Constantin Cernăianu (12 October 1933 – 22 June 2015) was a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

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. As a head coach, Cernăianu secured two league titles with clubs outside Bucharest, Petrolul Ploiești and Universitatea Craiova.

Playing career

Constantin Cernăianu was born on 12 October 1933 in

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu (, is the capital city, capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu (river), Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the ...

, Romania, starting to play football in 1949 at local club, Flacăra. In 1954 he went for one year at Știința București, then he returned to Târgu Jiu at Pandurii where he played until 1960 when he retired.

Managerial career

Cernăianu became a football coach shortly after he retired from playing in 1960, becoming Ilie Oană's assistant at Petrolul Ploiești winning together the 1962–63 Cupa României. Cernăianu became the team's head coach in 1965, helping it win the 1965–66 Divizia A championship, thus at age 32 becoming one of the youngest coaches who ever won the title. In the middle of that season he went for a month to study the training sessions of

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

. He then participated with '' The Yellow Wolves'' in the first round of the

1966–67 European Cup The 1966–67 European Cup was the 12th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Celtic for the first time, when they beat Inter Milan 2–1 in the final at the Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, ...

against

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, earning a 3–1 victory which however was not enough to qualify to the next round. In 1968, Ilie Oană came back to Petrolul, Cernăianu being his assistant again until 1969 when Oană left the club to go coach

Panserraikos Panserraikos Football Club (), the ''All-Serres Football Club'', is a Greece, Greek Association football, football club based in Serres in Central Macedonia, Greece. Panserraikos is one of the most important and well-supported clubs in northern G ...

in Greece. From 1969 until 1971 Cernăianu was the team's head coach but then Oană came back again and Cernăianu did not accept to be his assistant anymore, leaving the club. Universitatea Craiova 1973-1974

He went to be head coach at Universitatea Craiova, being close to win the title in the

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

season but "U" finished on the second place on equal points with

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, losing controversially on the goal difference for which poet

Adrian Păunescu Adrian Păunescu (; 20 July 1943 – 5 November 2010) was a Romanian writer, publisher, cultural promoter, translator, and politician. A profoundly charismatic personality, a controversial and complex figure, the artist and the man are almost ...

nicknamed Craiova as "Campioana unei mari iubiri" (The Champion of a great love). In the first round of the

1973–74 UEFA Cup The 1973–74 UEFA Cup was the third season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at White Hart Lane, London, England, and at De Kuip, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It was wo ...

season, "U" Craiova got past

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

with a 1–0 aggregate win, being eliminated in the following one by

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. In the same season he helped Craiova win the league title, which was the first trophy in the club's history. The following season, "U" suffered a 4–3 aggregate loss in front of

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in the first round of the

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, also the team reached the 1975 Cupa României final which was eventually lost after a 2–1 defeat with

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

. Cernăianu is the coach that in 1973 gave 16-year-old

Ilie Balaci Ilie Balaci (; 13 September 1956 – 21 October 2018) was a Romanian football player and manager. A midfielder, he spent 12 of his 15 years as a professional with Universitatea Craiova, appearing in more than 300 official games with the club a ...

his debut in professional football. In the same period he coached in parallel Romania's students football team, winning two

Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a Blend word, portmanteau of the wor ...

gold medals in the 1972 edition that was held in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and the 1974 one from

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. From 1976 until 1978 he was

Ștefan Kovács Ștefan Kovács (; ; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. Having won two European Cup titles, he is one of the most successful association football coaches in the history of the game. Various football magazi ...

's assistant at Romania's national team, failing to qualify to the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

. In 1979 he became head coach of ''The Tricolours'', his first game being a friendly which was lost 3–1 with

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. His following two games were a loss with

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and a victory over

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

at the Euro 1980 qualifiers. He also led the national team in another loss with Yugoslavia at the final of the 1977–80 Balkan Cup, his last game taking place on 2 April 1980 in a 2–2 with

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, having a total of six games consisting of one victory, one draw and four losses. He also worked for Romania's under-20 squad, guiding it at the 1981 World Youth Championship from

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, helping the team finish the tournament in the third position, winning the bronze medal. Afterwards, Cernăianu went to coach several

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

clubs like Sportul Studențesc, Steaua, Dinamo and

Rapid Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

, also he had his first spell abroad, coaching

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia (, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a Cypriot football club based in Nicosia and competes in the . The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cyprus Football Association. The club colors are black and green. ...

which he helped earn promotion to the first league. Since 1987, he went to coach Gloria Bistrița for one year, than he made a comeback at Olympiakos Nicosia, working there for four years until 1992, managing to reach the

1990–91 Cypriot Cup The 1990–91 Cypriot Cup was the 49th edition of the Cypriot Cup. A total of 72 clubs entered the competition. It began on 27 October 1990 with the first preliminary round and concluded on 9 June 1991 with the final which was held at Makario Stad ...

final which was lost with 1–0 in front of

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cypriot professional multi-sport club, established on 4 June 1948 in Nico ...

. Cernăianu has a total of 390 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division,

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

consisting of 168 victories, 93 draws and 129 losses.

Works

In 1997, he wrote a book about football coaching called ''(The Professional Coach's Handbook)''.

Death

Cernăianu died on 22 June 2015 at the age of 81.

Honours

Manager

Petrolul Ploiești *

: 1965–66 Universitatea Craiova *

: 1973–74, runner-up

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

runner-up: 1974–75 Olympiakos Nicosia *

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division () is the second highest association football, football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administered by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with the top three teams being Prom ...

: 1983–84 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

runner-up: 1990–91 Romania University *

World University Championships The FISU World University Championships are part of the sporting events of the International University Sports Federation. Launched the FISU World University Championships in 1963, with Lund, Sweden hosting the Handball event. Championships In ...

: 1972, 1974

References

External links

Constantin Cernaianu
at Labtof.ro {{DEFAULTSORT:Cernaianu, Constantin 1933 births 2015 deaths Footballers from Târgu Jiu Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Sportul Studențesc București players Romanian football managers FC Petrolul Ploiești managers CS Universitatea Craiova managers FCSB managers FC Dinamo București managers Olympiakos Nicosia managers FC Rapid București managers Romanian expatriate football managers Romania national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Romanian writers Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian writers 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian sportsmen