 Niculescu inAmsterdam (1970) | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Angelo Niculescu | ||
| Date of birth | (1921-10-01)1 October 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Craiova, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 20 June 2015(2015-06-20) (aged 93) | ||
| Place of death | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1937–1939 | Rovine Grivița Craiova | ||
| 1939–1944 | FC Craiova | ||
| 1945–1947 | Carmen București | ||
| 1947–1948 | Ciocanul București | 29 | (1) |
| 1948–1950 | Dinamo București[a] | 17 | (0) |
| Total | 46 | (1) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1952 | Dinamo București (juniors) | ||
| 1953–1957 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1958 | Steaua București | ||
| 1958–1959 | Tractorul Brașov | ||
| 1964–1966 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1967–1972 | Romania | ||
| 1973–1977 | Sportul Studențesc București | ||
| 1977–1979 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1979–1980 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1980–1981 | SC Bacău | ||
| 1981–1983 | Universitatea Cluj | ||
| 1983–1984 | Oțelul Galați | ||
| 1991–1992 | Club Africain (technical director) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Angelo Niculescu (1 October 1921 – 20 June 2015) was aRomanianfootball player and manager. He is best remembered in Romania for being the national team's coach during the1970 World Cup. Niculescu is also credited with inventing the "temporizare" ("delaying") tactics. This strategy involved the team maintaining possession of the ball within its own half, with players exchanging numerous short passes across the field. The goal was to disrupt opponents' patience and force them to press high. This approach is often considered an early form oftiki-taka. Using these tactics, Niculescu successfully qualified Romania for a World Cup after more than 30 years and secured a notable win againstCzechoslovakia.[2][3][4][5]
Niculescu was born on 1 October 1921 inCraiova, Romania and began playing football in 1937 at age 15 inDivizia B at local club Rovine Grivița.[6][7][8][9] In 1939 he moved to play for neighboring team,FC Craiova with whom he won the 1942–43 championship which was not recognized by theRomanian Football Federation because the teams fromTransylvania were unable to participate as the territory was annexed toHungary due to theSecond Vienna Award.[6][10][11][12] DuringWorld War II his career was interrupted for a while as he was called by theRomanian Army to fight on theEastern Front.[9][11][13] In 1945, Niculescu joinedCarmen București where he stayed two years.[6][7][8][9][10] Subsequently, he moved toCiocanul București which after one year merged withCarmen to createDinamo București where he played in the following two years, ending his career at age 29 in which he earned a total of 93Divizia A appearances with three goals.[9][10][13][14][15]
"He was an innovator of football. A fair guy, severe enough, a man of justice. The most important thing was that he formed people. Valuable people of Romanian football."
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Niculescu started coaching in 1952 atDinamo București's junior center.[8] One year later he became the head coach of the senior squad which he helped to win their firstDivizia A title in1955.[6][7][8][9][16] He also reached the1954 Cupa României final which was lost with 2–0 toMetalul Reșița.[17] He led the team in the first European match of a Romanian team in the1956–57 European Cup in the 3–1 victory againstGalatasaray, helping Dinamo reach the next phase of the competition where they were eliminated byCDNA Sofia.[18] Niculescu left Dinamo in 1957 and had two short experiences atSteaua București andTractorul Brașov.[6][7][8][9][10] Subsequently, he returned to Dinamo in 1964, helping the club win anotherDivizia A title in the1964–65 season.[6][7][9][14][16] He has a total of 16 matches in European competitions, all withThe Red Dogs, resulting in 10 victories and 6 losses.[19] One of his most important European victories was the historical 2–1 overHelenio Herrera'sInter Milan in the1965–66 European Cup edition, the Italians being the winners of the previous two seasons of the competition.[20] Niculescu said after the game:"I am happy that Herrera's "concrete" was broken by the movement on the field of our players. With fair refereeing we would have won even more clearly".[20] However, they lost the second leg with 2–0.[20]
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Niculescu was named coach ofRomania's national team in 1967, making his debut in a 1–0 home loss toItaly in theEuro 1968 qualifiers.[6][7][21] He guided the national team through the successful1970 World Cup qualifiers where they earned first place in a group composed ofGreece,Switzerland andPortugal.[7][10][11][21][22] Thus they qualified for thefinal tournament after a 32-year absence.[10][11] There, they earned a 2–1 victory againstCzechoslovakia, but lost with 1–0 to title holdersEngland and with 3–2 to the eventual winners of the Mexican tournamentBrazil.[7][10][19][21][22] He was heavily criticized because he did not useNicolae Dobrin in any games during the final tournament, and while the reasons Niculescu didn't use him are unclear, Dobrin's absence is considered one of the most controversial moments in the history of Romanian football.[6][7][9][11][23] He also guided the national team during the1972 Euro qualifiers where they earned first place in a group withCzechoslovakia,Wales andFinland, thereby reaching thequarter-finals.[6][7][10][14][21] There, Romania was defeated byHungary, who advanced to thefinal tournament.[10][14][21] His last game as Romania's manager took place on 29 October 1972 in a 2–0 home victory againstAlbania in the1974 World Cup qualifiers, totaling 38 matches consisting of 12 victories, 17 draws and 9 losses.[19][21]
For representing his country at the1970 World Cup, Niculescu was decorated byPresident of RomaniaTraian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.[24]
In 1973, Niculescu went to coachSportul Studențesc București until 1977.[6][7][9][10][14] Afterwards he worked for two years atPolitehnica Timișoara where in the1977–78 season he was close to winning the championship as the team was leading with three rounds before the end of the season, but after a 4–2 loss to Dinamo, they ended the championship in third place, three points behind the championsSteaua.[6][7][9][10][14]
From 1979 until 1980 he had a third spell at Dinamo, then he coachedSC Bacău for one season.[6][7][9][10] Subsequently, he moved toUniversitatea Cluj for two seasons where in the first one, the team was relegated toDivizia B.[6][9][10] Niculescu ended his coaching career in 1984 after one season spent atOțelul Galați, having a total of 445 Divizia A matches, consisting of 196 victories, 101 draws and 148 losses.[6][9][10][19][25]
After the1989 Romanian Revolution, he went to work as technical director inTunisia atClub Africain, bringingIlie Balaci as head coach.[3][6][11][26] In their single season at the club, they won theCAF Champions League,Tunisian League and theTunisian Cup.[3][6][11][26]
Niculescu is known in Romania for inventing the "temporizare" ("delaying") tactics.[4][5][9][10][11] This strategy involved the team maintaining possession of the ball within its own half, with players exchanging numerous short passes across the field.[9][10][11] The goal was to disrupt opponents' patience and force them to press high.[9][10][11] This approach is often considered an early form oftiki-taka.[9][10][11] Using these tactics, Niculescu successfully qualified Romania for a World Cup after more than 30 years and secured a notable win againstCzechoslovakia.[9][10][11] In 2011FIFA named Niculescu the inventor of thetiki-taka style of play and so didUEFA in 2014.[9][13][27]
Niculescu started writing chronicles, comments and match analysis in 1958 as a journalist for the "Sportul popular" newspaper.[6] He also wrote two volumes about football:[4][5][8][14][28]
He had four brothers and one of them, Jean Niculescu, was a footballer atOlympia București.[11][13] Niculescu died on 20 June 2015 in his apartment inBucharest and was buried in theGhencea Military Cemetery.[4][5][8][10][29] The president ofFIFA,Joseph Blatter said: "Please accept my condolences for the passing of former player and coach Angelo Niculescu. He will be remembered for his contribution to Romanian football, especially as the inventor of the tiki-taka style of play."[30]
Dinamo București
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