Gheorghe Gornea (2 August 1944 – 2005) was a Romanian football goalkeeper.
 Gornea in 1970 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gheorghe Gornea | ||
| Date of birth | 2 August 1944 | ||
| Place of birth | Sinaia, Prahova County, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 2005 (aged 60–61) | ||
| Place of death | Sinaia, Romania | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1963–1964 | Carpați Sinaia | ||
| 1964–1966 | Steaua București | 3 | (0) |
| 1966–1971 | UTA Arad | 127 | (0) |
| 1971–1972 | Minerul Baia Mare | 8 | (0) |
| 1972–1973 | CSM Reșița | 13 | (0) |
| 1973–1976 | Rapid Arad | 41 | (0) |
| Total | 192 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1968–1970 | Romania | 4 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editGheorghe Gornea was born on 2 August 1944 in Sinaia, Romania and he started playing football at Carpați Sinaia, before transferring at Steaua București where he made his Divizia A debut on 30 August 1964 in a 4–0 away victory against Știința Craiova.[1][2] In his second season spent at Steaua he won the Cupa României, going afterwards to play for UTA Arad where in his five years spent at the club he won two league titles, being used by coach Nicolae Dumitrescu in 30 games in the first one and in 29 matches in the second one.[1][2][3][4] He also helped the team by having an appreciated performance when they eliminated the defending European Cup champions Feyenoord in the 1970–71 European Cup season, having a total of six appearances in the competition over the course of two seasons.[1][2] For the way he played in 1968, Gornea was placed fourth in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award.[5] Gornea went to play for one season in Divizia B at Minerul Baia Mare, afterwards transferring at CSM Reșița, being brought there by his former coach from UTA, Ioan Reinhardt, where on 11 March 1973 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 5–1 loss against Steagul Roșu Brașov, having a total of 143 matches played in the competition, retiring after playing three more seasons at Rapid Arad in Divizia B.[1][2]
International career
editGheorghe Gornea played four games in which he conceded two goals at international level for Romania, all under the guidance of coach Angelo Niculescu, making his debut on 27 October 1968 when he came as a substitute at half-time and replaced Narcis Coman in a 3–0 away loss against Portugal at the 1970 World Cup qualifiers in which he conceded one goal from Jacinto Santos.[2][6][7] His following game was a 0–0 with England, afterwards appearing in a 2–0 victory against Switzerland at the 1970 World Cup qualifiers and his last game was another friendly against England, played on the Wembley Stadium which ended 1–1 in which he had an appreciated performance, being nicknamed "The hero from Wembley".[2][6] Gornea was also selected by Angelo Niculescu to be part of Romania's squad at the 1970 World Cup final tournament, but he did not play in any game there.[2][8]
Death
editAfter he retired, Gornea struggled with alcoholism and had both of his legs amputated, dying in 2005 in his native town, Sinaia.[1][2][8]
Honours
editSteaua București
UTA Arad
Individual
- Romanian Footballer of the Year (fourth place): 1968[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Gheorghe Gornea at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Gică Gornea, portarul marilor noastre meciuri" [Gică Gornea, the goalkeeper of our great matches] (in Romanian). Utisti.ro. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ a b c Gheorghe Gornea at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Romania - Player of the Year Awards". Rsssf.org. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Gheorghe Gornea". European Football. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ "Portugal 3-0 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Guadalajara, blestemul unei generaţii uitate" [Guadalajara, the curse of a forgotten generation] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
External links
edit
- Gheorghe Gornea at WorldFootball.net
- Romania National Team 1960–1969 – Details