Ioan "Ionuț" Angelo Lupescu (born 9 December 1968) is a Romanian former football player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Club career

Ioan Lupescu, nicknamed ''Kaiserul'' was born on 9 December 1968 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 and started to play football in 1975 at the youth of Austrian club, Admira Wacker, the club where his father, Nicolae played until his retirement. When his family returned to Romania, he went to play for

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' ...

, being rejected after a trial, but after his family moved from

Grivița Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, thei ...

to the Pantelimon neighborhood he went to play for junior squad of the team his father was senior coach, Mecanică Fină București, but after a while at the pressure of his mother who wanted to see him play for a bigger team he went at

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 ...

's youth center where he worked with Iosif Varga. On 21 September 1986 at age 17, he made his Divizia A debut under coach

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 ...

in a 4–1 home victory against SC Bacău, also Lucescu gave him the captain armband at age 19. The highlights of his period spent with '' The Red Dogs'' were the quarter-finals reached in the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup where they were eliminated on the away goals rule after 1–1 on aggregate by

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

and in the following season the club won the title and the cup with Lupescu playing 29 Divizia A matches with four goals scored, also appearing in 6 matches in which he scored one goal in the

1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1989–90 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won for the only time by Sampdoria in the final against Anderlecht, 2–0 at Nya Ullevi in Gothenburg, on 9 May 1990. They went on to win 1990–91 Serie A, also being runners-up in the 199 ...

where Dinamo reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated after 2–0 on aggregate by Anderlecht. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Lupescu had offers to play in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

from

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

and

's team, Pisa, but he chosed to make his own path in football, going to play in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

where he made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut on 11 August 1990 when he was sent by coach Jürgen Gelsdorf in the 68th minute in order to replace Marcus Feinbier in a 1–1 against Bayern Munich, but the biggest performances achieved during his 6 seasons spent at the club were under coach

Dragoslav Stepanović Dragoslav Stepanović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгослав Степановић, ; born 30 August 1948) is a Serbian retired football player and coach. Club career Stepanović made his name with OFK Beograd where he was a right back fixture for 11 y ...

which consisted of the triumph in the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal and the reaching of the

1994–95 UEFA Cup The 1994–95 UEFA Cup was won by Parma on aggregate over Juventus. Internazionale were the defending champions with a wild card, but were knocked out in the first round by Aston Villa. New format Twenty-two national champions were demoted to ...

semi-finals with Lupescu making 10 appearances in the campaign. In 1996 he went to play for two seasons at fellow

team, Borussia Mönchengladbach, afterwards returning in Romania at Dinamo where in the 1999–00 season he helped the club win The Double, being used by coach

Cornel Dinu Cornel Dinu (born 2 August 1948) is a Romanian retired professional footballer and manager who played as a sweeper or a defensive midfielder. He started out his playing career at hometown club Metalul Târgoviște in 1965, and went on to spend ...

in 29 Divizia A matches in which he scored six goals. In 2000, Lupescu went to play in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

only for a half of season in which he was also the team's captain, after which he paid his termination clause of 225.000$ in order to come back at Dinamo, helping the team win at the end of the season the

2000–01 Cupa României The 2000–01 Cupa României was the 63rd edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Dinamo București against Rocar București. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. First round prop ...

. He started the 2001–02 season at Dinamo, but in October 2001, he signed a contract with

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

club Al-Hilal, working with Portuguese coach Artur Jorge, but could not adapt, because of the high climate, leaving the club in January 2002, however at the end of the season, both clubs won the title. Ioan Lupescu has a total of 227 matches and 10 goals scored in

, 183 matches and 25 goals scored in Divizia A, 9 games with two goals scored in

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

, 5 appearances and one goal scored in

Saudi Premier League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

and 46 games played with 3 goals scored in European competitions (including 2 appearances and one goal in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foo ...

International career

Ioan Lupescu made 74 appearances for

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

and scored six goals, making his debut on 3 February 1988 when coach

Emerich Jenei Emerich Jenei or Imre Jenei (also known as Emeric Jenei or Ienei; 22 March 1937) is a Romanian former football player and coach of Hungarian ethnicity. He is considered one of Romania's best Managers, alongside Ştefan Kovács, Mircea Lucesc ...

sent him on the field in the 81st minute in order to replace

Ioan Sabău Ioan Ovidiu Sabău (born 12 February 1968) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Club career Ioan Sabău, nicknamed ''Moțul'' after the people from Țara Moților because of his ambition, was born on 12 February 1968 ...

in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 victory against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He played one match at the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers, being used by coach

in three matches from the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, including in the game from the eight-finals where the team got eliminated by

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He played 8 games and scored one goal at the Euro 1992 qualifiers, made 9 appearances and scored 3 goals at the successful 1994 World Cup qualifiers, being part of the "Golden Generation" that passed the group stage, eliminated with a 3–2 victory

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 second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the eight-finals, being eliminated after the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

by Sweden in the quarter-finals of the

, being used by coach

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 Februar ...

as a starter in all five games. He played 9 games at the successful Euro 1996 qualifiers, being used by coach

in all the minutes of the 1–0 loss against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, as a starter, but replaced at half-time by Constantin Gâlcă in the 1–0 loss against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and introduced in the 86th minute in order to replace

Daniel Prodan Daniel Claudiu Prodan (23 March 1972 – 16 November 2016) was a Romanian footballer who played mainly as a central defender. In a career marred by injuries, he played mainly for Steaua București and represented the Romania national team in o ...

in the 2–1 loss against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, as

did not pass the group stage. He played two games at the successful 1998 World Cup qualifiers, however he was not part of the squad that went to play at the

and went on to play 9 games at the successful Euro 2000 qualifiers, being used by coach

at the

in the group game which ended 1–1 against

when he replaced Viorel Moldovan in the 85th minute and in the quarter-final against

which ended with a 2–0 loss when he replaced Constantin Gâlcă in the 68th minute. Ioan Lupescu's last game played for the national team took part on 7 October 2000 in a 3–0 away loss against

at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. On 25 March 2008 Lupescu was decorated by

President of Romania The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An indi ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...

for contributing as general manager of the Romanian Football Federation at the national team's successful

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lupescu goal.''

Coaching career

In 2003, Lupescu acquired his coaching license at the German Sport University of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He started to work as a

in the second part of the

2003–04 Divizia A The 2003–04 Divizia A was the eighty-sixth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Season began in August 2003 and ended in June 2004. Dinamo București became champions on 3 June 2004. Team changes Relegated The team ...

season, helping

FCM Bacău Asociația Sportivă a Suporterilor FCM 1950 Bacău, commonly known as ASS FCM 1950 Bacău, FCM 1950 Bacău or simply as FCM Bacău, is a Romanian football club based in Bacău, Bacău County. Founded in 1950 as ''Dinamo Bacău'', the club fro ...

avoid relegation. In the following season he worked at FC Brașov in Divizia A but left the club after refusing to participate at a fixed match against Gloria Bistrița, insisting in front of the club's leader, Romeo Pașcu to play the game fairly, promising that he will leave the club if he loses, Pașcu accepted the deal, but the game was lost with 3–1, so Lupescu resigned, shortly afterwards being named general manager at the Romanian Football Federation by president Mircea Sandu, years later working as a technical director at

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

and became a member of FIFA's Technical and Development Committee.

Personal life

Lupescu is the son of former Romanian national player Nicolae Lupescu, who for a time also served as a manager.

Honours

Dinamo București * Divizia A: 1989–90, 1999–00, 2001–02 * Cupa României: 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2000–01 Bayer Leverkusen *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

Al-Hilal *

: 2001–02

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lupescu, Ioan 1968 births Living people Romanian footballers Association football midfielders Romania international footballers Footballers from Bucharest FC Dinamo București players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Bursaspor footballers Al Hilal SFC players Bundesliga players Liga I players Süper Lig players Saudi Professional League players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players Romanian football managers FC Brașov (1936) managers FCM Bacău managers Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia