Alexandru Nicolae

Alexandru Nicolae

Personal information
Date of birth	(1955-03-17) 17 March 1955 (age 68) [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*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1980	Gloria Buzău [lower-alpha 1]	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)
Total		301	(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]

Club career

Alexandru Nicolae was born on 17 March 1955 in Bucharest where he started playing football at junior level in 1968 at ȘSE 2 București and in 1973 he played at Sportul Studențesc București's youth academy. ^[1] In 1974 he started his senior career, playing four seasons in Divizia B at Gloria Buzău, helping the team promote to Divizia A where he made his debut on 24 August 1978 in a 1–0 loss against CS Târgoviște. ^{[1] [3]} After playing two seasons in Divizia A with Gloria Buzău, he went to play for Olt Scornicești for two seasons and even if during this time he had offers to play for Steaua București, he chose in 1982 to follow his dream which was to play for Dinamo București. ^{[1] [3]} In his first two seasons at Dinamo, the club won two consecutive Divizia A titles, in the first he appeared in 30 games in which he scored four goals and in the second he played 30 games without scoring. ^{[1] [3]} Nicolae also won two Cupa României with the Red Dogs and appeared in 23 matches in European competitions, including 7 games in the 1983–84 European Cup as the club reached the semi-finals. ^{[1] [3]} In 1989, Nicolae alongside teammates Dumitru Moraru and Costel Orac were transferred from Dinamo to Victoria București where he only stayed half a season, appearing in three Divizia A games and made one appearance in the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, before returning in the second half of the season at Dinamo where he won another title for which he contributed with 5 games played and a cup. ^{[1] [3] [4] [5]} The Divizia A 1990–91 was the last season of Alexandru Nicolae's career, playing in 5 games, making his last Divizia A appearance on 11 May 1991 in a 3–0 victory against Universitatea Craiova, having a total of 301 Divizia A appearances with 15 goals scored and 24 matches played in European competitions. ^{[1] [3]}

International career

Alexandru Nicolae played 19 games at international level for Romania, managing to score one goal in his debut which took place on 14 October 1979 under coach Constantin Cernăianu in a friendly against the Soviet Union which ended with a 3–1 loss. ^{[6] [7]} He played in four qualification matches for Euro 1980 and 1984, also appearing in one qualification match for the 1982 World Cup. ^[6] 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. ^[6]

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nicolae goal. ^[6]

List of international goals scored by Alexandru Nicolae

#	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 October 1979	Lenin Central Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	1	Soviet Union	1–2	1–3	Friendly

Honours

Gloria Buzău

• Divizia B: 1977–78 ^[1]

Dinamo București

• Divizia A: 1982–83, 1983–84, 1989–90 ^[1]
• Cupa României: 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90 ^[8]

Notes

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

References

1. Alexandru Nicolae at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
2. Alexandru Nicolae at WorldFootball.net
3. "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. "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.
5. "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.
6. "Alexandru Nicolae". European Football. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
7. "Soviet Union – Romania 3:1". European Football. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
8. Alexandru Nicolae at National-Football-Teams.com