Nicolae Manea (11 March 1954 – 15 December 2014) was a Romanian football player and manager.

Life and career

Manea was born 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 ...

. He joined

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' ...

at the age of 12 and played there professionally from 1973 to 1980 and again from 1981 to 1987. He had a short stint with Steaua București in 1980 and ended his career playing for Gloria Bistrița in the late 80s. He scored both of Rapid's goals in the 2–1 victory against Universitatea Craiova in the 1975 Cupa României final.

International career

Nicolae Manea played one game 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 ...

when coach

Ștefan Kovács Ștefan Kovács ( ro, Ştefan Covaci; hu, Kovács István; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. By winning 15 major titles he is one of the most successful association football coaches in the history of th ...

used him in a friendly which ended 2–2 against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, played on Aryamehr Stadium from

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Coaching career

He coached Drobeta-Turnu Severin,

Unirea Dej Fotbal Club Unirea Dej, commonly known as Unirea Dej, is a Romanian professional football club from Dej, Cluj County, Romania, founded in 1921. They play in the Liga II. History It is one of Romania's oldest football teams, although it never ...

, Bihor Oradea,

(several times), Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, FC Brașov, Gloria Bistrița, Corona Brașov and the Romanian national under-21 football team.

Death

He was diagnosed with liver cancer at the beginning of 2014. He died on 15 December 2014, in

Honours

Player

Rapid București *

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. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting c ...

(2): 1974–75, 1982–83 * Cupa României (1): 1974–75 Gloria Bistrița *

(1): 1989–90

Manager

Rapid București * Divizia A (1): 1998–99

Notes

References

1954 births 2014 deaths Deaths from liver cancer Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Olympic footballers for Romania Romania men's international footballers FC Rapid București players FC Steaua București players ACF Gloria Bistrița players Liga I players Liga II players Romanian football managers FC Rapid București managers FC Brașov (1936) managers ACF Gloria Bistrița managers FC Unirea Dej managers FC Bihor Oradea (1958) managers CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț managers CSM Corona Brașov (football) managers Romanian sports executives and administrators FC Rapid București non-playing staff FC Rapid București presidents {{romania-footy-forward-stub