Gheorghe Dungu (5 April 1929 – 15 June 2023) was a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and footballer.

Club career

Gheorghe Dungu was born on 5 April 1929 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

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 ...

and when he was 6 years old his family moved to

Făgăraș Făgăraș (; german: Fogarasch, Fugreschmarkt, hu, Fogaras) is a municipiu, city in central Romania, located in Brașov County. It lies on the Olt (river), Olt River and has a population of 28,330 as of 2011. It is situated in the historical regi ...

where he started playing football at Explosivi Făgăraș, first as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and at the age of fifteen or sixteen in a match against Metrom Brașov, the team's goalkeeper got injured and he replaced him, saving a penalty in the game, coach

Andrei Sepci Andrei Sepci (7 October 1911 – 3 December 1992) is a Romanian former footballer and manager. He was the manager that guided Știința Cluj in its successful 1964–65 Cupa României campaign. International career Andrei Sepci played four g ...

deciding to definitely keep him in the

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

position from then on. In 1947 he went to play for CFR Făgăraș, being noticed by

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

's player Remus Ghiurițan who recommended him to the team's officials. He went on a trial at Rapid and after playing three matches in which he kept a clean sheet, coach

Petre Steinbach Petre Steinbach (January 1, 1906 in Timișoara, Romania – 1996 in Germany), was a Romanian football midfielder and manager. Career His career in club football was spent at CAM Timișoara between 1925 and 1928, also playing for Colțea Brașo ...

decided to keep him at the team. He made his

Divizia A 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 ...

debut for '' The Railwaymen'' on 4 March 1949 in a 3–0 victory against Metalul Reșița, staying with the club until the end of his career in 1963, gaining a total of 207

appearances, being described as "one of the most appreciated goalkeepers" of Rapid. The highlights of his career were two runner-up positions in the 1948–49 and 1950 Divizia A seasons with Rapid, also helping the team reach two

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) 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. I ...

finals in

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 ...

and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

which were lost in front of Arieșul Turda respectively Steaua București and winning the 1957 Cupa Primăverii.

International career

Gheorghe Dungu played two friendly games at international level for

, making his debut on 30 September 1962 under coach

Constantin Teașcă Constantin Teașcă also known as Titi Teașcă (25 September 1922 – 30 July 1996) was a Romanian association football, football play and manager. Teașcă was the manager of Romania national football team, Romania in 1962 and 1967. He managed ...

who used him in the first 80 minutes, being replaced for the last 10 by

Vasile Sfetcu Vasile Sfetcu (10 May 1937 - 16 September 2016) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Club career Vasile Sfetcu was born on 10 May 1937 in Ploiești, Romania, starting to play football at junior level in 1951 at local club, Metalul, ...

in a 4–0 victory against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

which was played on the 23 August Stadium from

. In the second game which took place on 14 October 1962 he was used by Teașcă in all the minutes of the 3–2 away loss in front

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Managerial career

Gheorghe Dungu coached several teams from the Romanian lower leagues, the first one being Progresul Alexandria in 1963, he also had a spell abroad as the national team of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

's coach from 1972 until 1974, he also worked at junior level at the youth centers of Steaua București and

and in the 1985–86 Divizia A season he was the assistant of Ion Motroc at Rapid.

Personal life

Dungu was married to Silvia Popescu. He died on 15 June 2023 at age 94.

Honours

Rapid București *

runner-up: 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 ...

runner-up: 1960–61, 1961–62 *Cupa Primăverii: 1957

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dungu, Gheorghe 1929 births 2023 deaths Romanian footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Romania men's international footballers Sportspeople from Bucharest Liga I players Liga II players FC Rapid București players Romanian football managers ASC Oțelul Galați managers Zanzibar national football team managers Romanian expatriate football managers