Mircea Sandu

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Mircea Sandu
Mircea Sandu 1972.jpg
Sandu with Sportul Studențesc in 1972
Personal information
Full name Mircea Traian Sandu
Date of birth (1952-10-22) 22 October 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1964–1968 Școala Sportivă 2 București
1968–1970 Progresul București
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1970–1971 Progresul București 15 (2)
1971–1986 Sportul Studențesc București 416 (178)
1986–1987 Gloria Buzău 5 (2)
Total436(182)
International career
1972–1982 Romania 18 [a] (6)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mircea Traian Sandu (born 22 October 1952) is a Romanian sports administrator and retired footballer who played as a striker. Following his retirement from football, Sandu served as the president of the Romanian Football Federation.

Contents

Sandu spent his entire playing career in Romania, most notably with Sportul Studențesc București, becoming one of the club's most prolific goal scorers. He was capped 18 times for the Romania national team, scoring six goals from 1972 to 1982.

Club career

Sandu, nicknamed "Nașul" (The Godfather), was born on 22 October 1952 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football at Școala Sportivă 2 București and Progresul București. [3] [4] He made his Divizia A debut on 30 August 1970 under coach Victor Stănculescu in Progresul's 1–0 victory against CFR Cluj. [3] [5]

In the next season, Sandu joined Sportul Studențesc București in Divizia B where he scored 15 goals in 28 matches, helping them earn promotion to the first league. [3] For the following 14 seasons, he played for The Students in Divizia A, the highlights of this period included scoring 21 goals in the 1975–76 season and helping the team earn a second position in the 1985–86 season. [3] In the 1979 Cupa României final, during a 3–0 loss to Steaua București, coach Mircea Rădulescu sent him on at halftime to replace Ion Munteanu. [3] [6] Sandu represented Sportul in six UEFA Cup matches in which he scored two goals. [3] One of these goals was netted following an assist from Gheorghe Hagi against goalkeeper Walter Zenga in a 1–0 victory against Inter Milan. [7] He also helped the team win the 1979–80 Balkans Cup and reach the final in the 1976 edition. [3] [6] [8]

After his period spent at Sportul Studențesc, Sandu went to play for Gloria Buzău for one season. [3] There, he made his last Divizia A appearance on 21 September 1987 in a 1–0 victory against Universitatea Cluj in which he scored the goal. [3] With 167 goals scored in 408 Romanian top-league matches, he is ranked seventh in the all-time scoring table. [3] [9]

International career

Sandu made 16 appearances and scored four goals for Romania, making his debut on 8 April 1972 under coach Angelo Niculescu in a 2–0 friendly victory against France. [1] [10] His following game was Romania's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 win against Finland in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers in which he netted two goals. [1] [11] Sandu also played in a 2–2 draw against Spain in the Euro 1976 qualifiers and played both legs of the successful 1977–80 Balkan Cup final, a 4–3 victory on aggregate against Yugoslavia. [1] His following goals for the national team were in friendlies, a 2–2 draw against East Germany and a 2–1 loss to Israel. [1] He played two games during the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, making his last appearance for the national team in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 victory against Denmark. [1] Sandu also played two games for Romania's Olympic team in the 1976 Summer Olympics qualifiers, scoring two goals in a 2–1 away win over Denmark. [2] [12]

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sandu goal. [1]
List of international goals scored by Mircea Sandu
#DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 October 1973 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania2Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 3–09–0 1974 World Cup qualifiers
28–0
32 April 1980 Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania9Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1–02–2 Friendly
48 April 1981 Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel13Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 1–11–2Friendly

After retirement

After he ended his playing career, Sandu was the president of the Romanian Football Federation between 1990 and 2014. [4]

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu for Romania's successful Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III. [13]

Personal life

Sandu's former wife who died in 1995, Simona Arghir, was a handball player and their daughter, Raluca, was a professional tennis player. [14] They also had a son named Dan Mircea. [15] [16] In 1997 he married Lisa Alban. [15] [17]

Honours

Sportul Studențesc

Romania

Notes

  1. ↑ Including two appearances and two goals for Romania's Olympic team. [1] [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Mircea Sandu". European Football. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Mircea Sandu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Mircea Sandu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  4. 1 2 "Gică Hagi, cerut selecționer al echipei naționale de Mircea Sandu: "După mandatul lui Contra, să-l chemăm la discuții" + atac la Burleanu: "E omul serviciilor"" [Gică Hagi, proposed as coach of the national team by Mircea Sandu: "After Contra's mandate, let's call him to discussions" + attack on Burleanu: "He works for the secret services"] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "Progresul Bucuresti vs CFR Cluj 1-0". Labtof. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 "Ce pensie are Mircea Sandu, după cei 8 ani pe care i-a lucrat la UEFA" [What a pension Mircea Sandu has, after the 8 years he worked at UEFA] (in Romanian). Impact.ro. 6 June 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "35 de ani de la cea mai glorioasă victorie a Sportului: 1-0 cu legendara Inter" [35 years since the most glorious victory of Sportul: 1-0 with the legendary Inter] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
    "Hagi a iesit de pe teren din cauza lui Mircea Sandu" [Hagi left the field because of Mircea Sandu] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "106 ani de la înființarea Sportului Studențesc. Căpitanul istoric Paul Cazan dă verdictul:"Cred că am fost blestemați! Morți, accidente grave, faliment, nicio speranță de înviere!"" [106 years since the establishment of Sportul Studențesc. Historic Captain Paul Cazan gives the verdict:"I think we were cursed! Deaths, serious accidents, bankruptcy, no hope of resurrection!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Danciu, atacantul care se ia la trîntă cu recordurile: prima pentru cota 200!" [Danciu, the striker who tries to break the records: the first for the 200 share!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  10. ↑ "Romania 2-0 France". European Football. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "Sandu și ceilalți "eroi" din 1973, despre culisele victoriei istorice cu 9-0 cu Finlanda" [Sandu and the other "heroes" from 1973, about the backstage of the historic 9-0 victory over Finland] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Denmark 1-2 Romania". 11v11. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "Raluca Sandu îşi învaţă fetiţa tenis!" [Raluca Sandu teaches her girl to play tennis!] (in Romanian). libertatea.ro. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
    "Unde a dispărut fiica mondenă a ex-şefului de la FRF! Raluca Sandu e patroană de cârciumă la…" [Where did the daughter of the ex-boss from FRF disappear? Raluca Sandu is the owner of a pub in ...] (in Romanian). cancan.ro. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
    "Ce bine seamănă cu mama ei!" [How well she resembles her mother!] (in Romanian). libertatea.ro. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
    "Raluca si Mircea Sandu au castigat meciul impotriva cancerului" [Raluca and Mircea Sandu won the game against cancer] (in Romanian). revistavip.ro. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  15. 1 2 "Poartă pe spate crucea mamei" [She carries on her back her mother's cross] (in Romanian). libertatea.ro. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  16. ↑ "Mircea Sandu, socru-mare in weekend" [Mircea Sandu, great-grandfather in the weekend] (in Romanian). revistavip.ro. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  17. ↑ "Fost patron la FRF, Mircea Sandu s-a apucat în sfârșit de afaceri. Domeniul? Specialist în dezastre" [Former owner of FRF, Mircea Sandu has finally started his business. Domain? Disaster specialist] (in Romanian). prosport.ro. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  18. ↑ "Balkan Cup 1977–80". European Football. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
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