Nicolae "Nicușor" Dumitru (12 December 1928 – 8 August 2005) 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 striker and manager. He is the most successful Manager in Romania, winning the

Romanian First League 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 ...

on 7 occasions, all with

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 Yekaterinbu ...

. Nicolae Dumitru also won two Romanian Cups, and went on to guide Dinamo to the

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 ...

semi-finals in the 1983–84 season. He has a total of 558 matches as manager in

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 ...

Club career

Nicolae Dumitru was born on 12 December 1928 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 ...

and he started playing football in 1945 at Sparta București in the regional championship and then 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 ...

, after two seasons going to play for Metalul București also in

, helping the team promote to

where he made his debut under coach

Augustin Botescu Augustin Botescu was a Romanian football manager who coached Romania at the 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifiers and Romania's Olympic team at the 1960 Summer Olympics qualifiers, failing to qualify for both tournaments. He has a total of 7 g ...

on 22 August 1948 in a 6–1 loss against CFR Timișoara. He was transferred at

in 1949 where he spent 10 seasons, in the

1955 Divizia A The 1955 Divizia A was the thirty-eighth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1955 Divizia B References {{1955–56 in European f ...

season helping the club win the first

title in its history, being used by coach

Angelo Niculescu Angelo Niculescu (1 October 1921 – 20 June 2015) was a Romanian football player and manager. He was the coach of the Romania national football team during the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He is best remembered in Romania for inventing the "temporizar ...

in 21 matches in which he scored two goals. He also won the

1958–59 Cupa României The 1958–59 Cupa României was the 21st edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Dinamo București against CSM Baia Mare. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the first ro ...

and played in the first European match of a Romanian team in the

1956–57 European Cup The 1956–57 European Cup was the second season of the European Cup, Europe's premier club football tournament. The competition was won for the second time by Real Madrid, who beat Fiorentina 2–0 in the final at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, ...

in the 3–1 victory against

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 ...

, helping '' The Red Dogs'' go to the next phase of the competition where they were eliminated by

CDNA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First Professional Football League, First League. ''CSKA'' is ...

, against whom he scored a goal. On 23 August 1959, Dumitru played his last

match for Dinamo in a 0–0 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 ...

, having a total of 191 matches in which he scored 56 goals in the competition.

International career

Nicolae Dumitru played 8 games at international level for

. He made his debut at the 1954 World Cup qualifiers under coach

Gheorghe Popescu I Gheorghe Popescu (8 August 1919 – 1 January 2001) was a Romanian footballer and also a manager. He played as a striker. International career Gheorghe Popescu I played 6 friendly games at international level for Romania, making his debut und ...

, playing in three games, the first one was a 2–0 loss against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, the second was a 3–1 victory 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 Macedon ...

and the third was a 1–0 loss against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. His following five games were friendlies, his last appearance was in a 1–1 against

Managerial career

Nicolae Dumitru started his managerial career at

, having several spells at the club, winning a total of 7

titles and two

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) 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. I ...

. He also guided Dinamo to the

semi-finals in the 1983–84 season after eliminating

Kuusysi Lahti FC Kuusysi (Finnish for ''FC sixty-nine'') is a association football, football club in Lahti, Finland. Its men's team is currently playing in the fourth tier of Finnish football (''Kolmonen''), and its women's team is playing in Kakkonen. The ho ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

who was the defending

champion and Dinamo Minsk, before being eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by

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 ...

. Dumitru also coached

Victoria București Victoria București was a Romanian football club, dissolved right after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. History The club was sponsored by the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs (the "Miliția", Police). In 1985 Victoria played for the first ...

, SC Bacău, Argeș Pitești, Progresul Brăila and Progresul București in

, having a total of 558 matches as manager in the competition, consisting of 250 victories, 120 draws and 188 losses, his only coaching experience outside Romania was when he coached Ghana's national team from 1973 until 1974. Nicolae Dumitru died on 8 August 2005 in

at age 76.

Honours

Player

Metalul București *

: 1947–48 Dinamo București *

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

: 1958–59

Manager

Dinamo București *

: 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1982–83, 1983–84 *

: 1963–64, 1983–84

Notes

References

External links

*
Nicolae Dumitru player statistics
at Labtof
Nicolae Dumitru manager statistics
at Labtof {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumitru, Nicolae 1928 births 2005 deaths Footballers from Bucharest Romanian footballers Association football forwards Liga I players Liga II players FC Dinamo București players FC Sportul Studențesc București players Romania international footballers Romanian football managers FC Dinamo București managers FC Argeș Pitești managers Victoria București managers AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila managers FC Progresul București managers FCM Bacău managers Ghana national football team managers Romanian expatriate football managers