Tudorel Stoica
Romanian football player/manager
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tudorel Stoica (born 7 September 1954 in Brăila) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for the most club appearances for Steaua București.
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Stoica in Steaua Bucharest jersey in the 1970s | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 7 September 1954 | ||
| Place of birth | Brăila, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1968–1971 | Politehnica Galaţi | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1972–1974 | CSU Galaţi | 56 | (9) |
| 1974–1975 | FCM Galaţi | 8 | (0) |
| 1975–1989 | Steaua București | 369 | (43) |
| 1989–1990 | Lens | 17 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Steaua București | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 446 | (52) | |
| International career | |||
| 1979–1987 | Romania | 15 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1991–1992 | Steaua București (assistant) | ||
| 1993–1994 | Steaua București (assistant) | ||
| 1998–1999 | Romania U21 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He is widely regarded as one of the most successful players to have played in the Romanian First League. He ranks second in the all-time list of league championships won, alongside Giedrius Arlauskis, Ciprian Deac, Adrian Bumbescu, Mircea Lucescu and Dumitru Stângaciu, with 7 titles each, while Marius Lăcătuș leads the ranking with ten championships.[1]
Club career
Stoica made his Romanian first division debuts with FCM Galaţi in 1974, having previously played for CSU Galaţi in the second league.[2]
After only one season, he transferred to country giants Steaua București where, safe for his first year, he was a nuclear midfield element as the team won – that season included – seven league titles and five domestic cups. He was a main player and captain of the squad that won the first European title in Romanian football's history, the 1985–86 European Cup, even though he did not play in the final against FC Barcelona, because of accumulation of yellow cards.
In 1989, 35-year-old Stoica moved abroad for the first time, playing one season in France with second level side RC Lens, returning to Steaua where he finished his career at the age of 37. The longtime team captain amassed totals of 369 games and 43 goals (377 counting with FCM Galaţi) in his country's top division, over the course of 15 professional seasons; in the early 1990s, he had brief spells as assistant manager with Steaua București and as head coach Romania U21.
On 25 March 2008, Stoica was decorated by Romanian president Traian Băsescu with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – ("The Sportive Merit" Order) class II, for his part in the winning of the 1986 European Cup.[3][4]
International career
During eight years, Stoica was capped 15 times for the Romania national team, but did not attend any major international tournament.[5]
He made his debut on 14 October 1979 in a 1–3 friendly loss with the Soviet Union.[5]
Honours
Personal life
After retiring from football, Stoica served as scout for Belgian club Anderlecht. His son, Alin, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He also represented Steaua and the Romania national team, and played mainly in Belgium, representing four clubs.[6][7]