Octavian Brânzei (28 September 1928 – 28 July 1994) was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Brânzei was born on 28 September 1928 in

Beba Veche Beba Veche (; ; ) is a commune in Timiș County. It is composed of three villages: Beba Veche (commune seat), Cherestur and Pordeanu. Beba Veche is the westernmost settlement in Romania. Geography Located in the eastern part of the Pannonian Pla ...

, Romania, starting to play football in 1947 at Electrica Timișoara. Two years later he moved to neighboring club, Știința where on 19 March 1950 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 in a 0–0 draw against Locomotiva București. At the end of the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

season, the team relegated to

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 ...

but Brânzei stayed with the club, helping it promote back after one year. He was part of Știința's team that won the

1957–58 Cupa României The 1957–58 Cupa României was the 20th edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Ştiinţa Timişoara against Progresul București. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the ...

, the first trophy in the club's history but coach Dincă Schileru did not use him in 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 ...

. In 1958 he went to play for one season at Divizia B team,

CFR Timișoara CFR may refer to: Biology * 23S rRNA (adenine2503-C2,C8)-dimethyltransferase, an enzyme * 23S rRNA (adenine2503-C2)-methyltransferase, an enzyme Organizations * China Fire and Rescue, China's firefighting force * , the Romanian state railway ...

. Afterwards he switched clubs again, going at Farul Constanța with whom he relegated at the end of his first season. He helped the club promote back to the first league after one year. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 2 December 1962 in Farul's 4–1 home victory against Dinamo Bacău, having a total of 185 matches with six goals scored in the competition. Brânzei ended his career in 1963 at Divizia B club, IMU Medgidia.

International career

Brânzei played two games at international level for

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 ...

, making his debut under coach Gheorghe Popescu in a friendly against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

that ended in a 2–0 loss. He also played in a 3–0 victory against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the 1958 World Cup qualifiers.

Death

Brânzei died on 28 July 1994 at age 65 in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

, Romania. In 2008, he was post-mortem named Honorary Citizen of

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

Honours

Știința Timișoara *

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

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 ...

: 1957–58 Farul Constanța *

: 1961–62

Notes

References

External links

Octavian Brânzei
at Labtof.ro {{DEFAULTSORT:Brânzei, Octavian 1928 births 1994 deaths Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FCV Farul Constanța players CSF CFR Timișoara players Footballers from Timiș County 20th-century Romanian sportsmen