Emil Dumitriu (born 5 November 1942), commonly known as Nichi Dumitriu or Dumitriu II, is a Romanian former

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 lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Emil "Nichi" Dumitriu was born on 5 November 1942 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania, starting to play youth level football in 1957 at Locomotiva București, afterwards moving at Progresul CPCS București. He made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut on 25 March 1962, playing for

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est * A village in Țuglui Țuglui is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, ...

in a 3–2 victory against

UTA Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA (''Uzina Textilă Arad''; ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County that competes in the Liga I. The team was founded in 1945 ...

. In the following season he played in the first half at

Viitorul București Viitorul București (''English: "Viitorul" = Future'') was a Romanian football club from the capital of Romania, Bucharest. History Viitorul București was founded in the summer of 1962 and consisted of the Romanian national youth team, who had ...

, moving in the second half at

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

FC Rapid Bucuresti - group photo 1966-67

During his period spent at Rapid, Dumitriu made a successful couple in the team's offence with Ion Ionescu, winning the first league title from the club's history in the 1966–67 season in which he was used by coach

Valentin Stănescu Valentin Stănescu (20 November 1922 – 4 April 1994) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Stănescu and Constantin Cernăianu are the only two coaches who have managed the big three Bucharest city rivals, Steaua, Dinamo, and Rapid. ...

in 26 matches in which he scored 12 goals, also winning 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 ...

. For the way he played in 1966, Dumitriu was placed fourth in the ranking for the

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year (), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy (), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian player adjudged to have been the best during a calendar yea ...

award. He suffered a lung illness which kept him off the field for one year and a half, being taken by Stănescu at Steagul Roșu Brașov, trying to help him relaunch his career. In 1971, Dumitriu went to play for one season at

Dinamo București 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 Yekaterin ...

, afterwards returning for two seasons at Rapid where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 10 March 1974 in a 2–0 away loss in front of

Argeș Pitești Arges or Argeș may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Romania * Argeș County, a county in Muntenia, with its capital at Pitești * Argeș Region, an administrative division from 1950 to 1952 * Argeș River, which flows through the Southern ...

, having a total of 235 matches in which he scored 68 goals in the competition. He also made four appearances in European competitions during his career (including one appearance in the

Inter-cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

), having three 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 tent ...

when he helped ''The Railwaymen'' eliminate Trakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. Emil Dumitriu ended his career by playing three seasons in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

, the first one at

Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea was a Football (soccer), football club based in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Vâlcea County, Vâlcea County, Romania. It was founded in 1946 and dissolved in 2004. It won one Romanian Cup, in 1972–73 Cupa României, 1973. History ...

and the other two at Progresul București, helping both teams earn promotion to Divizia A.

International career

Emil Dumitriu played six games and scored three goals at international level for

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

, making his debut under coach

Ilie Oană Ilie Oană (16 August 1918 – 27 April 1993) was a football player and manager. Club career Ilie Oană was born on 16 August 1918, being nicknamed "Americanul" ''(The American)'' because his place of birth was in Indiana Harbor to Romanian pa ...

on 23 October 1965 in a 2–1 away loss against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. He played two games at the Euro 1968 qualifiers in which he scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 victory against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

after which the opponents captain

Kostas Panayiotou Konstantinos "Kostas" Panayiotou (; 1937 – 17 June 2014) was a Cypriot footballer who played as a defender and made 19 appearances for the Cyprus national team. Career Early in his career, Panayiotou played for various amateur English clubs ...

said:"Dumitriu's game is simply confusing. He is an opponent who creates nightmares". He made his last appearance for the national team on 5 June 1968 in a friendly match that ended 0–0 against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Dumitriu also played 13 games for Romania U23, scoring four goals. He appeared in a friendly match for Romania's Olympic team, which ended in a 2–1 away victory against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. He was selected by coach Silviu Ploeșteanu to be part of the squad for the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, but he did not play in any games due to an injury sustained during a training session caused by his teammate Mircea Petescu.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dumitriu goal''.

Personal life

Emil Dumitriu is the older elder of

Dumitru Dumitriu Dumitru Dumitriu (born 19 November 1945 in Bucharest), commonly known as Țiți Dumitru or Dumitriu III, is a retired Romanian footballer and coach. He is the younger brother of Emil Dumitriu ''(Dumitriu II)'' who was an International footballe ...

(''Dumitriu III''), who also appeared internationally for Romania and played for

before becoming a manager, and

Constantin Dumitriu Constantin Dumitriu (born 14 November 1953), commonly known as Dumitriu IV is a Romanian former football midfielder. He is the younger brother of Emil Dumitriu ''(Dumitriu II)'' and Dumitru Dumitriu ''(Dumitriu III)'' who were international fo ...

(''Dumitriu IV'') who won the Romanian championship with Steaua București. In 1987, he settled in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, where he married a Greek woman.

Honours

Rapid București *

: 1966–67 *

: 1963–64, 1964–66 Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea *

: 1973–74 Progresul București *

: 1975–76 Individual *''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

(''fourth place''): 1966

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumitriu, Emil 1942 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Romania Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Men's association football forwards CSM Jiul Petroșani players FC Rapid București players FC Brașov (1936) players FC Dinamo București players FC Progresul București players Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea players Liga I players Liga II players 20th-century Romanian sportsmen