Nicolae Pantea

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Nicolae Pantea
Nicolae Pantea 1966 (cropped).jpg
Pantea with UTA Arad in 1966
Personal information
Date of birth (1946-02-12) 12 February 1946 (age 79)
Place of birth Beliu, Arad County, Romania
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Midfielder
Youth career
1961–1964 Rapid Arad
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1964–1966 UTA Arad 49 (6)
1966–1975 Steaua București 196 (24)
1975–1977 Petrolul Ploiești 1 (0)
Total246(30)
International career
1971 Romania Olympic 1 (0)
1972–1973 Romania 2 (1)
Managerial career
1981–1983 Steaua București (assistant)
1984 UTA Arad
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicolae Pantea (born 12 February 1946) is a Romanian former footballer and manager.

Contents

Club career

Pantea was born on 12 February 1946 in Beliu, Arad County, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1961 at Rapid Arad for three years. [1] Subsequently, he went to UTA Arad and made his Divizia A debut on 30 August 1964 under coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan in a 3–0 away loss to Steagul Roșu Brașov. [1] [2] He reached with UTA the 1966 Cupa României final where coach Nicolae Dumitrescu used him the entire match in the 4–0 loss to Steaua București. [3] Shortly afterwards, Pantea joined Steaua, a team with whom he won the 1967–68 title in which coach Ștefan Kovács used him in six matches. [1] [4] He also won the Cupa României four times, in the years 1967, 1969, 1970 and 1971, but played only in the second and the latter of the finals. [1] [5] During his time with The Military Men he also made 14 appearances in European competitions. [1] Pantea played six games in 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, as the team reached the quarter-finals by eliminating Hibernians and Barcelona, being eliminated on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. [1] [6] Over the years, he also netted two goals in a loss and a victory in the derby against Dinamo București. [7] After nine seasons spent at Steaua, Pantea alongside Florian Dumitrescu and six other players were sent to Divizia B club Petrolul Ploiești in exchange for Constantin Zamfir. [1] [8] However, he retired shortly afterwards. [1] Pantea accumulated a total of 249 appearances with 30 goals scored in Divizia A and 35 matches in which he netted seven times in Cupa României. [1]

International career

Pantea played two games for Romania, making his debut on 23 April 1972 under coach Gheorghe Ola in a 2–2 friendly draw against Peru. [1] [9] [10] In his second match for the national team, he scored his first and only goal for The Tricolours , which was the fifth goal in the team's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 against Finland in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. [9] [11] In 1971, Pantea also made an appearance for Romania's Olympic team in a 2–1 away victory against Albania. [1]

International goals

Nicolae Pantea: International Goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 October 1973 August 23 Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 5–09–0 1974 World Cup qualifiers

Managerial career

Pantea first worked as a coach at Steaua's Center for Children and Juniors, in various age categories, and in parallel, in certain periods he was an assistant at Romania's national youth team. [1] In 1984, he was for a short time head coach at UTA Arad while the team was in Divizia B. [1] From 1985 until 1990, he was the head of Steaua's Center for Children and Juniors, then he worked for the Romanian Football Federation as a deputy general secretary, being responsible for the youth sector. [1] In 2000, he was the head of the Central Commission of Referees for a few months. [1] In 2016, the stadium from Pantea's native commune, Beliu, was renamed after him in his honor. [1]

Honours

UTA Arad

Steaua București

Petrolul Ploiești

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Gest de suflet pentru un fost mare jucător al Stelei. A câștigat un titlu și patru cupe cu gruparea din Ghencea" [Gesture of the soul for a former great player of Steaua. He won a title and four cups with the group from Ghencea] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  2. "FC Brasov vs UTA Arad - Liga1 1964-1965". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Romanian Cup - Season 1965-1966". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  4. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  5. "Romanian Cup – Season 1966–1967". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1968–1969". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1969–1970". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1970–1971". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  6. "În 1972, Steaua a fost la un pas să o elimine pe Bayern" [In 1972, Steaua was one step away from eliminating Bayern] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
    "Cupa Cupelor, sezonul 1971/72, sferturi: Steaua 1-1 Bayern, 8 martie 1972" [Cup Winners' Cup, season 1971/72, quarter-finals: Steaua 1-1 Bayern, 8 March 1972]. Tikitaka.ro. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
    "Nicolae Pantea. UEFA Cup Winners Cup 1971/1972". WorldFootball. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  7. "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1968–69". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
    "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1973–74". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  8. "Vedeta uitată! ProSport prezintă povestea celui supranumit "Papucul zburător"! Spanioli i-au zis 'noul Gento" [Forgotten star! ProSport presents the story of the one nicknamed "The flying shoe"! The Spaniards called him the new Gento] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Nicolae Pantea". eu-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  10. "Romania – Peru 2:2". European Football. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  11. "Romania – Finland 9:0". European Football. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
    "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 30 April 2023.