| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 January 1951 [1] | ||
| Place of birth | Folia, Romania [2] | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1966–1968 | Electromotor Timișoara | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1968–1969 | Electromotor Timișoara | ||
| 1969–1976 | Dinamo București | 47 | (0) |
| 1976–1985 | Jiul Petroșani | 249 | (0) |
| 1985–1990 | Universitatea Cluj | 75 | (0) |
| Total | 371 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1973 | Romania U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 1973 | Romania U23 | 4 | (0) |
| 1982 | Romania Olympic | 1 | (0) |
| 1982 | Romania B | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1984 | Jiul Petroșani | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Iosif Cavai (born 1 January 1951) is a Romanian association football goalkeeper and coach.
Cavai was born on 1 January 1951 in Folia, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1966 at Electromotor Timișoara under the guidance of coach Florian Pascu. [2] [3] Afterwards he was promoted by coach Nicolae Maghet to the team's senior squad. [3]
He went to play for Dinamo București where on 22 March 1970, coach Nicolae Dumitru gave him his Divizia A debut in a 3–3 draw against Dinamo Bacău. [2] [4] At the end of his first season, the team reached the 1970 Cupa României final where Dumitru used him all the minutes in the 2–1 loss to rivals Steaua București. [3] [5] In the following season, Dinamo won the championship but Cavai played only one game as the first-choice goalkeeper was Mircea Constantinescu. [6] In the same season the club reached another Cupa României final but Constantinescu played in the loss to Steaua. [7] Cavai won two more titles with The Red Dogs , in the first he worked with coach Ion Nunweiller who used him in 12 games and at the second he played two matches under the guidance of Dumitru. [2] [3] [6] He also played four games in the 1973–74 European Cup campaign as they got past Crusaders after a 12–0 aggregate win in the first round, being eliminated in the second one by Atlético Madrid. [2] [3] [8]
In 1976 he moved to Jiul Petroșani where in his first season he helped the team earn a fifth place. [2] [3] [9] [10] In the following season the club participated in the 1977–78 Balkans Cup, reaching the final which was lost to Rijeka. [3] [9] [10] In the 1979–80 season, Cavai managed to not concede any goals for 589 consecutive minutes. [3] [11]
In 1985 he switched teams again, going at Universitatea Cluj. [2] [3] [12] He spent five seasons with The Red Caps where on 10 December 1989 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 4–3 home victory against Argeș Pitești, having a total of 371 matches in the competition. [2] [3] [13]
Between 1973 and 1982, Cavai played several games for Romania's under-21, under-23, Olympic and B squads. [3] [14]
On 13 May 2020, Gazeta Sporturilor included him on a list of best Romanian players who never played for Romania's national team. [15]
In 1984, Cavai was head coach for a few rounds at Jiul Petroșani while still being an active player. [2] [16]
From 1990 until 2004, he held various positions at Universitatea Cluj, working as a stadium administrator, assistant coach, goalkeeping coach, competition organizer and vice-president of the club. [3] After his period spent at "U" Cluj ended, he went to work for Politehnica Timișoara, firstly as a goalkeeper coach. [3] Then he went at CFR Timișoara. [3]
From 2009 until 2010 he worked at Școala de Fotbal Ardealul. [3] Afterwards he returned to "U" Cluj to work as a goalkeeper coach for the youth teams. [3]
Dinamo București
Jiul Petroșani