Alexandru Nicolae

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Alexandru Nicolae
Personal information
Date of birth (1955-03-17) 17 March 1955 (age 70) [1]
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania [1]
Position(s) Defender [1]
Youth career
1968–1973 ȘSE 2 București
1973–1974 Sportul Studențesc București
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1974–1980 Gloria Buzău [a] 58 (1)
1982–1982 Olt Scornicești 62 (4)
1982–1989 Dinamo București 168 (10)
1989 Victoria București 3 (0)
1990–1991 Dinamo București 10 (0)
Total301(15)
International career
1979–1987 Romania 19 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexandru Nicolae (born 17 March 1955) is a Romanian former football defender. [2]

Contents

Club career

Nicolae was born on 17 March 1955 in Bucharest, Romania, and began playing junior-level football in 1968 at ȘSE 2 București. [1] In 1973 he went to Sportul Studențesc București's youth academy. [1] He started his senior career in 1974, playing four seasons in Divizia B at Gloria Buzău, helping the team get promoted to Divizia A where he made his debut on 24 August 1978 in a 1–0 loss to CS Târgoviște. [1] [3] Two years later, Nicolae joined Olt Scornicești for two seasons and despite having offers from Steaua București during this period, he chose in 1982 to pursue his dream of playing for Dinamo București. [1] [3]

In his first two seasons at Dinamo, the club won two consecutive league titles, under coach Nicolae Dumitru who played him 30 games each season and in the first he also scored four goals, one of them in a 1–1 draw against rivals Steaua. [1] [3] [4] [5] Nicolae also won two Cupa României with The Red Dogs . [1] He was used by coach Dumitru the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 victory over Steaua in the 1984 final, then in the one from 1986 coach Mircea Lucescu used him the entire match in the 1–0 win against the same club which had recently won the European Cup. [1] [3] [6] Nicolae appeared in seven matches in the 1983–84 European Cup edition, as the club eliminated title holders Hamburg in the campaign, reaching the semi-finals where they were defeated by Liverpool. [1] [3] [7] He also played one game against Sampdoria in the quarter-finals of the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup where the Italians eliminated them on the away goals rule after 1–1 on aggregate. [1] [3] [8]

In 1989, Nicolae alongside teammates Dumitru Moraru and Costel Orac were transferred from Dinamo to Victoria București. [1] [3] He spent there only half a season, appearing in three league games and made one appearance in a 3–1 loss to Valencia in the 1989–90 UEFA Cup. [1] [3] [9] He returned for the second half of the season to Dinamo where he won The Double, coach Lucescu using him in five league games but did not use him in the 6–4 win over Steaua in the Cupa României final. [1] [3] [4] [10] Nicolae made his last Divizia A appearance on 11 May 1991 in Dinamo's 3–0 victory against Universitatea Craiova, having a total of 301 games with 15 goals in the competition and 24 matches in European competitions. [1] [3]

International career

Nicolae played 19 games for Romania, managing to score one goal in his debut which took place on 14 October 1979 under coach Constantin Cernăianu in a 3–1 friendly loss to the Soviet Union. [11] [12] He played in four qualification matches for the Euro 1980 and 1984 tournaments, also appearing in one qualification match for the 1982 World Cup. [11] His last appearance for the national team took place on 2 September 1987 in a friendly against Poland which ended with a 3–1 loss. [11]

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nicolae goal. [11]
List of international goals scored by Alexandru Nicolae
#DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 October 1979 Lenin Central Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union1Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1–21–3 Friendly

Honours

Gloria Buzău

Dinamo București

Notes

  1. The statistics for the 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77 and 1977–78 Divizia B seasons are unavailable. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Alexandru Nicolae at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. Alexandru Nicolae at WorldFootball.net
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Alexandru Nicolae: "Am refuzat Steaua pentru că eram dinamovist"" [Alexandru Nicolae: "I refused Steaua because I loved Dinamo"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  5. "Dinamo București in 1982–83". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  6. "Romanian Cup – Season 1983–1984". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1985–1986". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
    "Finale de nota 10 Dinamo – Steaua, 1986. Au băut dintr-o cupă găurită" [Grade 10 Finals Dinamo – Steaua, 1986. They drank from a cup with holes] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  7. "Dinamo marchează 30 de ani de la semifinala cu Liverpool din Cupa Campionilor" [Dinamo marks 30 years since the semi-final with Liverpool in the Champions Cup] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
    "Alexandru Nicolae. Champions League 1983/1984". WorldFootball. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  8. "Dinamo, reunire cu gandul la Sampdoria" [Dinamo, reunited with the fought at Sampdoria] (in Romanian). Jurnalul.ro. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
    "Alexandru Nicolae. Cup Winners Cup 1988/1989". WorldFootball. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  9. "Costel Orac, dialog deschis cu Ioanițoaia despre Dinamo, blaturi și problemele de sănătate: "Am făcut infarct cu complicații! Medicii m-au salvat, doar 5% mai supraviețuiesc"" [Costel Orac, open dialogue with Ioanițoaia about Dinamo, fixed games and health problems: "I had a heart attack with complications! The doctors saved me, only 5% survive "] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
    "Interviu cu Orac, omul care a bătut Inter Milano și Hamburg: Lumea mă ia peste picior pe stradă din cauza situației de la Dinamo. Au greșit cu Bratu, iar politica de transferuri a fost dezastruoasă!" [Interview with Orac, the man who beat Inter Milan and Hamburg: People take me by surprise on the street because of the situation at Dinamo. They were wrong with Bratu, and the transfer policy was disastrous!] (in Romanian). Pariurix.ro. 26 December 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  10. "Finala Cupei din 1990: Meciul care i-a aprins pe Luce și pe Puiu!" [1990 Cup Final: The match that lit up Luce and Puiu!]. Gsp.ro. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1988–1989". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Alexandru Nicolae". European Football. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. "Soviet Union – Romania 3:1". European Football. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. Alexandru Nicolae at National-Football-Teams.com