Drama prin care a trecut în ultimii ani" [Mircea Petescu, who took Hagi to Real Madrid, has died. The drama he's been through for the last few years] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Fotbalul de altă dată: UTA Arad – Tottenham Hotspur, Cupa UEFA, 1972" [Football of another time: UTA Arad - Tottenham Hotspur, UEFA Cup, 1972] (in Romanian). Tackle.ro. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Portugal 3-0 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ "Mircea Petescu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ Poul Annema, Petescu, van vedette tot anonyme, Nieuwe Leidsche Courant, 8 September 1973. (in Dutch)
- ^ Roemeense krant betitelt Van Gaal als 'Van Hitler' – AD (in Dutch)
External links
- Mircea Petescu at olympic.org
- Mircea Petescu at WorldFootball.net