Sorin Vlaicu (born 3 June 1965) is a retired

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 international

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.

Club career

Vlaicu was born on 3 June 1965 in Șimian,

, starting to play junior level football in 1979, aged 14 at local club, Mecanizatorul. He started his senior career, also at Mecanizatorul, going afterwards at Armata Craiova, then in 1986 at Divizia C club, UM Timișoara. In 1987, Vlaicu signed with Politehnica Timișoara where he worked with coach Ion Ionescu who gave him 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 14 May 1988 in a 6–0 away loss to Dinamo București. At the end of his first season, the team relegated to Divizia B but he stayed with the club, helping it promote back after one year, contributing with four goals scored, including one in a 3–1

West derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

victory against UTA Arad. He started playing in European competitions in the

1990–91 UEFA Cup The 1990–91 UEFA Cup was the 20th season of the UEFA Cup, the secondary club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The final was played over two legs at San Siro, Milan, Italy, and at the Stadio ...

edition where coach Constantin Rădulescu used him in four matches, as in the first round they got past

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

with 2–1 on aggregate, being eliminated in the next round by Sporting Lisbon against whom he scored once. He helped the club reach the 1992 Cupa României final, coach Ionescu using him all the minutes in the loss at the penalty shoot-out to Steaua București, Vlaicu missing one of Politehnica's spot kicks. Vlaicu was transferred in 1992 by the 1991 European Champions

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. He left the Yugoslavs after only half of season to return at Politehnica, Red Star managing to win the Yugoslavia Cup without him. ''The White-Purples'' relegated at the end of the 1993–94 season, spending afterwards one more year with them in Divizia B. In 1995 he moved to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

to play for

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; ; see also #Name, other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapest. Highway 44, 47 ...

, making his

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

debut on 10 May under coach József Pásztor in a 0–0 with

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

. Five days later, Vlaicu scored his first goal in a 2–2 with

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

. He made his last Nemzeti Bajnokság I on 23 June 1996 in a 3–1 home victory against Győr, having a total of 14 games with two goals scored in the competition. Afterwards he made a third comeback at Politehnica with whom in the 1996–97 season he relegated once again to the second division, spending there one year and half. In 1999 he signed a contract with

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats List of cities and towns on the river Danube, lyin ...

in Divizia B. In April 2000, together with 16 other players, he accused the board of inducing the players to lose a match against Chimica Târnăveni. After examining the case, 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 ...

punished the clubs with mutual walkovers for both league matches and deducted six points from Drobeta-Turnu Severin. He then moved to UM Timișoara, managing to earn promotion to the first league in the 2000–01 season. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 1 June 2002 in UM's 1–0 home loss to Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, having a total of 214 matches with 19 goals scored in the competition. He ended his career one year later, playing with UM and CFR Timișoara in the Romanian lower leagues.

International career

Vlaicu played four friendly games for

, making his debut on 17 April 1991 when coach Mircea Rădulescu sent him as a substitute to replace captain

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 ...

in the 61st minute of a 2–0 away victory 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 ...

. He made his last appearance for the national team on 8 April 1992 in a 2–0 home win over

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Managerial career

Vlaicu coached Timișul Albina during the 2005–06 Divizia D season, at the end of which the team earned promotion to Divizia C. In March 2014 he was brought by Dan Alexa to be his assistant at ACS Poli Timișoara. He also coached juniors.

Honours

Player

Politehnica Timișoara * Divizia B: 1988–89 *

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 ...

runner-up: 1991–92 Red Star Belgrade * FR Yugoslav Cup: 1992–93 UM Timișoara * Divizia B: 2000–01

Manager

Timișul Albina * Divizia D: 2005–06

References

External sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vlaicu, Sorin Living people 1965 births Footballers from Mehedinți County Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Politehnica Timișoara players Red Star Belgrade footballers Békéscsaba 1912 Előre footballers FC Drobeta-Turnu Severin players CSF CFR Timișoara players Liga I players Liga II players Liga III players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia and Montenegro Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia and Montenegro Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Romanian football managers 20th-century Romanian sportsmen