.jpg) Neagu in 1965 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexandru Neagu | ||
| Date of birth | 19 July 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 17 April 2010(2010-04-17) (aged 61) | ||
| Place of death | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1963–1965 | Rapid București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1965–1978 | Rapid București[a] | 286 | (110) |
| International career | |||
| 1970–1972 | Romania[b] | 17 | (4) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alexandru "Sandu"Neagu (19 July 1948 – 17 April 2010) was a Romanianfootballer who played as astriker.
"Hey, you will only leave Rapid with your feet first"
Alexandru Neagu, nicknamedCappellini from Giulești by journalistIoan Chirilă was born on 19 July 1948 in theRahova neighborhood fromBucharest, but grew up in theGiulești neighborhood.[3][4][5][6] He started playing football for the junior squads of Giulești based club,Rapid București, this being the team for which he would play all of his career, making hisDivizia A debut under coachValentin Stănescu on 31 March 1966 in a 1–0 away loss againstPetrolul Ploiești and in the next season he won the competition, Stănescu using him in only eight games in which he scored one goal, as the first options for the offence wereIon Ionescu andEmil Dumitriu.[3][5][6][7][8][9] Neagu also won twoCupa României, being used all the minutes by coachBazil Marian in the1972 final in which he scored the second goal of the 2–0 victory againstJiul Petroșani, also being used the whole game by coachIon Motroc in the 2–1 overUniversitatea Craiova from the1975 final.[3][5][6][7][8][10] He took part in Rapid's1971–72 UEFA Cup campaign, playing all six games, as the team reached the eight-finals, eliminatingNapoli andLegia Warsaw against whom he scored a double, being eliminated by the team who would eventually win the competition,Tottenham, also taking part in the1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, playing all six games, helping the team reach the quarter-finals, eliminatingLandskrona BoIS andRapid Wien against whom he scored a goal, being eliminated byLeeds United who reached the final.[6][11][12] At the end of the1974–75 Divizia A season, the club relegated toDivizia B, but Neagu stayed with the club, scoring 17 goals in 32 matches and helping it promote back to the first division after one year.[5][6][7] He made his last Divizia A appearance on 30 June 1977 in a 2–1 away loss againstFC Constanța, having a total of 254 games played with 93 goals in the competition, also having a total of 19 matches in which he scored five goals in European competitions (including four games and two goals in theInter-Cities Fairs Cup).[5][6]
Neagu played 15 games and scored four goals forRomania, all under the guidance ofAngelo Niculescu, making his debut on 9 February 1970 in a friendly which ended 1–1 againstPeru.[2][13] In his second international cap, a 1–1 withWest Germany, he scored his first international goal.[2] At the1970 World Cup final tournament, Neagu was used by Niculescu in all the three group games as Romania did not advance to the next stage, scoring a goal and obtaining a penalty from whichFlorea Dumitrache scored the victory goal in the 2–1 againstCzechoslovakia.[2][3][4][5][8] He played six matches at the1972 Euro qualifiers, managing to reach thequarter-finals where he scored two goals but Romania was defeated byHungary, who advanced to thefinal tournament.[2] Neagu's last game played for the national team took place on 20 September 1972 at the1974 World Cup qualifiers in a 1–1 withFinland.[2]
| # | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 April 1970 | Neckarstadion,Stuttgart,West Germany | 2 |  West Germany | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 6 June 1970 | Estadio Jalisco,Guadalajara,Mexico | 6 |  Czechoslovakia | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1970 World Cup |
| 3 | 14 May 1972 | Stadionul 23 August,Bucharest,Romania | 13 |  Hungary | 2–2 | 2–2 | Euro 1972 quarter-finals |
| 4 | 17 May 1972 | Stadion Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija,Belgrade,Yugoslavia | 14 | Hungary | 1–1 | 1–2 | Euro 1972 quarter-finals |
His son, Roberto was also a footballer who played briefly forAcademica Clinceni in theRomanian first league.[14]
Neagu died on April 17, 2010, at the age of 61 after slipping and falling atGiulești stadium while watching a Rapid training session. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died, withcirrhosis also being a contributing factor.[3][4][5][7][8]
Rapid București
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