Gavril Pele "Gabi" Balint (born 3 January 1963) is a

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 ...

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 ...

manager and former player, who was part of the hugely successful Steaua team of the 1980s.

Club career

Born in

Sângeorz-Băi Sângeorz-Băi (also spelled ''Sîngeorz-Băi'', ; Hungarian: ''Oláhszentgyörgy''; german: Sankt Georgen) is a spa resort and town in the mountain region of Bistrița-Năsăud County in Transylvania, Romania. The town administers two villages ...

Bistrița (; german: link=no, Bistritz, archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , hu, Beszterce) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of approxima ...

, Balint 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 with Steaua București in 1981 where he played until 1990 winning the league titles in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, the

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, traditiona ...

in 1985, 1987 and 1989, the

1985–86 European Cup The 1985–86 European Cup was the 31st season of UEFA's premier club football tournament, the European Cup. The European Champion Clubs' Cup was won by Steaua București on penalties in the final against Barcelona. Steaua București became th ...

and the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

in 1987. At the end of the 1989–90 season, Balint became the top goalscorer of the

with 19 goals. He scored the second and last goal at the penalties shoot-out during the 1986 European Cup final, helping his team, Steaua to win the trophy. In 1990, he was bought by Real Burgos for $1,000,000. He played for the Spanish side until his retirement in 1993.

International career

Balint was capped 34 times by

, and scored 14 goals. He played at the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

where he scored twice, against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

International goals

:''Romania's goal tally first.''

Managerial career

Balint started his coaching career in 1994, aged 31, when he was appointed as assistant coach of

under

Anghel Iordănescu Anghel Iordănescu (; born 4 May 1950), also known as "Tata Puiu", is a Romanian former footballer and former manager of the Romania national team, who played as a forward. In 2007, Iordănescu retired from football, and the following Februa ...

's regime. Four years later comes his first chance as head coach after taking charge at Sportul Studențesc, but in May 2000 he is called again to join the coaching staff of

as the squad prepared for the

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

. In the summer of 2000, Balint was requested by

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club Dynamo Kyiv. He is one of the most decorated managers of all time. Lucescu is also ...

as his assistant for

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, however he left the job after only one season, to join again

as assistant coach, this time under

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe "Gică" Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner and manager of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of ...

. After Hagi resigned, Balint went to

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff (russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnist ...

for his second job as head coach, taking the team in 2002. In 2003, he returned to Romania and signed for Sportul Studențesc, now in

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting c ...

and helped the team win promotion back to

Liga I 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 ...

. Balint returned as assistant coach for Galatasaray in 2004 to work again with Gheorghe Hagi. In 2005, he was appointed assistant coach of

FCU Politehnica Timișoara FCU may refer to: Organisations * Fission Uranium Corp. (TSX code: FCU), a Canadian mining company Education * Feng Chia University, in Taichung, Taiwan * Filamer Christian University, in Roxas, Capiz, Philippines * Fukien Christian University, ...

, working again with Hagi. When Hagi left, a few months later, Balint resigned also. Two years later, Balint returned to FC Timișoara, this time as a head coach. In 2010, he became the head coach of the Moldova national team, but after the campaign for the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

, his contract ended and was not renewed. He then became a television pundit, signing a contract with Digi Sport. In April 2013, Balint returned to coaching, signing a contract for one and a half years with FC Vaslui. In 2014 he was named head coach of

side

CS Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (), CS U Craiova, or simply U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football team based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian leag ...

and helped the club win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for the top-flight

Career statistics

: 264 games, 69 goals *

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

: 83 games, 28 goals *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 30 games, 6 goals *

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

: 2 games, 0 goals *

Romania national football team The Romania national football team ( ro, Echipa națională de fotbal a României) represents Romania in international men's football competition and is administered by the Romanian Football Federation ( ro, Federația Română de Fotbal), also ...

: 34 caps, 14 goals

As a manager

Honours

As a player

* Steaua București ** Romanian League: *** Winner: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89 *** Runner-up: 1983–84, 1989–90 **

: *** Winner: 1984–85, 1986–87, 1988–89 *** Runner-up: 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90 **

: *** Winner: 1985–86 *** Runner-up: 1988–89 **

: *** Winner:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

** Intercontinental Cup: *** Runner-up:

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

: *** Third-place:

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

As a manager

** Divizia Națională: *** Winner: 2002–03 **

Moldovan Super Cup Moldovan Super Cup ( ro, Supercupa Moldovei) is the national football super cup competition in Moldova, officially having the winners of the previous season's Moldovan National Division and Moldovan Cup face-off against each other. In case when th ...

: *** Winner: 2003 **

CIS Cup The Commonwealth of Independent States Cup (russian: Кубок чемпионов Содружества, Кубок Содружества, Кубок чемпионов содружества стран СНГ и Балтии) is a defunct ann ...

*** Winner:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

Trivia

* Balint has a passion for music and

Harley Davidson Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, in Lo ...

. He even produced his own CD. * He is named Pele because his father was a fan of the three time

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

winner

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balint, Gavril 1963 births Living people People from Sângeorz-Băi Romanian footballers Romania international footballers Romania youth international footballers FC Steaua București players Real Burgos CF footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players Liga I players La Liga players Association football forwards Romanian football managers Romanian expatriate football managers FC Sheriff Tiraspol managers Moldova national football team managers FC Politehnica Timișoara managers FC Bihor Oradea managers FC Vaslui managers Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate football managers in Moldova Expatriate football managers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey FC Sportul Studențesc București managers CS Universitatea Craiova managers Moldovan Super Liga managers