Alexandru Nicolae

Alexandru Nicolae

Personal information
Date of birth	(1955-03-17) 17 March 1955 (age 69) [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 [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)
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, then in 1973 he went 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 in front of CS Târgoviște. ^{[1] [3]} After playing two seasons in Divizia A with Gloria, 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 league titles, under the guidance of coach Nicolae Dumitru who used him 30 games in each season, in the first he also scored four goals including one in a 1–1 with rivals Steaua București. ^{[1] [3] [4] [5]} Nicolae also won two Cupa României with The Red Dogs , being used by coach Dumitru all the minutes in the 2–1 victory over Steaua from the 1984 final, then in the one from 1986 coach Mircea Lucescu used him the whole match in the 1–0 win with the same team who had recently just won the European Cup. ^{[1] [3] [6]} He made some notable performances with Dinamo in European competitions, as appearing in seven matches in the 1983–84 European Cup season, as the club eliminated title holders Hamburg in the campaign, reaching the semi-finals where the campaign ended in front of Liverpool and playing one game with 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] [7]}

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 a 3–1 loss with Valencia in the 1989–90 UEFA Cup. ^{[1] [3] [8]} He returned for the second half of the season at Dinamo where he won The Double, coach Lucescu sending him on the field in five league games but did not use him in the 6–4 win over Steaua from the Cupa României final. ^{[1] [3] [4] [9]} The 1990–91 Divizia A was the last season of Alexandru Nicolae's career, making his last Divizia A appearance on 11 May 1991 in a 3–0 victory against Universitatea Craiova, having a total of 301 games appearances with 15 goals scored in the competition 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. ^{[10] [11]} He played in four qualification matches for Euro 1980 and 1984, also appearing in one qualification match for the 1982 World Cup. ^[10] 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. ^[10]

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nicolae goal. ^[10]

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 ^[12]

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. "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.
   "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. Champions League 1983/1984". WorldFootball. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
   "Alexandru Nicolae. Cup Winners Cup 1988/1989". WorldFootball. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
8. "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.
9. "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.
10. "Alexandru Nicolae". European Football. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
11. "Soviet Union – Romania 3:1". European Football. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
12. Alexandru Nicolae at National-Football-Teams.com