Alexandru Apolzan (6 February 1927 – 23 December 1982) was a Romanian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who played as a defender, mainly for Steaua București and also for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. He has been credited with the invention of the sweeper role and is considered one of the best sweepers in the history of Romanian football, with only

Miodrag Belodedici Miodrag Belodedici (; sr, Миодраг Белодедић, Miodrag Belodedić; born 20 May 1964) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a sweeper. Nicknamed ''the deer'' due to his elegant tackles, he spent the majority o ...

and

Gheorghe Popescu Gheorghe "Gică" Popescu (; born 9 October 1967) is a Romanian former professional football who played as a defender. He notably played in La Liga where he is a former captain of FC Barcelona. He played for a string of European clubs in tha ...

, in recent years, being able to play at a similar level.

Playing career

It was the Romanian Apolzan who first played as sweeper, while at Steaua București. However, Apolzan played during the darkest period in the history of

, when the connections with the outside world were almost cut completely. Apolzan signed his first contract with Şoimii, a local team from

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

, in 1941. After the war he joins the squad of CFR Bucharest and then between 1949 and 1962, he played for Steaua București until his retirement. Hungarian coach

Gusztáv Sebes Gusztáv Sebes (born Gusztáv Scharenpeck; 22 January 1906 – 30 January 1986) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. With the title of Deputy Minister of Sport, he coached the Hungarian team known as the ''Mighty Magyars'' in the 1950s. A ...

, the builder of the Hungarian team from the first half of the 1950s – the ''Magical Magyars'', said in 1954, after the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerla ...

that Apolzan,

Ion Voinescu Ion "Țop" Voinescu (18 April 1929 – 9 March 2018) was a Romanian footballer, who is often considered one of the finest goalkeepers Romania has ever produced. Voinescu joined his first club, Olympia București, in 1939 just before the start ...

and

Titus Ozon Titus Ozon (13 May 1927 – 24 November 1996) was a Romanian international football striker and manager. He was considered one of the greatest talents of the postwar in the Romanian football, famous for his extraordinary ability to dribble. Car ...

are at the same level as his own Hungarian players and that he would be proud to be able to coach them. He also won 22 caps for

. It was however an era when Romania used to play less than five games per year.

Honours

Steaua Bucharest *

Romanian League The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

(6):

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

: 1948–49,

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

References

External links

Profile
at SteauaFC.com * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apolzan, Alexandru 1927 births 1982 deaths Sportspeople from Sibiu Romanian footballers Liga I players FC Rapid București players FC Steaua București players Association football sweepers Romania international footballers

Playing career

Honours

References

Further reading

External links