Mihai Zamfir (born 22 January 1955) is a

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 ...

n former football defender and

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 ...

Club career

Mihai Zamfir was born on 22 January 1955 in

Moșoaia Moșoaia is a commune in Argeș County, Muntenia, 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 ...

, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1971 at

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 ...

. 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 30 September 1973 in a 2–1 home victory in front of Sportul Studențesc București. In the

1978–79 UEFA Cup The 1978–79 UEFA Cup was the eighth season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at the Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and at the Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, W ...

edition he helped the team eliminate

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

in the first round with a 5–1 aggregate victory. In the following one they met

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

led by

Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (, ; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker or Attacking Midfielder, attacking midfielder. A prolific g ...

, earning a 2–1 win in the first leg, however they lost the second one with 5–2, thus the campaign ending. In the same season he helped Argeș win the title, being used by coach

Florin Halagian Florin Vașken Halagian (7 March 1939 – 12 August 2019) was a Romanian football player and manager of Armenian descent, hence the nickname ''Armeanul'' (The Armenian). With 878 games, he is the manager who has the most matches in the Liga I, R ...

in 33 games in which he scored two goals. In the following season they passed

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

in the first round of the

1979–80 European Cup The 1979–80 European Cup was the 25th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football competition. The tournament was won by holders Nottingham Forest in the final against Hamburg. The winning goal was scored by John Robertson, who d ...

, the team being eliminated in the following one by title holders and eventual winners,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, Zamfir receiving a red card for repeated fouls in the 80th minute of the first leg. In 1984 he went to play for Olt Scornicești where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 17 December 1987 in a 0–0 with

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 ...

, having a total of 365 matches with 11 goals scored in the competition, also playing a total of 12 games in European competitions. Zamfir ended his career in 1989, after playing 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 ...

for Inter Sibiu and

Dacia Pitești Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

, helping the first earn promotion to the first league.

International career

Mihai Zamfir played 10 games for

, making his debut under coach

Ștefan Kovács Ștefan Kovács (; ; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. Having won two European Cup titles, he is one of the most successful association football coaches in the history of the game. Various football magazi ...

when he came as a substitute and replaced Florin Cheran in the 24th minute of a 2–0 victory 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 ...

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 ...

. He also played in the second leg with Bulgaria from the same competition which ended 1–1 and made three appearances at the Euro 1980 qualifiers. Zamfir's last appearance took place on 8 April 1981 in a 2–1 away loss in a friendly with

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 ...

Managerial career

Mihai Zamfir coached several clubs in Romanian football, starting with

, afterwards at

, Chimica Târnăveni, Politehnica Timișoara,

Cimentul Fieni Club Sportiv Muntenia Fieni, commonly known as CSM Fieni, or simply as Fieni, is a Romanian football club based in Fieni, Dâmbovița County, which competes in the Liga IV. The original club was founded on 20 September 1949, under the name of '' ...

Unirea Alba Iulia Clubul Sportiv Municipal Unirea Alba Iulia, commonly known as Unirea Alba Iulia (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Alba Iulia, Alba County, founded in 1924 and currently playing in the Liga III. Among the greatest achievements ...

and Girom Albota. He also worked as an assistant for

Nicolae Dobrin Nicolae Dobrin (; 26 August 1947 – 26 October 2007) was a Romanian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and a manager. Nicknamed ''Gâscanul'' ("The Gander") or ''Prințul din Trivale'' ("The Prince of Trivale"), he is considered o ...

and

at Argeș Pitești and at Dacia Mioveni for Cornel Iliescu. Zamfir also coached abroad at

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

club, Al Sabah.

Personal life

His wife, Dana was a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player and his daughter Cristina played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Honours

Argeș Pitești *

: 1978–79 Inter Sibiu *

: 1987–88

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamfir, Mihai 1955 births Living people Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Argeș Pitești players FC Olt Scornicești players FC Inter Sibiu players FC Dacia Pitești players Romanian football managers FC Argeș Pitești managers FC Politehnica Timișoara managers CSM Unirea Alba Iulia managers 20th-century Romanian sportsmen