Gabriel Zahiu (17 November 1956 – 20 November 2023) was a

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 ...

n footballer 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 ...

Career

Gabriel Zahiu was born on 17 November 1956 in

Buzău Buzău (; formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu'') is a city in the historical region of Muntenia, Romania, and the county seat of Buzău County. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...

, starting to play football at local club,

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins ...

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 ...

for two seasons between 1973 and 1975. Afterwards he went to play for

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 ...

club, Steaua București, making his debut in the competition on 17 August 1975 in a 2–1 home victory with FCM Reșița. By the end of his first season with Steaua, he helped the club win The Double, being used by coach

Emerich Jenei Emerich Alexandru Jenei (also known as Emeric Jenei or Imre Jenei; 22 March 1937) is a Romanian former football player and manager. He is considered one of Romania's best managers, alongside Ştefan Kovács, Mircea Lucescu, and Anghel Iordăn ...

in nine league games but did not appear in the 2–1 win over CSU Galați from the Cupa României final. In the following season he reached another Cupa României final, Jenei sending him on the field in the 72nd minute to replace

Radu Troi Radu Troi, (12 June 1949 in Dragomireşti Vale, Ilfov), is a former Romanian professional football player. Club career Radu Troi was born on 12 June 1949 in Dragomireşti Vale, Ilfov, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1966, ...

in the eventual 2–1 loss in front of Universitatea Craiova. In the 1977–78 season, Zahiu had a prolific period as he scored 12 goals in the 22 league games that Jenei used him, being the team's second top-goalscorer with seven behind

Anghel Iordănescu Anghel Iordănescu (; born 4 May 1950), is a Romanian former footballer and former manager, who played as a forward. In 2007, Iordănescu retired from football, and the following February, after his predecessor resigned, he became a member ...

, helping the club win another title. In the next two seasons, he reached two more

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 ...

finals, in the first one he did not appear in the 3–0 win over Sportul Studențesc București and in the one from

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, coach

Gheorghe Constantin Gheorghe Constantin (14 December 1932 – 9 March 2010) was a Romanian footballer and coach, nicknamed 'The Professor' and a symbol of Steaua București. Playing career Constantin began his career with Unirea Tricolor's youth team, and short ...

sent him on the field in the 65th minute to replace Marcel Răducanu but the team lost with 2–1 in front of Politehnica Timișoara. In his six seasons spell spent with '' The Military Men'' he also played seven matches in European competitions, scoring one goal in a 6–0 win over Young Boys from the

1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1979–80 season was the 20th season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup, a association football, football tournament organised by UEFA for the cup winners from each of its member associations. The competition was won by Spa ...

. In 1981 he returned to Gloria Buzău in Divizia B, where in the 1983–84 season he scored a personal record of 15 goals which helped the team promote to Divizia A where on 2 November 1986 in a 2–1 home win with Corvinul Hunedoara he made his last appearance in the league, having a total of 135 games with 32 goals in the competition. In 1987 at age 31, Zahiu left

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

legally to settle in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

where he played for a short while for

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

before ending his career.

Death

Gabriel Zahiu died on 20 November 2023 in

Helsingborgs Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

, Sweden, three days after he turned 67.

Honours

Steaua București *

: 1975–76, 1977–78 *

: 1975–76, 1978–79, runner-up 1976–77, 1979–80 Gloria Buzău *

: 1983–84

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahiu, Gabriel 1956 births 2023 deaths Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Gloria Buzău players FCSB players Örebro SK players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Footballers from Buzău 20th-century Romanian sportsmen