Daniel Coe (8 September 1941 – 19 October 1981) was a

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 ...

n football defender. He was part of the Romanian team that reached quarterfinals at the 1964 Summer Olympics, and later participated at the 1970 World Cup.

Club career

Originating from an ethnic Aromanian family, Dan Coe, nicknamed ''Ministrul Apărării'' ("The Minister of Defence"), was born on 8 September 1941 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 started playing football in 1956 at the junior squads of Rapid București, making his Divizia A debut on 18 March 1962 in a 1–1 against Minerul Lupeni. He remained with Rapid for ten seasons, being for a while the team's captain, winning the league title in the 1966–67 season when coach

Valentin Stănescu Valentin Stănescu (20 November 1922 – 4 April 1994) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Club career Valentin Stănescu also known as "Tinel" or "Zimbrul" ( The bison) was born on 20 November 1922 in București, Romania and start ...

used him in 26 matches. In the following season he played four games in the

1967–68 European Cup The 1967–68 European Cup was the 13th European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Manchester United, who beat Benfica 4–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. The European Cup title marked the tenth ...

, helping ''The Railwaymen'' eliminate Trakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by Juventus. He also appeared in four matches in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and won two Balkans Cup with Rapid. In 1971, Coe managed to earn a transfer in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

, being one of the few Romanian footballers that was allowed by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

to play in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. After two years in which he played 38 games and scored 8 goals in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...

, he came back to Romania, playing for

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 ...

club, FC Galați, helping the club earn promotion to Divizia A, where in the following season on 8 December 1974 he made his last appearance in the competition in a 6–0 loss in front of Universitatea Craiova, having a total of 214 Divizia A matches played with 12 goals scored.

International career

Dan Coe played 29 games in which he was captain 6 times and scored two goals at international level for

, making his debut on 12 May 1963 when coach Silviu Ploeșteanu sent him on the field in the 30th minute in order to replace Ion Nunweiller in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 victory against

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. He played 6 games in which he scored one goal in a 3–1 away loss against

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

at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers and made three appearances at the Euro 1968 qualifiers. Coe also played four games at the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers, having a appreciated performance in front of

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

's 1–0 home victory against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, being selected by coach Angelo Niculescu to be part of the squad from 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 ...

, however without playing a single match. Dan Coe played his last game for the national team on 16 May 1971 in a 1–0 loss against

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

at the Euro 1972 qualifiers. He also played for Romania's Olympic team and participated at the 1964 Summer Olympics in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

where he made four appearances, helping the team finish in the 5th place.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each Dan Coe goal.''

Personal life

Dan Coe was of Aromanian ethnicity and his father, Duce Coe was also a footballer and captain of Sportul Studențesc București and also an Iron Guard legionnaire.

Death

After he ended his playing career, he obtained permission from the

to go on a trip in

, but after he arrived there he settled in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

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 ...

as a political refugee. Shortly after an interview on

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

in which he criticized Romania's communist regime, Coe was found dead in his apartment on 19 October 1981. His wife and his daughter found him hanged by the door handle with a rope around his neck and with his knees close to his mouth. The criminologist that investigated the case told them that he had never seen someone hang himself in such a way, therefore he recorded it as a suspicious death and it was subsequently believed that he was killed at the behest of the Romanian

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

, but this has never been proven, his friend and fellow Romanian political refugee, Nora Nagy saying years later to the press:"I don't remember what Dan said at Free Europe. Anyway, once I got here I didn't pay that much attention to the station's broadcasts, but Dan was outspoken and always spoke his mind. However, I noticed one thing. After the collaboration with Free Europe began, all sorts of dubious characters began to appear around him. I suspected many of them to have connections with the

Honours

Rapid București * Divizia A: 1966–67 * Balkans Cup: 1963–64, 1964–66 Individual * Romanian Footballer of the Year (''fifth place''): 1967

Notes

References

External links

*
Dan Coe
at Rafcmuseum.be {{DEFAULTSORT:Coe, Dan 1941 births 1981 deaths Footballers from Bucharest Romanian people of Aromanian descent Aromanian sportspeople Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian defectors Liga I players Liga II players FC Rapid București players Royal Antwerp F.C. players FCM Dunărea Galați players Olympic footballers for Romania Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics 1970 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Belgian Pro League players Men's association football defenders Suicides by hanging in Germany Romanian emigrants to West Germany