Florea Dumitrache

Florea Dumitrache (22 May 1948 – 26 April 2007) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a striker.

Dumitrache spent most of his senior career at Dinamo București, appearing in over 200 league matches and winning three national titles and one national cup. Internationally, he earned 31 caps for the Romania national team and scored 15 goals.

He was considered one of the best forwards in Europe during his time, and was well known for his technique and aerial ability.

Italian club Juventus wanted to sign Dumitrache after his performance at the 1970 World Cup but Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist regime refused.

Club career

Dumitrache was born in Bucharest on 22 May 1948, having been nicknamed since his childhood "Mopsul" ''(The pug)'' because of his nose that looked like one of a pug. While playing for TUG București at junior level, he was seen by Dinamo București's coach Traian Ionescu who convinced him to come and play for his team. He made his Divizia A debut on 2 May 1966, playing for Dinamo București in a 1–1 with Dinamo Pitești. His first trophy won was the 1967–68 Cupa României, scoring a goal in the 3–1 victory from the final against Rapid București in which coach Bazil Marian used him the whole match. In the following three editions of the Cupa României, the team would reach the final in each of them, Dumitrache scoring a goal in each of the first two, all of them being lost in front of rivals Steaua București. Over the years he would score four more goals in the derby with Steaua in four victories from the league.

He won three league titles with '' The Red Dogs'' in 1971, 1973 and 1975, in the first he contributed with 15 goals scored in the 28 matches he was used by coaches Nicolae Dumitru and Ionescu, in the second he played 26 games and scored 15 goals under the guidance of Ion Nunweiller and in the third he made 10 appearances and scored four goals while working once again with Dumitru. During his period spent at Dinamo, Dumitrache also played 16 games and scored six goals in European competitions, including scoring once in a 11–0 win over Crusaders from the 1973–74 European Cup and helping the team earn a 1–0 home victory in front of Real Madrid in the 1975–76 European Cup. He became the Divizia A top goalscorer twice, first in 1969 with 22 goals and the second in 1971, alongside Constantin Moldoveanu and Gheorghe Tătaru with 15 goals. Dumitrache won twice (1968, 1969) the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, also in 1970 along with Dinamo teammate Cornel Dinu he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or. Italian club Juventus wanted to sign the 24 year-old Dumitrache after his performance at the 1970 World Cup, making an estimated $1.5 million offer for him, but Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist regime refused.

After spending 11 seasons at Dinamo, Dumitrache went to play for Jiul Petroșani where for three seasons he made a successful couple in the team's offence with Gheorghe Mulțescu, scoring 20 goals in his first season, being the league's second top-goalscorer, only behind former teammate, Dinamo's Dudu Georgescu who won the European Golden Shoe. In 1979 he went at Divizia B club, Corvinul Hunedoara where his former Dinamo teammate, Mircea Lucescu was coaching, scoring 15 goals in his first season which helped the club earn promotion to the first league. After finishing third in the 1981–82 Divizia A season, he played all four games from Corvinul's 1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign, scoring once as they got past Grazer AK in the first round, being eliminated in the following one by FK Sarajevo against whom he also netted a goal but also in the second leg he headbutted referee Gianfranco Menegali in the mouth and as a consequence, he was handed the maximum seven year suspension from all UEFA competitions. Florea Dumitrache made his last Divizia A appearance, playing for Corvinul on 17 September 1983 in a 2–0 home loss in front of his former team, Jiul Petroșani, having a total of 357 matches with 170 goals scored in the competition. He ended his career in 1984 after playing for Minerul Știința Vulcan.

International career

Dumitrache played 31 games and scored 15 goals for Romania, making his debut under coach Angelo Niculescu in a friendly which ended 0–0 against Netherlands. He played five games in which he scored three goals at the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers, also making a good performance at the final tournament, being used by coach Angelo Niculescu in all three games from the group stage in which he scored two goals, one against Czechoslovakia and one against Brazil and impressing with his dribbling abilities, especially in front of England's defenders Bobby Moore and Terry Cooper, however Romania did not manage to advance to the next stage. He played three matches and scored two goals at the Euro 1972 qualifiers, also scoring five goals in five games at the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, including two in Romania's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 against Finland. He also played in a 3–1 victory against Greece at the 1973–76 Balkan Cup, making his last appearance for the national team on 23 July 1974 in a friendly which ended with a 4–1 victory against Japan in which he scored two goals.

International goals

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

Death

Dumitrache died in his native Bucharest on 26 April 2007, aged 59, due to a digestive hemorrhage. After his death, the Victoria Ground was renamed "Stadionul Florea Dumitrache" in his honor.

Honours

Dinamo București
*Divizia A: 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–75
*Cupa României: 1967–68
Corvinul Hunedoara
* Divizia B: 1979–80
Individual
*Divizia A top scorer: 1968–69, 1970–71
*Romanian Footballer of the Year: 1968, 1969
*Ballon d'Or 24th place: 1970

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumitrache, Florea
1948 births
2007 deaths
Footballers from Bucharest
Romanian men's footballers
Liga I players
Liga II players
FC Corvinul Hunedoara players
FC Dinamo București players
CSM Jiul Petroșani players
1970 FIFA World Cup players
Romania men's international footballers
Men's association football forwards
Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage
20th-century Romanian sportsmen