Ioan "Ionuț" Angelo Lupescu (born 9 December 1968) is a Romanian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Ioan Lupescu, nicknamed ''Kaiserul'' was born on 9 December 1968 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 and started to play football in 1975 at the youth of Austrian club,

Admira Wacker Admira Wacker is an Austrian professional Association football, football club based in Maria Enzersdorf, a town in the Mödling District of Lower Austria. The team competes in the 2. Liga (Austria), 2. Liga, the second tier of the Football in Au ...

, the club where his father, Nicolae played until his retirement. When his family returned to Romania, he went to play for

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 ...

, being rejected after a trial, but after his family moved from

Grivița Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, the ...

to the Pantelimon neighborhood he went to play at the junior center of Mecanică Fină București where his father was coaching the seniors, but after a while at the pressure of his mother who wanted to see him play for a bigger team he went 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 ...

's youth center where he worked with Iosif Varga. On 21 September 1986 at age 17, 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 under coach

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...

in a 4–1 home victory against SC Bacău, also Lucescu gave him the captain armband at age 19. His first performance with '' The Red Dogs'' were the quarter-finals reached in the

1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1988–89 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won for the third time by Barcelona in the final against Italian entrants Sampdoria. The two sides would meet again in the 1992 European Cup Final, which Barcelona also won. Wimbledon did ...

where they were eliminated on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

after 1–1 on aggregate by

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

. In the following season the club won The Double with Lupescu playing 29 Divizia A matches with four goals scored, also playing all the minutes in the 6–4 victory from the

1990 Cupa României final Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno D ...

against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Steaua București and he appeared in six matches in which he scored one goal against

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, lin ...

in the

1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1989–90 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won for the only time by Sampdoria in the final against Anderlecht, 2–0 at Nya Ullevi in Gothenburg, on 9 May 1990. They went on to win 1990–91 Serie A, also being runners-up in the ...

as Dinamo reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated after 2–0 on aggregate by

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

. After the

1989 Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily within the Eastern Bloc. The Romanian revoluti ...

, Lupescu had offers to play in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and Mircea Lucescu's team,

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, but he chose to make his own path in football, going to play in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

where he made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut on 11 August 1990 when he was sent by coach

Jürgen Gelsdorf Jürgen Gelsdorf (born 19 January 1953) is a German football coach and former player who is currently youth teams coordinator at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Sporting career As a player For the 1972/73 season, 19-year-old junior soccer player Jürgen ...

in the 68th minute in order to replace Marcus Feinbier in a 1–1 with

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. His biggest performances achieved during his six seasons spent at the club were under coach

Dragoslav Stepanović Dragoslav Stepanović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгослав Степановић, ; born 30 August 1948) is a Serbian retired football player and coach. Club career Stepanović made his name with OFK Beograd where he was a right back fixture for 11 year ...

which consisted of the triumph in the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal and the reaching of the

1994–95 UEFA Cup The 1994–95 UEFA Cup was won by Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a po ...

semi-finals where they were eliminated by the eventual winners of the competition,

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, with Lupescu making 10 appearances in the campaign. In 1996 he went to play for two seasons at fellow Bundesliga team,

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

, afterwards returning in Romania at Dinamo where in the 1999–00 season he helped the club win another Double, being used by coach

Cornel Dinu Cornel Dinu (born 2 August 1948) is a Romanian retired professional footballer and manager who played as a sweeper or a defensive midfielder. He started out his playing career at hometown club Metalul Târgoviște in 1965, and went on to spen ...

in 29 Divizia A matches in which he scored six goals, including one in a 3–2 victory from a derby against Steaua which helped them mathematically win the title. In 2000, Lupescu went to play in

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 ...

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

only for a half of season in which he was also the team's captain, after which he paid his termination clause of 225.000$ in order to come back at Dinamo, helping the team win at the end of the season the

2000–01 Cupa României The 2000–01 Cupa României was the 63rd edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Dinamo București against Rocar București. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. First round pro ...

. He started the 2001–02 season at Dinamo, but in October 2001, he signed a contract with

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

club Al-Hilal, working with Portuguese coach Artur Jorge, but could not adapt, because of the high climate, leaving the club in January 2002, however at the end of the season, both clubs won the title. Ioan Lupescu has a total of 227 matches and 10 goals scored in

, 183 matches and 25 goals scored in Divizia A, nine games with two goals scored in 1.Lig, five appearances and one goal scored in

Saudi Premier League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

and 46 games played with three goals scored in European competitions (including two appearances and one goal in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

International career

Ioan Lupescu made 74 appearances 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 ...

and scored six goals, making his debut on 3 February 1988 when coach Emerich Jenei sent him on the field in the 81st minute in order to replace

Ioan Sabău Ioan "Neluțu" Ovidiu Sabău (born 12 February 1968) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga I club Universitatea Cluj. Club career Ioan Sabău, nicknamed ''Moțul'' after the people from Țar ...

in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 victory against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He played one match at the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers, being used by Jenei in three matches from the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, including in the game from the eight-finals where the team got eliminated by

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Afterwards he played eight games and scored one goal at the Euro 1992 qualifiers, made 9 appearances and scored 3 goals at the successful 1994 World Cup qualifiers, being part of the "Golden Generation" that passed the group stage, eliminated with a 3–2 victory

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the eight-finals, being eliminated after the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the quarter-finals of the

, being used by coach

Anghel Iordănescu Anghel Iordănescu (; born 4 May 1950), is a Romanian former footballer and former manager, who played as a forward. In 2007, Iordănescu retired from football, and the following February, after his predecessor resigned, he became a member ...

as a starter in all five games. Lupescu played nine games at the successful Euro 1996 qualifiers, being used at the

by Iordănescu in all the minutes of the 1–0 loss in front of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, as a starter, but replaced at half-time by

Constantin Gâlcă Constantin "Costel" Gâlcă (born 8 March 1972) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. Equally at ease as a defensive or central midfielder and possessing an a ...

in the 1–0 loss against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and introduced in the 86th minute in order to replace

Daniel Prodan Daniel "Didi" Claudiu Prodan (23 March 1972 – 16 November 2016) was a Romanian professional association football, footballer who played mainly as a centre-back. In a career marred by injuries, he played mainly for FC Steaua București, Steaua ...

in the 2–1 loss against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, as Romania did not pass the group stage. He played two games at the successful 1998 World Cup qualifiers, however he was not part of the squad that went to play at the

and went on to play nine games at the successful Euro 2000 qualifiers, being used by Jenei at the

in the group game which ended 1–1 against

when he replaced

Viorel Moldovan Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian football manager and former player. A former striker, Moldovan most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland ...

in the 85th minute and in the quarter-final against

which ended with a 2–0 loss when he replaced

in the 68th minute. Ioan Lupescu's last game played for the national team took part on 7 October 2000 in a 3–0 away loss in front of Italy at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. On 25 March 2008 Lupescu was decorated by

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

for contributing as general manager of the

Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...

at the national team's successful

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Coaching career

In 2003, Lupescu acquired his coaching license at the

German Sport University German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. He started to work as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

in the second part of the 2003–04 Divizia A season, helping

FCM Bacău Asociația Sportivă a Suporterilor FCM 1950 Bacău (also known as ASS FCM 1950 Bacău, FCM 1950 Bacău or FCM Bacău) was a Romanian association football, football football team, club based in Bacău, Bacău County, Moldavia. Founded in 1950 a ...

avoid relegation. In the following season he worked at FC Brașov in

but left the club after refusing to participate at a fixed match against Gloria Bistrița, insisting in front of the club's leader, Romeo Pașcu to play the game fairly, promising that he will leave the club if he loses, Pașcu accepted the deal, but the game was lost with 3–1, so Lupescu resigned, shortly afterwards being named general manager at the

by president Mircea Sandu, years later working as a technical director at

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and became a member of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's Technical and Development Committee. In July 2023, Lupescu was appointed as a board member in Mahd Sports Academy, a sports academy based in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Personal life

Lupescu is the son of former Romanian international player Nicolae Lupescu, who for a time also served as a manager. In 2010 he appeared in the "Be free" video of

Smiley A smiley, sometimes called a smiley face, is a basic ideogram representing a Smile, smiling face. Since the 1950s, it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram or as a form of communication, such as em ...

's band Radio Killer alongside Senegalese international footballer, Ousmane N'Doye and former tennis ATP number 1,

Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the inaugural world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 40 weeks. Năstase is one of ten play ...

Career statistics

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

Honours

Dinamo București *

: 1989–90, 1999–00, 2001–02 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2000–01 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

runner-up:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Bayer Leverkusen *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1992–93 * DFB-Supercup runner-up:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Al-Hilal *

: 2001–02

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lupescu, Ioan 1968 births Living people Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Romania men's international footballers Footballers from Bucharest FC Dinamo București players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Bursaspor footballers Al-Hilal Saudi FC players Bundesliga players Liga I players Süper Lig players Saudi Pro League players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players Romanian football managers FC Brașov (1936) managers FCM Bacău managers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Association football executives Romanian sports executives and administrators 20th-century Romanian sportsmen