Nicolae Tilihoi
Romanian footballer (1956–2018)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicolae Tilihoi (9 December 1956[1] – 25 March 2018) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a defender.
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Tilihoi with Universitatea Craiova in the 1980s | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 December 1956[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Brăila, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 25 March 2018 (aged 61) | ||
| Place of death | Craiova, Romania | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Comerțul Brăila | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1974–1976 | FC Brăila | ||
| 1976–1987 | Universitatea Craiova | 290 | (6) |
| 1987–1988 | Metalul Bocșa | ||
| Total | 290 | (6) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 1976–1977 | Romania U21 | 10 | (0) |
| 1980 | Romania Olympic | 1 | (0) |
| 1979–1981 | Romania | 9 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1990–1991 | Jiul Craiova | ||
| 1991–1992 | Electroputere Craiova (assistant) | ||
| 1993 | Electroputere Craiova | ||
| 1996–1997 | Universitatea Craiova (juniors) | ||
| 1996 | Universitatea Craiova (assistant) | ||
| 2003 | Senaco Novaci | ||
| Metalul Bocșa | |||
| Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea | |||
| Callatis Mangalia | |||
| Drobeta-Turnu Severin | |||
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 March 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 10 March 2018 | |||
He spent most of his career with Universitatea Craiova, where he was a member of the Craiova Maxima generation, being nicknamed "the Iron Defender of Craiova".[2]
Club career
Tilihoi was born on 9 December 1956 in Brăila, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1969 at local club Comerțul.[3] He started his senior career in 1974, playing for FC Brăila in Diviza B.[3] Subsequently, he joined Universitatea Craiova where he made his Diviza A debut on 1 September 1976 under coach Constantin Teașcă in a 1–0 away loss to Politehnica Timișoara.[2][3][4]
Tilihoi went on to play 11 seasons for "U" Craiova, forming a successful partnership in the central defense with Costică Ștefănescu.[2][3][5][6] He was part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation, helping them win two consecutive league titles in 1980 and 1981.[3][5][7] At the first one he played 23 matches under coach Valentin Stănescu and in the second he made 27 appearances under coach Ion Oblemenco.[3][7] He also won the Cupa României four times, playing in all the finals.[3][5][8]
Tilihoi played 37 games for "U" Craiova in European competitions.[3] In the second round of the 1979–80 UEFA Cup, he played in one leg of the 4–0 aggregate win over Leeds United, as Universitatea became the first Romanian club that eliminated a team from England in European competitions.[9][10] Afterwards, they reached the quarter-finals in the 1981–82 European Cup by eliminating Olympiacos and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, being eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich.[11] He made nine appearances in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign when they reached the semi-finals, being eliminated by Benfica on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate.[3][12] Tilihoi played in a 3–0 win over AS Monaco in the second leg of the first round of the 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup, after losing the first leg 2–0.[3][13] However, they were eliminated in the following round by the eventual winners of the competition, Dynamo Kyiv.[3][13] Tilihoi made his last Divizia A appearance on 3 June 1987 in a 3–2 home win over Victoria București, totaling 290 matches with six goals in the competition.[3]
He ended his career in 1988, having spent one year with Metalul Bocșa.[14]
International career
From 1976 to 1977, Tilihoi was consistently featured for Romania's under-21 side.[3][15] In 1980, he played for Romania's Olympic team in a 2–2 draw against Hungary.[15]
Tilihoi made nine appearances for Romania, making his debut on 21 March 1979 under coach Ștefan Kovács in a 3–0 friendly win over Greece.[16][17] Subsequently, he played in a loss to Yugoslavia and a win over Cyprus during the Euro 1980 qualifiers.[16] He also played in a 2–0 loss to Yugoslavia in the 1977–80 Balkan Cup.[16] Tilihoi made his last appearance for the national team on 13 May 1981 in a 1–0 away loss to rivals Hungary in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers.[16]
Managerial career
After retirement, Tilihoi started coaching in 1990 at Jiul Craiova, helping it gain promotion from Diviza C to Diviza B.[2][14] Subsequently, he was an assistant coach at Electroputere Craiova during the 1991–92 Divizia A season, as the team finished in third place.[2] He then became the head coach of the team in 1993 for three matches.[18] In 1996, Tilihoi went to coach juniors at Universitatea Craiova and with them, he won a national junior championship.[2] In the same year, he worked for a while as the assistant of Emerich Jenei for the senior team.[2] He also coached several other clubs, such as Metalul Bocșa, Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea, Callatis Mangalia, Drobeta-Turnu Severin and Senaco Novaci.[2][14] In 2003, Tilihoi worked as a vice-president for Electro Craiova.[2]
Writing
Personal life and death
In 2003, Tilihoi received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.[19]
Tilihoi died early in the morning of 25 March 2018, at the age of 61, after struggling for several years with an incurable disease.[20][21] Around 300 people attended his funeral, which took place in the "Ungureni" Cemetery in Craiova.[22]