Mircea David (16 October 1914 – 12 October 1993) was a

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 ...

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 ...

player, who played as a

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 ...

. After a match between

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

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 re ...

, played in Rome, he was nicknamed by the Italian football fans ''Il Dio'', because of his incredible saves. He was a member of the

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), al ...

which competed at the

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beat ...

, but did not play any match.

Early life

Mircea David was born in

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after t ...

, in October 1914. After a short period of time, Mircea moved, with his family, to

Oradea Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...

.George Mihalache, ''Il Dio şi diavolii din faţa porţii'', Bucharest: Editura Albatros, 1979 In the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, David began to play oina, a

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

, similar to

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. After a time, he started to play football with his older friends. But after a while, bored because he was often selected as a

, he refused to play football and he went to

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

. In the summer holiday, his father bought him a

. Because of that, he started to play football again. Moreover, he attended the match between the local team

CA Oradea Club Atletic Oradea (Nagyváradi Atlétikai Club) (), commonly known as CA Oradea (Nagyváradi AC), or simply as CAO (NAC), is a Romanian Association football, football club based in Oradea, Bihor County, which competes in the Liga IV. The team ...

and

Wacker Wien Wacker may refer to: People *Wacker von Wackenfels * The Whacker, poker player Garry Bush's nickname * Wacker (surname) * ''Wacker'', a colloquial term for an inhabitant of Liverpool, England; a partial synonym for "scouser" Places * Wacker (He ...

, and he admired the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Rudy Hiden. This was the reason because he chose to be a

Career

Club career

In 1933, he started his senior career at

Clubul Atletic Oradea Club Atletic Oradea (Nagyváradi Atlétikai Club) (), commonly known as CA Oradea (Nagyváradi AC), or simply as CAO (NAC), is a Romanian Association football, football club based in Oradea, Bihor County, which competes in the Liga IV. The team ...

. In one of his first matches for

CAO Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations * Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club *Canadian Assoc ...

, he saved seven penalty kicks in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Minerul Lupeni Clubul Sportiv Viitorul Minerul Lupeni, commonly known as Minerul Lupeni, is a Romanian football club based in Lupeni, Hunedoara County which competes in Liga IV – Hunedoara County, the fourth tier of the Romanian football league system. Estab ...

. He continued to play well at his club, where he stayed until 1938, when he was sold to

Venus București Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

together with his teammate Gusztáv Juhász because the club was in a

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

. In his first season at

, he won the Romanian championship with his team. In the next season, he repeated the performance. He remained at Venus until 1947, when he left the Bucharest-based team for 23 August a team from

Lugoj Lugoj (; hu, Lugos; german: Lugosch; sr, Лугош, Lugoš; bg, Лугож; tr, Logoş) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves, the so-called "Romanian Lugoj" ...

. In 1948, he returned to his first club, renamed IC Oradea, to win for the third time

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 ...

. In 1952, he retired from playing.

Manager career

After his retirement as a player, Mircea David began his managerial career at FC Politehnica Iași. After winning the promotion to

in 1960, he renounced to be a manager and was appointed as a member in the structure of

Romanian Football Federation Romanian Football Federation (), also known by its acronym FRF, is the sports governing body, governing body of association football, football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated to FIFA and UEFA sinc ...

International career

David made his debut for the

in October 1936, in a match lost against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the 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 a ...

.Romania national football team : 1936–1940
In 1938, he was selected in the Romanian squad for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, but did not play in the two matches between

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. On 14 April 1940, Mircea David was selected in the starting lineup for the match between

and

, the World Champions. The match, which took place at

Stadio Nazionale PNF The Stadio Nazionale del PNF (English: National Stadium of the National Fascist Party) was a multi-purpose stadium in Rome, Italy. It hosted three of the 17 matches of the 1934 FIFA World Cup, including the final between hosts Italy and Czechoslov ...

, was the game when David became a legend. After a first half dominated by the Italians, David was already a hero for

, because of a couple of marvellous saves in front of

Silvio Piola Silvio Piola (; 29 September 1913 – 4 October 1996) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He is known as a highly prominent figure in the history of Italian football due to several records he set, and he is regarded as one of the ...

and

Sergio Bertoni Sergio Bertoni (; 23 September 1915 – 15 February 1995) was an Italian association football manager and player, who played as a striker. With the Italy national team, he won the 1936 Summer Olympics football tournament and the 1938 FIFA Wor ...

took the lead shortly after the break, when

Iuliu Baratky Gyula Barátky ( ro, Iuliu Baratky; 14 May 1910 – 14 April 1962) was an ethnic Hungarian football player who represented both Hungary and Romania internationally. His preferred position was the half right. He played a total of 155 games in ...

scored the first goal of the match. Despite receiving two goals from

Amedeo Biavati Amedeo Biavati (; 4 April 1915 – 22 April 1979) was an Italian footballer, who was born in Bologna. He was usually deployed as forward or as a midfielder on the wing. A very fast and creative player, with an eye for goal, precise crossing, an ...

and

and being seriously injured after a collision with

, David was determined not to give up. He continued to rescue his team by plunging in the feet of the Italian

strikers Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Until the end of the game, he jumped in air to catch a ball and, after a wonderful save, he felt on the ground and

fainted Syncope, commonly known as fainting, or passing out, is a loss of consciousness and muscle strength characterized by a fast onset, short duration, and spontaneous recovery. It is caused by a decrease in blood flow to the brain, typically from ...

. He continued to play after awaking and ended the match in the ground. He received praises from Vitorio Pozzo, the only manager who won twice the

. Pozzo said : "With Piola as a striker and David in the goal, a manager doesn't have any problem to win a game". He was also praised by Silvio Piola and the Italian fans, who nicknamed him ''"Il Dio"''.

Honours

Player

Venus București *

(2): 1938–39, 1939–40 IC Oradea *

(1): 1948–49

Coach

Politehnica Iași *

Divizia B 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 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

(1): 1959–60

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:David, Mircea 1914 births 1938 FIFA World Cup players 1993 deaths Romanian footballers Romania international footballers People from Sinaia CA Oradea players Venus București players CSM Lugoj players Liga I players Liga II players Romanian football managers Burials at Eternitatea cemetery Association football goalkeepers