Iosif Vigu (born 15 May 1946) is a

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 ...

n former footballer who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was also a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Club career

Iosif Vigu was born on 15 May 1946 in Șimian, Bihor,

, starting to play football at the junior squads of Crișul Oradea, moving in 1983 at Flamura Roșie Oradea where he started his senior career 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 ...

. After a short period spent at Olimpia Oradea in Divizia C, Vigu went to play for Crișul Oradea in

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 ...

where he was debuted by coach Ladislau Zilahi on 4 April 1965 in a 1–0 away loss against

Minerul Baia Mare CS Minaur Baia Mare, commonly known as Minaur Baia Mare, simply as Baia Mare or unofficially as ''Minerul Baia Mare'', is a Romanian football club, based in Baia Mare, Maramureș County, northern Romania, founded in 1948. It currently plays in ...

. In 1966 he went to play for

Steaua București Steaua or Steaua București may refer to: * CSA Steaua București, a Romanian multi-sports club * CSA Steaua București (football), the football team of the multi-sports club * Fotbal Club FCSB, a football team that used this name between 2003 ...

where he stayed until 1980, with a interruption in the 1973–74 season when he was loaned at

FC Constanța FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pak ...

. He won his first

title in the 1967–68 season, being used by coach Ștefan Kovács in 4 matches in which he scored two goals, winning two more in the 1975–76 and 1977–78 seasons, being used by coach Emerich Jenei in 34 matches in each, in the first he also scored three goals. During his period spent with '' The Military Men'' he also won five Cupa României and played 21 games with one goal scored in European competitions, taking part in the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, playing all six games as the team reached the quarter-finals by eliminating Hibernians and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, being eliminated after 1–1 on aggregate on the away goal rule by Bayern Munich. In the 1980–81 season, Vigu played for ASA Târgu Mureș for which he made his last

appearance on 21 June 1981 in a 3–0 home victory against Politehnica Timișoara, having a total of 404 appearances with 34 goals scored in the competition, also as he is the first player that reached 400 appearances in

and because of that every time a footballer reaches 400 appearances in the Romanian top-league, the press says he entered the "Iosif Vigu Club". Iosif Vigu ended his playing career in 1982 after spending one season in Divizia C at ASA Chimia Buzău.

International career

Iosif Vigu played at international level in 22 matches for

and scored 2 goals, making his debut under coach

Angelo Niculescu Angelo Niculescu (1 October 1921 – 20 June 2015) was a Romanian football player and manager. He was the coach of the Romania national football team during the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He is best remembered in Romania for inventing the "temporizar ...

in a Euro 1972 qualification match which ended with a 3–0 victory against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

. He scored his first goal in a 4–0 victory against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

at the

1977–80 Balkan Cup The 1977–80 Balkan Cup, was the 12th Balkan Cup football tournament. It was the first to have a group stage involving the five teams split into two groups, one of three teams and the other of two, with the winner of each one meeting in the fin ...

. Vigu played four games at the 1978 World Cup qualifiers, opening the score in a 6–4 loss against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. At the Euro 1980 qualifiers Vigu appeared in two games, a 3–2 home victory against

and a 1–0 away loss against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. He also played two games for Romania's Olympic team without scoring.

International goals

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

Managerial career

Iosif Vigu coached teams mostly from the Romanian lower leagues such as ASA Chimia Buzău, Olimpia Satu Mare, Minerul Turț, Armătura Zalău and Someșul Satu Mare and contributed to the formation of footballers

Tiberiu Csik Tiberiu Csik (born 12 December 1971) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a defender. After retirement Csik was associated for many years with his hometown team, Olimpia Satu Mare, in various positions ( main coach, yout ...

Zoltan Ritli Zoltan Ritli (born 13 July 1968) is a retired Romanian footballer who played for Inter Sibiu, Steaua București, U Cluj and Rocar București Rocar (also T.V. or Autobuzul) was a van, light truck, bus and trolleybus manufacturer based in Bu ...

Daniel Prodan Daniel Claudiu Prodan (23 March 1972 – 16 November 2016) was a Romanian footballer who played mainly as a central defender. In a career marred by injuries, he played mainly for Steaua București and represented the Romania national team in ...

and

Gábor Gerstenmájer Gábor Gerstenmájer Satu Mare Swabians">German swabian descent who was born in Satu Mare. He won the Romanian Golden Boot award in 1992 while playing for Dinamo. Following his success with Dinamo a move to Swiss Super League took place and he ...

. He had only a short spell in

when he coached

in four games from the 1994–95 season.

Honours

Steaua București *

: 1967–68, 1975–76, 1977–78 * Cupa României: 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1975–76, 1978–79

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vigu, Iosif 1946 births Living people Romanian footballers Romania international footballers Association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Bihor Oradea players FC Steaua București players FCV Farul Constanța players ASA Târgu Mureș (1962) players Romanian football managers FC Olimpia Satu Mare managers