Victor Piturca - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Victor Piturca

Encyclopedia

Victor Piţurcă is a county of Romania, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova .- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 734,231 and a population density of 99/km²....

) is a Romanian football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

manager

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

and former player.

Club career

Piţurcă was one of the prolific striker

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

s of Steaua Bucureşti, being one of the team's top scorers – he scored 137 goals in 174 league games. During their European Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

winning season, Piţurcă scored five goals in nine games, including one of the fastest goals ever scored in an official football game – the goal scored in the 36th second of the game against Budapest Honvéd

Budapest Honvéd FC

Budapest Honvéd FC |football]] team. "Honved" means the Homeland Defense. Originally formed as Kispest AC, they became Kispest FC in 1926 before reverting to their original name in 1944. The team enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s when it was renamed Budapest Honvéd SE and became the Hungarian...

.

He joined Universitatea Craiova

FC Universitatea Craiova

Fotbal Club Universitatea Craiova is a Romanian professional football club from Craiova. They became the first Romanian football team to reach the semi-finals of a European tournament, during the UEFA Cup in 1982–83...

as a youth in 1970, aged 14, and four years later he was loaned to Dinamo Slatina, a club from Romania's Liga II, in order to gain more experience, before being called back to Craiova

FC Universitatea Craiova

in 1975, making his debut for the team in November that year.

As he was not used much by Universitatea

FC Universitatea Craiova

, Piţurcă left the club in 1977 to join Pandurii Târgu Jiu and then FC Drobeta Turnu-Severin, from where he was signed by FC Olt, thus returning to play in Liga I

Liga I

Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

.

In 1983 he was requested by Steaua, helping the club to reach its highest peak in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an football.

Piţurcă won with Steaua the European Cup

UEFA Champions League

in 1986, the European Supercup in 1987, and was semifinalist in the same competition losing to Benfica in 1988. During the 1988-89 season the team reached again the European Cup

UEFA Champions League

final, but loses to Milan. As for domestic performances, Piţurcă won the championship with Steaua Bucureşti five times and the Romanian Cup

Romanian Cup

The Cupa României is a football competition which was held annually since 1933-34, except during the World War II. It is the country's main cup competition, and it is open to all clubs affiliated with FRF and the county football associations regardless of the league they belong to...

four times.

At the end of the 1987-88 season he was the top scorer of Liga I

Liga I

and won UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

's Bronze Boot.

A very funny moment happened in 1989 during the European Cup

UEFA Champions League

semifinal played by Steaua Bucureşti against Galatasaray

Galatasaray S.K. (football team)

Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....

in İzmir

Izmir

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

when the Turkish side's goalkeeper relieved the ball hitting Piţurcă's back and from there the ball went straight into the goal. However, the goal was not validated because the referee did not see what happened.

On 25 March 2008 he was awarded the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" medal — (The Order "The Merit for Sports Achievement") class II by the president of Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, Traian Băsescu

Traian Basescu

Traian Băsescu is the current President of Romania. After serving as the mayor of Bucharest from June 2000 until December 2004, he was elected president in the Romanian Presidential Elections of 2004 and inaugurated on December 20, 2004...

for his part in winning the of 1986 European Cup Final

1986 European Cup Final

The 1986 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, on 7 May 1986, that saw Steaua Bucureşti of Romania defeat Barcelona of Spain in an extraordinary penalty shoot out, after 120 minutes of play could not separate the two sides...

International career

Despite being a prolific striker, Piţurcă only won 13 caps for Romania, scoring six times.

#	Date	Venue	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 June 1986	23 August Stadium, Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.... , Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...	1–0	3–1	Friendly
2	4 June 1986	23 August Stadium, Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.... , Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...	2–0	3–1	Friendly
3	8 October 1986	Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...	1–1	4–2	Friendly
4	8 October 1986	Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...	4–1	4–2	Friendly
5	25 March 1987	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.... , Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...	1–0	5–1	UEFA Euro 1988 Qual.
6	29 April 1987	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.... , Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 1988 Qual.

Career as coach

After playing for Racing Club de Lens during the 1989-90 season, Piţurcă called it a day and retired from professional football to take over as coach. His first appointment was with Steaua Bucureşti in 1991, followed by another one with Universitatea Craiova

FC Universitatea Craiova

in 1994, finishing second in the championship at the end of 1994-95 season.

In 1996 he was named coach of the Romania Under 21

Romania national football team

The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...

side, leading the team to its best performances ever, including a qualification to the Under 21 European Championship in 1998, hosted by Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

.

In 1998 he was appointed as Romania

Romania national football team

's manager and qualified the team to the 2000 European Football Championship

2000 UEFA European Football Championship

The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, association football's governing body in Europe....

. However, despite finishing the qualification group undefetead, Piţurcă was sacked before even taking his squad to the Euro 2000

2000 UEFA European Football Championship

. The reason was an argument he had had with Romania

Romania national football team

's best players, Gheorghe Hagi

Gheorghe Hagi

Gheorghe Hagi is a former Romanian footballer. He was famous for his passing, close control, long shots and was regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and is considered the greatest Romanian footballer of all time...

and Gheorghe Popescu

Gheorghe Popescu

Gheorghe Gică Popescu is a former Romanian footballer who played as a defender, and was a key part of the Romania national team in the 1990s. He played for a string of European clubs in an illustrious career that saw him amass many honours...

, both managed by Ioan Becali. Becali was Piţurcă's worst enemy because Piţurcă did not want to promote the players he managed to the national team, but he was great friends with Romanian Football Federation

Romanian Football Federation

The Romanian Football Federation is the governing body of football in Romania. It organizes the Romania national football team and most of the Romanian football competitions. It is based in the Romanian capital city of Bucharest...

president Mircea Sandu

Mircea Sandu

Mircea Sandu is a retired Romanian football player. He was a striker with Sportul Studenţesc, where he played from 1971-1986....

.

In December 1999 he took over as manager of Steaua Bucureşti, winning the championship in 2001, but resigned in 2004 after an argument with the club's chairman, Gigi Becali

Gigi Becali

George Becali is a controversial Romanian politician and businessman, mostly known for his involvement in the Steaua Bucureşti football club.He has been a Member of the European Parliament since June 2009.-Biography:...

, who wanted to sack a player whom Piţurcă wanted to keep on the team.

In December 2004 he was appointed manager of Romania

Romania national football team

for the second time. At first Romania did well under his coaching, defeating several important European teams both in friendlies (Germany, Spain) and official matches (Czech Republic in Group 1 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification and the Netherlands in Group G of the UEFA 2008 Qualifying Round).

After topping their qualifying group (and thus qualifying for their first international tournament in 8 years), Romania was drawn in Group C at UEFA Euro 2008

UEFA Euro 2008 Group C

Group C of the 2008 UEFA European Championships is one of four groups of competing nations at UEFA Euro 2008. The first of three rounds of matches took place on 9 June, and finished on 17 June. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Zürich and Berne. The group is composed of...

, alongside the Netherlands, Italy and France. At the time of the draw, these countries' respective Elo rankings among European teams were 1st, 2nd, 4th and 8th, and as such the group has been dubbed the competition's "group of death". After drawing their first two games against the finalists of the previous World Cup (0-0 against France, 1-1 against Italy), Romania lost 0-2 to the Netherlands, finishing the group in third place and thus being eliminated from the competition.

After EURO 2008, Romania showed an increasingly poor form in both friendly games and the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 7

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group 7 was a UEFA qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The group comprised France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria and Faroe Islands....

, where they had an almost unprecedented slow start. In their first two official games after EURO 2008, Romania lost 0-3 against Lithuania

Lithuania national football team

The national football team of Lithuania is under the auspices of the Lithuanian Football Federation. It played its first match in 1923. In 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1990 and played their first match as a new nation against Georgia on...

at home and four days later secured a difficult 1-0 victory against the Faeroe Islands

Faroe Islands national football team

The Faroe Islands national football team represents the Faroe Islands in association football and is controlled by the Faroe Islands Football Association, the governing body for football in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands became a member of FIFA in 1988 and UEFA in 1990 and are the third...

. Although many of the players which helped Romania qualify for the EURO 2008 missed these two matches, this was not accepted as a reasonable excuse for the extremely poor results by the Romanian media and public opinion. The next official match, against France

France national football team

The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

, was considered decisive for Romania's qualification chances. Despite managing only a 2-2 tie, the team's performance was generally deemed satisfactory, and Piţurcă was offered one last chance to remain coach of the national team: to win both of the next two games in the qualifying group, against Serbia

Serbia national football team

The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...

and Austria

Austria national football team

The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....

, within a four day timespan. Romania eventually lost both matches (2-3 on 28 March 2009 against Serbia at home, 1-2 on 1 April against Austria away).

Considering Romania's extremely poor performances in 2008 and 2009, the Romanian Football Federation released Victor Piţurcă from his job from the Romania national team

Romania national football team

on 9 April 2009. A few weeks later, Răzvan Lucescu

Razvan Lucescu

Răzvan Lucescu is a Romanian former football goalkeeper and currently the manager of Rapid Bucharest. He is the son of football player and manager Mircea Lucescu.-1987–2003:...

was appointed as his successor.

On 14 June 2011, he returned for a third spell in charge at Romania

Romania national football team

Honours

Divizia A: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
Romanian Cup
Romanian Cup
The Cupa României is a football competition which was held annually since 1933-34, except during the World War II. It is the country's main cup competition, and it is open to all clubs affiliated with FRF and the county football associations regardless of the league they belong to...

: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

: 1985-86
European Super Cup
European Super Cup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the two cup competitions organized by UEFA: the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League...

: 1985-86 (game played in 1987)

Managerial statistics

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	D	L	Win %
Universitatea Craiova FC Universitatea Craiova Fotbal Club Universitatea Craiova is a Romanian professional football club from Craiova. They became the first Romanian football team to reach the semi-finals of a European tournament, during the UEFA Cup in 1982–83...		1994	1995
Romania Romania national football team The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...		1998	1999
Steaua Bucureşti		2000	2002
Steaua Bucureşti		2002	2004
Romania Romania national football team The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...		2004	2009
Steaua Bucureşti		2010	2010
Universitatea Craiova FC Universitatea Craiova Fotbal Club Universitatea Craiova is a Romanian professional football club from Craiova. They became the first Romanian football team to reach the semi-finals of a European tournament, during the UEFA Cup in 1982–83...		2010	2010
Romania Romania national football team The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...		2011
Total

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