Ladislau "Loți" Iosif Bölöni (; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professional

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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player. After starting out at ASA Târgu Mureș, Bölöni became an integral part of the Steaua București team that won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

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 ...

, making it the only Romanian team—and one of two

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

an sides—to have achieved the honour. He was twice named Romanian Footballer of the Year and took part in 484

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 ...

games, the fourth-most appearances in the history of the competition. Internationally, Bölöni earned 102

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, which ranks him fifth in the nation's all-time list, and scored 23 goals, the sixth highest all-time mark. He is thus considered one of the best Romanian footballers in history. Following his retirement as a player, he went on to coach clubs in France, Portugal, the Arabian Peninsula, Belgium and Greece. Bölöni was also at the helm of the Romania national team between 2000 and 2001. In terms of trophies won, his most successful stints were at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

and

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 ...

, with three domestic honours each.

Club career

Bölöni was born in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

, Romania, into an ethnic Hungarian family from

Târnăveni Târnăveni (, historically Diciosânmartin; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Dicsőszentmárton'', ; German language, German: ''Sankt Martin'', earlier ''Marteskirch'') is a Municipalities of Romania, city in Mureș County, central Romania. It li ...

. His first team was Chimica Târnăveni, and in 1970 he moved to ASA Târgu Mureș. He stayed there until 1984, when he joined Steaua București, where he was part of the team which won the 1986 European Cup Final (where he missed his penalty in the shootout) 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 original ...

the following year. Bölöni remained at Steaua until 1987. In 1988, aged 35, Bölöni left the country to play in Belgium at Racing Jet Wavre, and then in France at

Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...

. He retired from professional football in 1992. On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by Romanian president

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II, for his part in winning the European Cup in 1986.

International career

Bölöni won the

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 medal with Romania's students football team in the 1974 edition that was held in France, playing alongside Gheorghe Mulțescu, Dan Păltinișanu, Romulus Chihaia and Paul Cazan. Playing for the Romania national team in 1983, Bölöni scored one of his most notable goals, in the 1–0 win against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in a Euro 84 qualification match, which eventually proved invaluable to the country's qualification for the tournament. At the finals themselves in France, he played in all three of Romania's games, and scored the equaliser in the 1–1 draw with

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Stade Geoffroy-Guichard () is a multi-purpose stadium in Saint-Étienne, France. It is used primarily for football matches, and tournaments such as the UEFA Euro 1984 and 2016, the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. It i ...

. In total, Bölöni won 102

for Romania and scored 23 goals—or 108 caps and 25 goals if the Olympic games qualification is included.

Managerial career

As a football coach, Bölöni started with French club Nancy, where he was head coach for several years. He promoted with the team in Division 1. In 2000, he was appointed as national team coach, but in the summer of 2001 decided to leave the job. Then he joined

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

's club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, where he won both the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

and

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

in his first year. He was fired at the end of the next season due to mediocre results. His legacy at Sporting was the introduction of youth team players such as Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Viana and

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

into the senior's team starting lineup. In 2003, he returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as manager of

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. In 2005, he managed the team to their best position in history (4th in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

), and a subsequent

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

qualification. In May 2006, Bölöni signed a two-year contract with

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, but was fired on 23 October for lack of results. Monaco were 19th out of 20 in the league. On 9 June 2008, Belgian team

appointed Bölöni as their new manager, as he succeeded

Michel Preud'homme Michel Georges Jean Ghislain Preud'homme (born 24 January 1959) is a Belgian retired association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Currently, he is vic ...

, who led the club to their first

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

title in 25 years ( season 2007–2008). On 24 May 2009, he won the Belgian First Division title in his first season at Standard ( season 2008–2009) after playing the championship play-off against

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

. On 10 February 2010, Bölöni resigned from his coaching position at Standard Liege. On 29 May 2010, it was officially announced that Bölöni signed a contract with Emirati club Al Wahda. On 2 September 2010, Al Wahda sacked Bölöni, despite the team's 3–1 win over Ittihad Kalba. On 2 January 2011, he was hired by

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

, on a one-year contract, but he couldn't save the team from relegation. Bölöni was immediately released in June, and signed a two-year contract with

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

on 8 June 2011, following a short negotiation period.

PAOK

Bölöni's tenure at PAOK started with two wins against

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

for the Third Qualifying Round of

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with ...

, that brought them against Karpaty Lviv for the Play-off round. PAOK won the first leg at home and drew the second leg, qualifying for the group stage. In a tough group that consisted of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...

and

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

, Bölöni's PAOK managed to qualify undefeated at the first place, winning the game at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

on the process, a remarkable feat considering that no Greek team had won at English soil since 1999, when PAOK defeated Arsenal at Highbury. For the round of 32, PAOK faced

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

, and although a 0–0 draw at the first game in Italy spread optimism, a weakened PAOK side was eliminated off the competition when the home leg ended with a 0–3 defeat. All and all, the European presence was positive despite the abrupt end, as PAOK managed six wins out of twelve games, with impressive performances and a milestone win against Tottenham. At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as the team managed to finish third in regular season, with 5th being its final position after Play-off. During the season, PAOK won the away games against

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

and Panathinaikos, marking the end of a winless, ten-year-old tradition against those teams when playing away from home. The team's form was inconsistent though, and the departure – due to the club's financial difficulties – of two of the most significant players of the team, Vieirinha and Pablo Contreras, didn't help matters. Bölöni had to improvise to cover for the roster's lack of depth, with mixed results. Although the season was not deemed successful, fans didn't put the blame on Bölöni, who had won their hearts with his personality, his results against some major opponents and the team's style of play when on good form. On 25 May 2012, PAOK released Bölöni, after a one-year cooperation.

Coaching in the Middle East

Bölöni was hired by Qatari club

Al Khor Al Khor (; also spelled ''Al Khawr''), officially Al Khor and Al Thakhira, is a Municipalities of Qatar, municipality in northeastern Qatar. Al Khor (city), Al Khor City, the municipal seat, is located on the northeast coast of Qatar, around f ...

on 21 June 2012. On 26 January 2013, in a league match against

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club () is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 with the merger of two Qatari football clubs, Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour. They ...

, he was involved in a controversial incident. He threw a water bottle at a ball boy behind the goal after the boy took the ball, which went out of play, off the pitch. The bottle did not hit the boy, however, it was spotted by the match observer, Ali Al-Naimi, who relayed the information to a referee's assistant who eventually informed the referee, Fahad Jaber, who decided to send him off. Instead of going directly to the stands, he chose to illegally stay within the checkpoint. Security officers attempted to guide him off, but he retorted by using foul language and pushing the police officers. As a result, a police report was filed against him. He was later fined 75,000 Qatari riyals by the QFA and banned for 5 matches. In August 2013,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n media speculated that Bölöni might be named the new head coach of

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

, following the sacking of team's former head coach,

Krunoslav Jurčić Krunoslav "Kruno" Jurčić (; born 26 November 1969) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Egyptian Premier League club Pyramids FC. Playing career Club Jurčić started his professional ...

. Bölöni had previously been linked with

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

, Dinamo Zagreb's fierce rival, as well. On 21 July 2015, Saudi club Al Ittihad announced Bölöni as their new coach.

Royal Antwerp

On 16 June 2017, Bölöni was announced as the new manager of Belgian club Royal Antwerp. In his first season at the club, he finished eighth place in the regular season, and third place in the Europa League play-off group, to keep the team safe from relegation. In his second season, Antwerp was the surprise package of the championship, finishing the regular season on sixth place, and qualifying for the championship play-offs for the first time. Antwerp recorded important victories over

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

(1–0),

(2–1), Gent (2–1),

(2–1), as well as a blank draw with

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

in the first half of the play-off, and climbed on the 3rd place, but later losses to these teams meant Antwerp finished fourth, thus going for the Europa League play-offs final. In the final, Antwerp beat

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

3–2 after coming back from 0-2 down in the first minutes. Thus, Antwerp secured qualification in the third qualifying round of

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

after 26 years of absence from Europe. After surprisingly knocking out

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victor ...

on away goals in the third round, Antwerp stopped short of the group stages, as they were subsequently knocked out by AZ in the play-offs. Internally, Bölöni led the team to another fourth-place finish in the league, as well as the Belgian cup final in the 2019–20 season, their first since 1992. However, the competition was postponed until 1 August, due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic, and Bölöni's contract subsequently expired on 20 May, leading his successor Ivan Leko to manage the team for the final.

Gent

On 20 August 2020, Belgian League runners-up Gent announced Bölöni as their new head coach. In September, he was sacked after only three games in charge.

Panathinaikos

On 19 October 2020, Bölöni was announced as the new head coach for Greek club Panathinaikos. He drew his first game 1–1 against

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. On 10 May 2021 Boloni was, for the second time this season, sacked, this time by the Greens after failing to guide them to a European qualification spot; he was replaced by Ivan Jovanović on 24 May. Throughout January 2022, Bölöni was in talks with

Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...

president Răzvan Burleanu to return as manager of the Romania national team, more than twenty years after leaving the job. The failed negotiations led to the appointing of

Edward Iordănescu Edward "Edi" Iordănescu (; born 16 June 1978), sometimes known as Iordănescu Jr., is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Legia ...

instead.

Personal life

When Bölöni was 15, his father died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

while watching him play from the stands. The death of the parent strongly affected him, but Bölöni was persuaded by his mother to continue playing football. She moved from their native city Târnăveni to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

sometime later in her life. During his time at Steaua București, Bölöni also worked as a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

for six years; his daughter followed in his footsteps, and studied

implantology A dental implant (also known as an endosseous implant or fixture) is a prosthesis that interfaces with the bone of the jaw or skull to support a dental prosthesis such as a crown, bridge, denture, or facial prosthesis or to act as an orthodont ...

in France. In 2021, he was hired by the ''

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

'' daily to analyze

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

's matches at the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

, and in the same year revealed his support of the Székely Land football team. Nevertheless, after failed negotiations to take charge of the Romania national team in 2022, Bölöni expressed his regret for not being able to represent his country again. Bölöni holds

Romanian 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, traditional ...

, Hungarian and French nationalities. He acquired French nationality by

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

on 7 July 1998.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

ASA Târgu Mureș *

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

: 1970–71 *

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...

runner-up:

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Steaua București *

: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 *

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 ...

: 1984–85, 1986–87 *

: 1985–86 *

* Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

Romania *

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. ...

: 1977–80 Individual * Romanian Footballer of the Year: 1977, 1983, (''runner-up''): 1976, 1986, (''third place''): 1985, (''fourth place''): 1982, 1987,

Coach

Nancy * Division 2: 1997–98 Sporting CP *

: 2001–02 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Al Jazira *

Gulf Club Champions Cup The AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League (), formerly known as the GCC Champions League, is a regional football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) for clubs from its eight member nations. The tournament was founde ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Standard Liège *

: 2008–09 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Al Khor *