Wikipedia

Nicolae Dumitrescu

Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu (8 December 1921 – 17 March 1999) was a Romanian footballer and manager. As a footballer, he played mainly as a forward and throughout his career, he won four Divizia A titles and two cups with ITA Arad and as a manager, he won two titles with the same team, also in the 1970–71 European Cup season they eliminated Feyenoord who were European champions at that time and for these performances he is considered a symbol of the club.[2][3][4][5]

Nicolae Dumitrescu
Nicolae Dumitrescu (left) arriving on Zestienhoven on September 14, 1970.
Personal information
Date of birth (1921-12-08)8 December 1921
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Date of death 17 March 1999(1999-03-17) (aged 77)
Place of death Arad, Romania
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Suter București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1941–1946 Sparta București[a] 11 (2)
1946–1955 ITA Arad 164 (51)
Total 175 (53)
International career‡
1947–1948 Romania 10 (2)
Managerial career
1956–1964 UTA Arad (juniors)
1962 Romania U18
1965–1973 UTA Arad
1975–1976 UTA Arad
1979 UTA Arad
1985–1986 UTA Arad
1993–1994 UTA Arad
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 August 2017
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 August 2017

Club career

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Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu was born on 8 December 1921 in Bucharest, Romania and he started to play football in 1938 at local club, Suter.[1][2] In 1941 he went to play for Sparta București with whom he played a Cupa României final which was lost with 4–0 in front of CFR Turnu Severin, leaving in 1946 when he went to play for ITA Arad where he made his Divizia A debut under coach Zoltán Opata on 22 September 1946 in a 1–1 against UD Reșița in which he scored a goal and by the end of the season he earned a total of 10 goals in 10 appearances, helping the club win the first title in its history.[1][2][3][6][7][8] In the following season he helped the team win The Double, being used by coach Petre Steinbach in 27 matches in which he scored a personal record of 17 goals but he was not the team's top-goalscorer as Ladislau Bonyhádi scored 49 and Adalbert Kovács scored 19, he also played in the 3–2 victory from the 1948 Cupa României final against CFR Timișoara.[1][2][3][7][9] In the 1950 Divizia A season he won another title with the club, being used by coach Francisc Dvorzsák in 15 matches in which he did not score, also appearing in the 1950 Cupa României final which was lost with 3–1 in front of CCA București.[1][2][3][7][10] Dumitrescu helped The Old Lady win the 1953 Cupa României, being used by coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan in the 1–0 victory in front of CCA București from the final, Braun-Bogdan also using him in 23 matches in which he scored four goals in the 1954 Divizia A season when he and the club won the fourth title together.[1][2][3][7][11] On 27 November 1955, Nicolae Dumitrescu made his last Divizia A appearance, playing for ITA in a 2–0 away victory against CCA București, having a total of 164 appearances with 51 goals scored in the competition, all while representing The Old Lady.[1]

International career

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Nicolae Dumitrescu played 10 games and scored two goals at international level for Romania, making his debut under coach Colea Vâlcov on 25 May 1947 in a 4–0 away victory against Albania at the 1947 Balkan Cup, a competition in which he made a total of three appearances.[12][13] He scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly which ended with a 6–2 loss in front of Czechoslovakia, making his last four appearances at the 1948 Balkan Cup in which he scored a goal in a 3–2 home victory against Bulgaria.[12]

International goals

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Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dumitrescu goal.[12]
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 September 1947 Stadionul Giulești, București, Romania   Czechoslovakia 2–3 2–6 Friendly
2 20 June 1948 Stadionul Giulești, București, Romania   Bulgaria 3–2 3–2 1948 Balkan Cup

Managerial career

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Nicolae Dumitrescu started his coaching career shortly after he ended his playing career at the junior squads of UTA Arad in 1956 where he stayed until 1964, a period in which he reached three national junior championship finals, winning the first two in front of Dinamo București and Farul Constanța and losing the third in front of Rapid București, also he discovered and promoted talents like Mihai Țârlea, Constantin Koszka or his stepbrother, Ion Pârcălab.[14] He also coached Romania's under 18 national team with Gheorghe Ola, winning together the 1962 European championship.[2][15][16][17][18] In 1965, Dumitrescu became the head coach of UTA's senior squad with whom he reached the 1966 Cupa României final which was lost with 4–0 in front of Steaua București and won two consecutive Divizia A titles in the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons.[2][3][14][19] He also made some European performances with The Old Lady as eliminating Ernst Happel's Feyenoord in the 1970–71 European Cup who were European champions at that time and eliminating Austria Salzburg, Zagłębie Wałbrzych and Vitória Setúbal, reaching the 1971–72 UEFA Cup quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur who would eventually win the competition.[3][4][20][21] He coached UTA on several other occasions, having a total of 375 matches as manager in Divizia A, consisting of 154 victories, 80 draws and 141 losses.[2][22] A book about Nicolae Dumitrescu was written by Radu Romănescu called Coco Dumitrescu, pentru totdeauna în inima Bătrânei Doamne (Coco Dumitrescu, forever in the heart of the Old Lady), which was released on 18 April 2021, a date that signified 100 years since his birth.[2][4][21]

Personal life

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His stepbrother, Ion Pârcălab was also an international footballer.[14][23] Nicolae Dumitrescu died on 17 March 1999.[1][2][3]

Honours

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Player

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Sparta București

ITA Arad

Manager

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Romania U18

UTA Arad

Notes

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  1. ^ The Divizia A 1940–41 was the last season before World War II and the Divizia A 1946–47 was the first one after, so the appearances during this period for Sparta București are not official.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nicolae Dumitrescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "În amintirea lui Coco Dumitrescu, la centenar" [In memory of Coco Dumitrescu, at the centenary] (in Romanian). Uta-arad.ro. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Un veac de "Coco"! Nicolae Dumitrescu, omul care a fost prezent la toate performanțele Bătrânei Doamne" [A century of "Coco"! Nicolae Dumitrescu, the man who was present at all the performances of the Old Lady] (in Romanian). Specialarad.ro. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "A 76-a aniversare a UTA-ei, sub semnul figurii marcante a lui Nicolae Dumitrescu" [The 76th anniversary of UTA, under the sign of the outstanding figure of Nicolae Dumitrescu] (in Romanian). Sportarad.ro. 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. ^ "45 de ani de la a opta minune a lumii. Feyenoord era eliminată de UTA" [45 years since the eighth wonder of the world. Feyenoord was eliminated by UTA] (in Romanian). Radiotimișoara.ro. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1942–1943". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  8. ^ "CSM Resita vs UTA Arad Liga1 1946–1947". Labtof. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Romanian Cup - Season 1947 - 1948". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Romanian Cup - Season 1950". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Romanian Cup - Season 1953". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  12. ^ a b c "Nicolae Dumitrescu". European Football. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Albania 0-4 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  14. ^ a b c "Cinci decenii şi jumătate de la primul campionat de juniori câştigat de UTA. Pe când juniorii creșteau ocrotiţi de fotbaliştii legendari" [Five and a half decades since the first junior championship won by UTA. While the juniors grew up protected by the legendary footballers] (in Romanian). Glsa.ro. 1 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  15. ^ a b "O tempora!U18 România-campioana Europei! Azi, ne bate Liechtenstein" [O tempora! U18 Romania-European champion! Today, Liechtenstein beats us] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  16. ^ "România, campioană europeană la fotbal în 1962! Juniorii U18, succes total prin toate mijloacele" [Romania, European football champion in 1962! Juniors U18, total success by all means] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Acum 55 de ani, Romania devenea campioana europeana la fotbal!" [55 years ago, Romania became the European football champion!] (in Romanian). Playbuzz.com. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Șase decenii de la singurul titlu European al fotbalului nostru" [Six decades since our football's only European title] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Romanian Cup - Season 1965-1966". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Fotbalul de altă dată: UTA Arad – Tottenham Hotspur, Cupa UEFA, 1972" [Football of another time: UTA Arad - Tottenham Hotspur, UEFA Cup, 1972] (in Romanian). Tackle.ro. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Un secol de la nașterea lui "Coco" Dumitrescu, "Omul trofeu" al "Bătrânei Doamne"!" [A century since the birth of "Coco" Dumitrescu, the "trophy man" of the "Old Lady"!] (in Romanian). Sportarad.ro. 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  22. ^ "Top 60 antrenori" [Top 60 coaches] (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  23. ^ "SPECIAL Situaţie de gradul I în Liga 1. Ce a realizat Silviu Lung jr. prin câştigarea titlului cu Astra. De la fraţii Vâlcov, la fraţii Costea şi familia Piţurcă" [SPECIAL First grade situation in Liga 1. What Silviu Lung jr. accomplished by winning the title with Astra. From the brothers Vâlcov to the brothers Costea and the Piţurcă family] (in Romanian). prosport.ro. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
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