Mircea Viorel Petescu (15 May 1942 – 16 December 2018) was a Romanian professional

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and

sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

.Mircea Petescu: "Eu l-am descoperit pe Van Gaal!" Cine e Mircea Petescu?
– Libertatea

Club career

Petescu was born on 15 May 1942 in

Pecica Pecica (; ; ; /''Pečka'') is a town in Arad County, western Romania. In ancient times it was a Dacian fortress called Ziridava and today it is an important archeological site.Barbara Ann Kipfer, ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology'', p.428. ...

. 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 6 September 1959 for

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 a 2–2 draw against Steagul Roșu Brașov. After only one season, he left for Știința Timișoara, UTA's

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 ...

, where he spent three years, including half a season on loan 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 ...

. In 1963, Petescu moved to Steaua București, whom he helped win two

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 ...

in his four seasons at the club, coach

Ilie Savu Ilie Savu (9 January 1920 – 16 November 2010) was a Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was FC Steaua București, Steaua București's first goalkeeper. Playing career Born in Cornățelu, ...

using him in only one of the finals, the one from

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

when he played the whole match in the 4–0 win over his former side, UTA. UTA Arad 1969-70

In 1967, he returned to UTA, where he would play for six seasons, helping the team win two consecutive Divizia A titles under the guidance of coach

Nicolae Dumitrescu Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu (8 December 1921 – 17 March 1999) was a Romanian footballer and manager. As a footballer, he played mainly as a forward and throughout his career, he won four Divizia A titles and two cups with ITA Arad and as a man ...

, contributing with eight goals in 27 appearances in the first season and one goal in 30 games in the second. He also played European football with ''

The Old Lady ''The Old Lady'' () is a 1932 Italian comedy drama film directed by Amleto Palermi and starring Emma Gramatica, Maurizio D'Ancora and Armando Falconi. It also features Vittorio De Sica in his first sound film. Katz p.498 The film's sets were d ...

'', captaining the team as they managed to eliminate defending

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

champions

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

in the

1970–71 European Cup The 1970–71 European Cup was the 16th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Ajax, who beat Panathinaikos in the final at Wembley Stadium in London, on 2 June 1971. It was the first time ...

season. The following year, Petescu played eight games in the

1971–72 UEFA Cup The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural season of the UEFA Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League, which became the third club football competition organised by UEFA. The tournament retained the structure and format of the Inter-Cities Fairs C ...

campaign as UTA reached the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by eventual champions

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Petescu ended his playing career at

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

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 ...

. He made a total of 326 appearances in Divizia A, scoring 24 goals, and 22 appearances in European competitions.

International career

Petescu played two games 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 on 27 October 1968 under coach

Angelo Niculescu Angelo Niculescu (1 October 1921 – 20 June 2015) was a Romanian football player and manager. He is best remembered in Romania for being the national team's coach at the 1970 World Cup and for inventing the "temporizare" ("delaying") tactics ...

in a 3–0 loss against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at the 1970 World Cup qualifiers. His second game was a friendly which ended 0–0 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was chosen by coach Silviu Ploeșteanu to be part of Romania's Olympic team at 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 ...

from

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 ...

, where he played three games, helping the team finish on the fifth place.

Managerial career

After years of preparation, Petescu and his wife defected while on a state-approved vacation to the

. There he started a coaching career and became known for promoting youngsters in the teams he coached. He coached

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...

at Telstar and Sparta and discovered

Danny Blind Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national t ...

amongst many other players.Roemeense krant betitelt Van Gaal als 'Van Hitler'
– AD

Sports agent career

Petescu became a

following the end of his career as a football player and manager. 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 ...

, he oversaw the first important transfer in Romanian football,

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in ...

's move from Steaua București to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

for $4 million. He also worked on the transfers of Gheorghe Popescu to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

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 ...

and

Dorinel Munteanu Dorinel Ionel Munteanu (; born 25 June 1968) is a Romanian football manager and former player. A former midfielder, Munteanu is the most capped Romanian player of all time, with a total of 134 appearances and 16 goals. He played in two edition ...

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

Honours

Club

UTA Arad *

: 1968–69, 1969–70 Steaua București *

: 1965–66, 1966–67

International

Romania U18 * Under-18 European Championship:

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

Notes

References

External links

Mircea Petescu
at olympic.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petescu, Mircea 1942 births 2018 deaths People from Pecica Footballers from Arad County Romanian defectors Romanian emigrants to the Netherlands Men's association football defenders Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Romania FC UTA Arad players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FCSB players Liga I players FC Dordrecht players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Romanian football managers SC Telstar managers Sparta Rotterdam managers FC Dordrecht managers Go Ahead Eagles managers Eredivisie managers Romanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Association football agents 20th-century Romanian sportsmen