Constantin Tabarcea (8 February 1937 – 14 July 1963) was a Romanian

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 ...

Career

On 14 July 1963 he collapsed and died during a match

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 ...

match against

Dinamo Bacău A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinb ...

. Death was attributed to unusual activity of the

thymus The thymus is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or ''T cells'' mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. ...

. He was 26 years old. One week later after his death Petrolul won the 1962–63 Cupa României and before the game, at the team photo, the place from the down row in front of goalkeeper Mihai Ionescu was left free in his memory. In 2013, in his honor, at the initiative of his former teammates, the authorities mounted a commemorative plaque at the entrance of the

Ilie Oană Stadium Ilie Oană Stadium (Romanian: ''Stadionul Ilie Oană'') is a football stadium in Ploiești, Romania. It has been the home ground of Petrolul Ploiești since its inauguration in September 2011, and has a capacity of 15,073 spectators. The stadiu ...

that says: "He was a delicate, sensitive boy with a special sense of the rules of life. (...) As a footballer he was a great talent, a ball tamer who listened to him in submission, doing with the ball whatever he wanted. At Petrolul he played the role of the "wanderer winger" who processed most of the balls recovered from the defense to be transmitted to the attackers. (...) He had all the qualities of a great player, the eye, the speed of thought, dedication, shot well placed". The footballer Adrian Tabarcea Petre and his father are named Tabarcea because his grandfather was a friend of Constantin.

Honours

Petrolul Ploiești *

: 1957–58, 1958–59 * Cupa României: 1962–63

References

External links

Constantin Tabarcea
at Labtof.ro 1937 births 1963 deaths Romanian men's footballers Association football players who died while playing FC Petrolul Ploiești players Liga I players Men's association football midfielders Sport deaths in Romania Footballers from Târgoviște {{Romania-footy-bio-stub