Doru Nicolae

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Doru Nicolae
Doru Nicolae 80's.jpg
Nicolae with Panathinaikos in the early 1980s.
Personal information
Date of birth (1952-03-22) 22 March 1952 (age 73)
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1963–1971 Abatorul București
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1971–1973 Petrolul Ploiești 5 (0)
1973 Steaua București 1 (0)
1974 Șoimii TAROM București 12 (0)
1974–1975 Gloria Bistrița
1976 Dinamo București 6 (0)
1976–1980 Argeș Pitești 122 (26)
1980–1982 Panathinaikos 57 (9)
1982 Gloria Bistrița
1983 Bihor Oradea 16 (0)
1984–1986 Gloria Bistrița
1987 Universitatea Craiova 6 (0)
1987–1988 Gloria Bistrița
Total225(35)
International career‡
1970–1973 Romania Olympic 5 (0)
1973–1978 Romania B 1 (0)
1978–1988 Romania 7 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19 September 2017
‡ National team caps and goals as of 19 September 2017

Doru Nicolae (born 22 March 1952) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a forward. [1] He was one of few Romanian footballers who was transferred in a foreign country during the communist regime. [2] Nicolae played seven games at international level for Romania. [1]

Contents

Club career

Early career

Nicolae, nicknamed Colombo, was born on 22 March 1952 in Bucharest, Romania, and began playing junior-level football at Abatorul București under the guidance of coach Jean Bârlăgeanu. [1] [3] [4] [5] In 1971 he joined Petrolul Ploiești where on 19 December, coach Ilie Oană gave him his Divizia A debut in a 2–0 home loss to UTA Arad. [1] [3] [6] Two years later, Nicolae arrived at Steaua București but after playing only one league game, he went to Divizia C side, Șoimii TAROM București. [1] [2] [3] In 1974 he joined Gloria Bistrița which he helped earn promotion to Divizia B. [1] [4] Nicolae went for the second half of the 1975–76 season to Dinamo București but did not play very much as he was competing in the offence with Dudu Georgescu, Florea Dumitrache and Mircea Lucescu. [1] [2] [3] [6]

Argeș Pitești

In 1976 Nicolae signed with Argeș Pitești where in the 1978–79 UEFA Cup edition he helped them eliminate Panathinaikos in the first round, scoring a goal in the 5–1 aggregate victory. [1] [2] [7] In the following round they met Valencia led by Mario Kempes, earning a 2–1 win in the first leg, but they lost the second one with 5–2, thus the campaign ended. [1] [7] [8] In the same season he formed a successful offensive trio with Nicolae Dobrin and Marin Radu, scoring four goals in the 33 appearances given to him by coach Florin Halagian. [1] [2] [3] [6] [9] One of these goals was netted in the final game of the season against Dinamo București which ended with a 4–3 victory that helped Argeș win the title. [1] [3] [6] [10] In the following season he scored two goals in the 3–2 aggregate victory against AEK Athens in the first round of the 1979–80 European Cup, the team being eliminated in the following one by title holders and eventual winners, Nottingham Forest. [1] [2] [11] In the same season he also netted a personal record of 11 goals in first league football. [1] [3] [4] [5]

Panathinaikos

In 1980, the communist regime permitted Nicolae to transfer to Panathinaikos in Greece, a club that had expressed interest in him after observing his performance in European competitions. [1] [2] [3] [6] He spent two seasons with The Greens, scoring nine goals in 57 Alpha Ethniki appearances. [1] [2] [3] [6] During this time, he earned a runner-up position in the 1981–82 edition and won the 1981–82 Greek Cup, where coach Ștefan Kovács played him for the entire match in the 1–0 victory over AEL in the final. [1] [2] [3] [6] [12] He also played in a 4–2 home victory over Juventus in the first round of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, but they did not manage to qualify further as the first leg was lost with 4–0. [1] [6] [13]

Late career

After the spell in Greece, Nicolae returned to Romania at Gloria Bistrița in Divizia B. [1] [6] [4] After half a year, he moved back to Divizia A football at Bihor Oradea, but a year later, Nicolae rejoined Gloria, where he unsuccessfully pursued promotion to the first league for several seasons. [1] [6] [4] In 1987 Nicolae had a short spell at Universitatea Craiova where on 10 May he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 1–0 home win over Universitatea Cluj, totaling 156 matches with 26 goals scored in the competition. [1] [3] [6] [4] He ended his career in 1988 after another spell at Gloria in the second league. [1] [2]

International career

Nicolae played seven matches for Romania, making his debut under coach Ștefan Kovács on 14 May 1978 in a 1–0 friendly loss to the Soviet Union. [14] [15] He played in a win over Yugoslavia and a draw against Cyprus in the Euro 1980 qualifiers. [14] Nicolae made his last appearance for the national team on 6 June 1980 in a friendly against Belgium that ended with a 2–1 loss. [14]

Honours

Gloria Bistrița

Argeș Pitești

Panathinaikos

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Doru Nicolae at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Interviu cu Doru Nicolae, primul român care a jucat în campionatul Greciei: "Sunt "câinoși" și muncitori!"" [Interview with Doru Nicolae, the first Romanian to play in the Greek championship: "They are "dogs" and workers!"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Doru Nicolae, primul fotbalist român transferat peste hotare în regimul comunist" [Doru Nicolae, the first Romanian footballer transferred abroad during the communist regime] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Din atacant a ajuns portar. Vezi o povestea unui mare fotbalist, Doru Nicolae!" [From striker to guardian. See a story of a great footballer, Doru Nicolae!] (in Romanian). Sportulbistritean.ro. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  5. 1 2 ""Colombo" de Bistrița face 70 de ani! La mulți ani, Doru Niculae!" ["Colombo" from Bistrita is 70 years old! Happy birthday, Doru Niculae!] (in Romanian). Sportulbistritean.ro. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Să ne trăiești - "La mulți ani", Doru Nicolae!" [Live with us - "Happy birthday", Doru Nicolae!] (in Romanian). Rasunetul.ro. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Doru Nicolae. Europa League 1978/1979". WorldFootball. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "Ziua în care Kempes s-a înclinat în fața lui Dobrin" [The day Kempes bowed to Dobrin] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  9. ↑ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  10. ↑ "Doru Nicolae a împlinit 72 de ani! FC Argeș nu și-a uitat atacantul" [Doru Nicolae turned 72! FC Argeș has not forgotten its striker] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
    "Povestea celui mai frumos meci din istoria campionatului României. Cum a învins FC Argeş pe Dinamo la Bucureşti acum 40 de ani" [The story of the most beautiful match in the history of the Romanian championship. How FC Argeş defeated Dinamo in Bucharest 40 years ago] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "43 de ani de la meciul dintre FC Argeș și Nottingham Forest" [43 years since the match between FC Argeș and Nottingham Forest] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
    "24 octombrie 1979: Argeşul a dat piept cu Nottingham Forest, campioana Europei" [October 24, 1979: Arges played against Nottingham Forest, the European champions] (in Romanian). Romaniansoccer.ro. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
    "FC Argeș – Nottingham Forest 1-2 (Cupa Campionilor Europeni, 7 noiembrie 1979)" [FC Arges – Nottingham Forest 1-2 (European Champions Cup, November 7, 1979)] (in Romanian). Tikitaka.ro. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
    "Doru Nicolae. Champions League 1979/1980". WorldFootball. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  12. ↑ Doru Nicolae at National-Football-Teams.com
    "Ștefan Kovacs, lordul care mânca parizer" [Stefan Kovacs, the lord who ate Parisian] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
    "1981/82 Greek Cup" (in Greek). Vissini.gr. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
    "Greece - Cup Data (from Quarterfinals on)". Rsssf.org. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  13. ↑ "Doru Nicolae. Europa League 1980/1981". WorldFootball. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 "Doru Nicolae". European Football. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  15. ↑ "Romania 0-1 Soviet Union". European Football. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
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