Mihai Mocanu (24 February 1942 – 18 June 2009) was 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 ...

n football defender.

Club career

Mihai Mocanu was born on 24 February 1942 in

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

, starting to play football in 1952 at local club, Locomotiva, afterwards going to play for Rafinăria Câmpina, returning to his hometown at Electrica where he finished his junior career, starting his senior career in

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 ...

, playing for two seasons at SNM Constanța, afterwards going for one season at fellow

club, Chimia Făgăraș. He went to play for Petrolul Ploiești, making 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 on 25 August 1963 in a 2–1 away loss against

UTA Arad Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States * University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad * A ...

, making a total of 201 appearances with 6 goals scored in the competition over the course of 9 seasons in which he also helped the '' Yellow Wolves'' win the 1965–66 Divizia A, being used by coach

Constantin Cernăianu Constantin Cernăianu (12 October 1933 – 22 June 2015) was a Romanian football player and coach. As a manager, Cernăianu won league titles with non-Bucharest based clubs, Petrolul Ploiești and Universitatea Craiova. Managerial honours P ...

in 26 matches. He played 3 games for Petrolul in the first round of the

1966–67 European Cup The 1966–67 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Celtic for the first time in the final against Internazionale, who eliminated defending champions Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, making them the first British team in ...

against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

which include a 3–1 victory, however they did not manage to qualify to the next round and also he appeared in 6 games in which he scored one goal in the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

. After he made his last

appearance for Petrolul on 12 December 1971 in a 1–0 home loss against

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est The Jiul de Est ("Eastern Jiu", previously also known as ) is a headwater of the river Jiu in Romania. Its source is in the Șureanu Mountains. At ...

, Mocanu went to play in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (" Harmony"; also tran ...

for two seasons with fellow Romanian, Constantin Frățilă, winning the title and the cup in 1974. He returned in Romania, playing another two seasons for Petrolul, this time in

, retiring in 1976. In July 2006, a part of Mocanu's right leg was amputated as he was diagnosed with

ischemia Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems wi ...

, dying on 18 June 2009.

International career

Mihai Mocanu played 31 games at international level of

, making his debut on 1 June 1966 under coach

Ilie Oană Ilie Oană (16 August 1918 – 27 April 1993) was a football player and manager who represented and coached the Romania national football team. Career Oană was born in Indiana Harbor to Romanian parents who emigrated from Transylvania before ...

in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 loss against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He went on to play four games at the Euro 1968 qualifiers and two at the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers, being used at 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 ...

by coach Angelo Niculescu in all the minutes of the three group matches as

did not advance to the next stage and had a appreciated performance in the 3–2 loss against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the duel with his direct opponent,

Jairzinho Jair Ventura Filho (born 25 December 1944), better known as Jairzinho (), is a Brazilian former footballer. A quick, skillful, and powerful right winger known for his finishing ability and eye for goal, he was a key member and top scorer of th ...

. He made three appearances at the 1972 Euro qualifiers, including his last appearance which took place on 22 September 1971 in a 4–0 away victory against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. For representing his country at the 1970 World Cup, Mocanu 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 Constitution of Romania, Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservatism, 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 ...

on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Managerial career

Mihai Mocanu coached Petrolul Ploiești for one year in

, also working at the center of children and juniors of the club, he also coached Steaua Mizil,

Metalul Plopeni Clubul Sportiv Orășenesc Plopeni, commonly known as CSO Plopeni, or simply as Plopeni, is a Romanian amateur football club based in Plopeni, Prahova County. The club was originally established in 1947 under the name of ''Metalul Plopeni''. ...

and Conpet Ploiești from 1991 until 2005, all of them in the Romanian lower leagues.

Personal life

Mihai Mocanu's son was also a footballer, playing for a while at Conpet Ploiești with his father as coach. He received the Honorary Citizen of Ploiești title.

Honours

Petrolul Ploiești *

: 1965–66 Omonia Nicosia *

Cypriot League The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

: 1973–74 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

: 1973–74

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mocanu, Mihai 1942 births 2009 deaths Romanian footballers Liga I players Liga II players Cypriot First Division players FC Petrolul Ploiești players AC Omonia players 1970 FIFA World Cup players Association football defenders Sportspeople from Constanța Romania international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Romanian football managers FC Petrolul Ploiești managers CSO Plopeni managers