Constantin Năsturescu (2 October 1940 – 10 December 2021) was a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Constantin Năsturescu, nicknamed ''Bebe'' was born on 2 October 1940 in

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; bg, Гюргево) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and started to play junior level football in 1952 at local club Dunărea, starting his senior career in 1961 at CFR Roșiori in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting ...

. He was transferred at

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascad ...

where on 8 April 1962 he made his

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

debut under coach Ion Mihăilescu in a 3–1 away loss against Steagul Roșu Brașov. He spent 13 seasons at Rapid in which he helped the club win the

1966–67 Divizia A The 1966–67 Divizia A was the forty-ninth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1966–67 Divizia B References {{DEFAULTSORT:1 ...

which was the first title in the club's history, being used by coach

Valentin Stănescu Valentin Stănescu (20 November 1922 – 4 April 1994) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Club career Valentin Stănescu also known as "Tinel" or "Zimbrul" ( The bison) was born on 20 November 1922 in București, Romania and start ...

in 25 matches in which he scored three goals. In the following season he played four games in the

1967–68 European Cup The 1967–68 European Cup was the 13th European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Manchester United, who beat Benfica 4–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. The European Cup title marked the tenth ...

, helping ''The Railwaymen'' eliminate Trakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

. He also won the

1971–72 Cupa României The 1970–71 Cupa României was the 34th edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Rapid București against Jiul Petroşani. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the first ro ...

, and two

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

. Năsturescu played a total of 20 games and scored two goals in European competitions (including four games and two goals in the

Inter-cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (n ...

), taking part in the

1971–72 UEFA Cup The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural year of the UEFA Cup (now known as the UEFA Europa League), which effectively replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was won by English side Tottenham Hotspur over their countrymen Wolverhampton Wanderer ...

campaign, playing all six games as Rapid reached the eight-finals, eliminating

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

, being eliminated by the team who would eventually win the competition,

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthams ...

and took part in the

1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Milan after a 1–0 victory against Leeds United at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece. Competition holders Rangers would have been eligible to compete in ...

campaign, playing all six games, helping the team reach the quarter-finals, eliminating

Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap ( en, Landskrona Ball and Sports Society, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Sweden, Swedish professional Football club (association football), football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently pla ...

against whom he scored a goal and

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

, being eliminated by

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

who reached the final. He made his last

appearance on 19 June 1974 in a 1–0 away loss against Politehnica Iași, having a total of 288 appearances and 25 goals scored in the competition, all for Rapid, retiring after playing two more seasons at Progresul Brăila and

Unirea Focșani Unirea may refer to: Places in Romania * Unirea, Alba, a commune * Unirea, Brăila, a commune * Unirea, Călărași, a commune * Unirea, Dolj, a commune and village * General Berthelot, a commune in Hunedoara, called ''Unirea'' from 1965 to 200 ...

. Constantin Năsturescu died on 10 December 2021 at age 81.

International career

Constantin Năsturescu played three matches for

, making his debut under coach

Bazil Marian Bazil Marian (7 November 1922 – 19 January 2008) was a Romanian professional footballer and coach. Club career Bazil Marian nicknamed "Bombardierul" (The Bomber) because of his powerful shots was born on 7 November 1922 in Uioara de Sus, R ...

on 4 January 1967 in a 1–1 friendly against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, which took place in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern ...

Estadio Gran Parque Central The Estadio Gran Parque Central is the stadium of Club Nacional de Football. It is located in Montevideo, Uruguay, near Nacional headquarters (exactly between the streets Carlos Anaya, Jaime Cibils, General Urquiza and Comandante Braga), in the La ...

. His following games were also friendlies, a 0–0 against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

and a 1–0 loss against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. He also played three games for Romania's Olympic team.

Honours

Rapid București *

: 1966–67 * Cupa României: 1971–72 *

: 1963–64, 1964–66

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasturescu, Constantin 1940 births 2021 deaths People from Giurgiu Sportspeople from Giurgiu County Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Romania men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Romania Liga I players Liga II players FC Rapid București players AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila players CSM Focșani players