Adrian Ionescu (footballer, born 1958)

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Adrian Ionescu
Personal information
Date of birth (1958-05-17) 17 May 1958 (age 67) [1]
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania [2]
Position(s) Forward [1]
Youth career
Steaua București
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1976–1982 Steaua București 108 (18)
1985–1986 Mecanică Fină București
1986–1987 Farul Constanța
International career
1977–1979 Romania U21 8 (0)
1980 Romania 3 (1)
Managerial career
Anticoroziv
Midia Năvodari
CSS Nucet
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Adrian Ionescu (born 17 May 1958) is a Romanian former football forward and coach. [3] [2]

Contents

Club career

Ionescu was born on 17 May 1958 in Bucharest, Romania, and began playing junior-level football at local club Steaua under the guidance of coach Nicolae Tătaru. [2] [3] In 1975 he won the national junior championship with Steaua, netting two goals in the 8–1 win in the final against FCM Bacău. [2]

On 24 October 1976, at age 16, he made his Divizia A debut in Steaua's 2–1 home win against Bihor Oradea. [2] [3] In the 1977–78 season, Ionescu helped the club win the title, netting one goal in the 17 matches that coach Emerich Jenei used him. [2] [3] [4] In 1979 he won the Cupa României trophy, coach Gheorghe Constantin using him the full 90 minutes in the 3–0 win over Sportul Studențesc București in the final. [2] [3] [5] In the 1979–80 season, Ionescu scored a personal record of 10 goals, including one in a 1–1 draw against rivals Dinamo București. [2] [3] [6] He reached another Cupa României final in 1980, coach Gheorghe Constantin using him the entire match in the 2–1 loss to Politehnica Timișoara. [2] [3] [7] In his six seasons spell with The Military Men he also played seven matches in European competitions, most notably getting past Young Boys with a 8–2 aggregate win in the first round of the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup, being eliminated in the following one by Nantes against whom he scored once. [2] [3] [8]

In 1981, while playing for Steaua in a match against Corvinul Hunedoara, Ionescu was hit by opponent Ioan Andone in the right knee which led to an anterior cruciate ligament injury that ended his professional career at age 23. [2] In 1985 he tried to make a comeback, playing in the second league for Mecanică Fină București and Farul Constanța, but retired after two years. [2] He made a total 108 Divizia A appearances with 18 goals netted, all of them for Steaua. [2] [3]

International career

Between 1977 and 1979, Ionescu made eight appearances for Romania's under-21 squad. [2] [9]

He played three friendly games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 18 May 1980 under coach Ștefan Kovács in a 2–1 loss against Czechoslovakia in which he scored his side's goal. [2] [10] [11] His following games were a 2–1 loss to Belgium and a 2–1 victory against Bulgaria. [10]

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each Adrian Ionescu goal. [10] [11]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.18 May 1980 Za Lužánkami Stadium, Brno, CzechoslovakiaFlag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia 1–11–2 Friendly

Managerial career

After he ended his playing career, Ionescu worked as a manager in the Romanian lower leagues for teams such as Anticoroziv, Midia Năvodari or CSS Nucet. [2] He also had spells for teams in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. [2]

Honours

Steaua București

References

  1. 1 2 Adrian Ionescu at WorldFootball.net
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Fotbalistul Stelei, Adrian Ionescu: "Steaua adevărată e cea care joacă acum!". Cine dribla mai bine decât Messi și azi ar fi costat 120.000.000 de euro!" [Stela's footballer, Adrian Ionescu: "The real star is the one who plays now!". Who dribbles better than Messi and today would have cost 120,000,000 euros!] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Adrian Ionescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  4. 1 2 "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Romanian Cup - Season 1978 - 1979". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  6. ↑ "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1979-80". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Romanian Cup - Season 1979 - 1980". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  8. ↑ "Steaua și-a egalat cea mai categorică victorie în Cupele Europene, după 35 de ani!" [Steaua equaled its most decisive victory in the European Cups, after 35 years!] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
    "Adrian Ionescu. Cup Winners Cup 1979/1980". WorldFootball. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "Adrian Ionescu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 "Adrian Ionescu". European Football. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Czechoslovakia – Romania 2:1". European Football. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
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