Constantin Năsturescu (2 October 1940 – 10 December 2021) was a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Năsturescu, nicknamed ''Bebe'' was born on 2 October 1940 in

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; ; ) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse on the op ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and started to play junior level football in 1952 at local club Dunărea, starting his senior career in 1961 at CFR Roșiori in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

. He was transferred at

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

where on 8 April 1962 he made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut under coach

Ion Mihăilescu Ion Mihăilescu (born 27 March 1916; date of death unknown) was a Romanian footballer and manager. International career Ion Mihăilescu played 15 games at international level for Romania, including six matches at the 1947 and 1948 Balkan Cup ed ...

in a 3–1 away loss to Steagul Roșu Brașov. Năsturescu spent 13 seasons at Rapid in which he helped the club win the

1966–67 Divizia A The 1966–67 Divizia A was the forty-ninth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1966–67 Divizia B References {{DEFAULTSORT:19 ...

which was the first title in the club's history, being used by coach

Valentin Stănescu Valentin Stănescu (20 November 1922 – 4 April 1994) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Stănescu and Constantin Cernăianu are the only two coaches who have managed the big three Bucharest city rivals, Steaua, Dinamo, and Rapid. ...

in 25 matches in which he scored three goals. 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 tent ...

, helping ''The Railwaymen'' eliminate Trakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. He also won two

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and the

1971–72 Cupa României The 1970–71 Cupa României was the 34th edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Rapid București against Jiul Petroşani. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the first roun ...

where he was used all the minutes by coach

Bazil Marian Bazil Marian (7 November 1922 – 19 January 2008) was a Romanian professional footballer and coach. Club career Bazil Marian nicknamed "Bombardierul" (The Bomber) because of his powerful shots was born on 7 November 1922 in Uioara de Sus, Rom ...

in the 2–0 win over

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est * A village in Țuglui Țuglui is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, ...

from the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. Năsturescu played a total of 20 games and scored two goals in European competitions (including four games and two goals in the

Inter-cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

), taking part in the

1971–72 UEFA Cup The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural season of the UEFA Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League, which became the third club football competition organised by UEFA. The tournament retained the structure and format of the Inter-Cities Fairs C ...

campaign, playing all six games as Rapid reached the eight-finals, eliminating

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

and

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

, being eliminated by the team who would eventually win the competition,

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

. He also took part in the

1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Milan after a 1–0 victory against Leeds United at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece. Competition holders Rangers would have been eligible to compete in th ...

campaign, playing all six games, helping the team reach the quarter-finals, eliminating

Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap (, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Swedish professional football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently plays in Superettan, the second league tier of football in Sweden. The club was formed ...

against whom he scored a goal and

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

, being eliminated by

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

who reached the final. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 19 June 1974 in a 1–0 away loss to Politehnica Iași, having a total of 288 appearances and 25 goals scored in the competition, all for Rapid, retiring after playing two more seasons at Progresul Brăila and Unirea Focșani in

International career

Năsturescu played three matches for

, making his debut under coach

on 4 January 1967 in a 1–1 friendly against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, which took place in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Estadio Gran Parque Central The Estadio Gran Parque Central is the stadium of Club Nacional de Football. It is located in Montevideo, Uruguay, near Nacional headquarters (exactly between the streets Carlos Anaya, Jaime Cibils, General Urquiza and Comandante Braga), in the L ...

. His following games were also friendlies, a 0–0 draw against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and a 1–0 loss to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He also played three games for Romania's Olympic team.

Death

Năsturescu died on 10 December 2021 at age 81.

Honours

Rapid București *

: 1966–67 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () 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. It is the Romania ...

: 1971–72 *

: 1963–64, 1964–66

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasturescu, Constantin 1940 births 2021 deaths People from Giurgiu Footballers from Giurgiu County Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Romania men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Romania Liga I players Liga II players FC Rapid București players AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila players CSM Focșani (football) players 20th-century Romanian sportsmen