 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1941-09-08)8 September 1941 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania[1] | ||
| Date of death | 19 October 1981(1981-10-19) (aged 40) | ||
| Place of death | Cologne, West Germany[1] | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1956–1962 | Rapid București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1962–1971 | Rapid București | 202 | (9) |
| 1971–1973 | Royal Antwerp | 38 | (6) |
| 1973–1975 | FC Galați | 35 | (3) |
| Total | 275 | (18) | |
| International career | |||
| 1963–1971 | Romania[a] | 41 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Daniel Coe (8 September 1941 – 19 October 1981) was aRomanian football defender. He was part of the Romanian team that reached quarterfinals at the1964 Summer Olympics, and later participated at the1970 World Cup.[1]
_1965.jpg)
Dan Coe, nicknamedMinistrul Apărării ("The Minister of Defence"), was born on 8 September 1941 inBucharest and started playing football in 1956 at the junior squads ofRapid București, winning the 1959–60 national junior championship after defeatingUTA Arad in the final.[4][5][6][7] He started his senior career at Rapid, making hisDivizia A debut on 18 March 1962 in a 1–1 withMinerul Lupeni.[4][5][6]
He remained with Rapid for ten seasons, being for a while the team's captain, winning the league title in the1966–67 season when coachValentin Stănescu used him in 26 matches.[4][5][6][8] In the following season, Coe played four games in the1967–68 European Cup, helpingThe Railwaymen eliminateTrakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated byJuventus.[5][9] He reached twoCupa României finals with Rapid, the first under the guidance of coachIon Mihăilescu who did not use him in the loss withSteaua București in1962 and the second took place in1968 when Stănescu used him all the minutes in the eventual 3–1 loss withDinamo București, also he played four games in theInter-Cities Fairs Cup and won twoBalkans Cup with the club.[5][10][11] For the way he played in 1967, Coe was placed fifth in the ranking for theRomanian Footballer of the Year award.[12] During these years, Rapid's fans would have a special chant during the games dedicated to him:"A cry from ancient Troy, Ahoy! To Dan Coe's fame, Ahoy! And once again, because it's allowed, Ahoy!"[4]
In 1971, Coe managed to earn a transfer inBelgium atRoyal Antwerp, being one of the few Romanian footballers that was allowed by thecommunist regime to play inWestern Europe.[4][5][6][13] After two years in which he played 38 games and scored eight goals in theBelgian First Division, he came back to Romania, playing forDivizia B club,FC Galați, helping the club earn promotion to Divizia A, where in the following season on 8 December 1974 he made his last appearance in the competition in a 6–0 loss in front ofUniversitatea Craiova, having a total of 214 Divizia A matches played with 12 goals scored.[5][6]
_1963.jpg)
"If in 1966 I had a defender to mark me like Dan Coe did today, Portugal would have never reached the semi-finals"
Coe played 29 games in which he was captain six times and scored two goals at international level forRomania, making his debut on 12 May 1963 when coachSilviu Ploeșteanu sent him on the field in the 30th minute in order to replaceIon Nunweiller in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 victory againstEast Germany.[2][14] He played six games in which he scored one goal in a 3–1 away loss againstCzechoslovakia at the1966 World Cup qualifiers and made three appearances at theEuro 1968 qualifiers.[2] Coe also played four games at the successful1970 World Cup qualifiers, having an appreciated performance in front ofEusébio in Romania's 1–0 home victory againstPortugal, being selected by coachAngelo Niculescu to be part of the squad from thefinal tournament, however without playing a single match.[2][15] Dan Coe played his last game for the national team on 16 May 1971 in a 1–0 loss againstCzechoslovakia at theEuro 1972 qualifiers.[2]
He also played forRomania's Olympic team, being chosen by coach Ploeșteanu to be part of the1964 Summer Olympics squad fromTokyo where he made four appearances, helping the team finish on the fifth place.[1][2][16]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 19 September 1965 | Stadion Československé Armády,Prague,Czechoslovakia |  Czechoslovakia | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1966 World Cup qualifiers |
| 2. | 17 November 1966 | Petrolul Stadium,Ploieşti,Romania |  Poland | 4–3 | 4–3 | Friendly |
His father, Duce Coe was also a footballer and captain ofSportul Studențesc București and also anIron Guard legionnaire.[4][15][17]
After he ended his playing career, he obtained permission from thecommunist regime to go on a trip inBelgium, but after he arrived there he settled inCologne,West Germany as a political refugee.[4][15][17][18] Shortly after an interview onRadio Free Europe in which he criticized Romania's communist regime, Coe was found dead in his apartment on 19 October 1981.[4][6][15][17][18] His wife and his daughter found him hanged by the door handle with a rope around his neck and with his knees close to his mouth.[4][6][15][17][18] The criminologist that investigated the case told them that he had never seen someone hang himself in such a way, therefore he recorded it as a suspicious death and it was subsequently believed that he was killed at the behest of the RomanianSecuritate, but this has never been proven, his friend and fellow Romanian political refugee, Nora Nagy saying years later to the press:"I don't remember what Dan said at Free Europe. Anyway, once I got here I didn't pay that much attention to the station's broadcasts, but Dan was outspoken and always spoke his mind. However, I noticed one thing. After the collaboration with Free Europe began, all sorts of dubious characters began to appear around him. I suspected many of them to have connections with theSecuritate".[4][6][15][17][18]
Rapid București
FC Galați
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