 Balint during the 1980s | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gavril Pele Balint | ||
| Date of birth | (1963-01-03)3 January 1963 (age 62) | ||
| Place of birth | Sângeorz-Băi, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1974–1978 | Hebe Sângeorz-Băi | ||
| 1978 | → Luceafărul București (loan) | ||
| 1979–1980 | Gloria Bistrița | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980 | Gloria Bistrița | ||
| 1981–1990 | Steaua București | 264 | (69) |
| 1990–1993 | Real Burgos | 83 | (28) |
| Total | 347 | (97) | |
| International career | |||
| 1981 | Romania U20 | 6 | (0) |
| 1982–1992 | Romania | 34 | (14) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1994–1998 | Romania (assistant) | ||
| 1998–1999 | Bihor Oradea | ||
| 1999 | Sportul Studențesc | ||
| 2000 | Romania (assistant) | ||
| 2000–2001 | Galatasaray (assistant) | ||
| 2001 | Romania (assistant) | ||
| 2002–2003 | Sheriff Tiraspol | ||
| 2003–2004 | Sportul Studențesc | ||
| 2004–2005 | Galatasaray (assistant) | ||
| 2005–2006 | Politehnica Timișoara (assistant) | ||
| 2008–2009 | FC Timișoara | ||
| 2010–2011 | Moldova | ||
| 2013 | Vaslui | ||
| 2014 | Universitatea Craiova | ||
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gavril Pele "Gabi"Balint (born 3 January 1963) is a former Romanian professionalfootballmanager and former player, who is currently a television sport pundit forDigi Sport.
Born inSângeorz-Băi,Bistrița, Balint made hisDivizia A debut withSteaua București in 1981 where he played until 1990 winning the league titles in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, theRomanian Cup in 1985, 1987 and 1989, the1985–86 European Cup and theEuropean Super Cup in 1987. At the end of the 1989–90 season, Balint became the top goalscorer of theDivizia A with 19 goals. He scored the second and last goal at the penalties shoot-out during the 1986 European Cup final, helping his team, Steaua to win the trophy.
In 1990, he was bought byReal Burgos for $1,000,000. He played for the Spanish side until his retirement in 1993.
Balint was capped 34 times byRomania, and scored 14 goals. He played at the1990 World Cup where he scored twice, againstCameroon andArgentina.
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 1982 | 3 | 0 |
| 1983 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1984 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1986 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1987 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1989 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 10 | 5 | |
| 1991 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 3 | 4 | |
| Total | 34 | 14 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 July 1984 | Stadionul 23 August,Iași, Romania |  China | 4–0 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 31 July 1984 | Stadionul Municipal,Buzău, Romania | China | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 15 November 1989 | Stadionul Steaua,Bucharest, Romania |  Denmark | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 3–1 | |||||
| 5 | 28 March 1990 | Cairo International Stadium,Cairo, Egypt |  Egypt | 2–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 6 | 3–1 | |||||
| 7 | 25 April 1990 | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium,Haifa, Israel |  Israel | 4–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 8 | 14 June 1990 | Stadio San Nicola,Bari, Italy |  Cameroon | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1990 FIFA World Cup |
| 9 | 18 June 1990 | Stadio San Paolo,Napoli, Italy |  Argentina | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1990 FIFA World Cup |
| 10 | 17 April 1991 | Estadio Príncipe Felipe,Cáceres, Spain |  Spain | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 11 | 6 May 1992 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 7–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 12 | 4–0 | |||||
| 13 | 7–0 | |||||
| 14 | 20 May 1992 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Wales | 4–0 | 5–1 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Balint started his coaching career in 1994, aged 31, when he was appointed as assistant coach ofRomania underAnghel Iordănescu's regime. Four years later comes his first chance as head coach after taking charge atSportul Studențesc, but in May 2000 he is called again to join the coaching staff ofRomania as the squad prepared for theUEFA Euro 2000.
In the summer of 2000, Balint was requested byMircea Lucescu as his assistant forGalatasaray, however he left the job after only one season, to join againRomania as assistant coach, this time underGheorghe Hagi.
After Hagi resigned, Balint went toSheriff Tiraspol for his second job as head coach, taking the team in 2002.
In 2003, he returned to Romania and signed forSportul Studențesc, now inDivizia B and helped the team win promotion back toDivizia A.
Balint returned as assistant coach for Galatasaray in 2004 to work again with Gheorghe Hagi.
In 2005, he was appointed assistant coach ofFCU Politehnica Timișoara, working again with Hagi. When Hagi left, a few months later, Balint resigned also. Two years later, Balint returned to FC Timișoara, this time as a head coach.
In 2010, he became the head coach of theMoldova national team, but after the campaign for theUEFA Euro 2012, his contract ended and was not renewed. He then became a television pundit, signing a contract withDigi Sport.
In April 2013, Balint returned to coaching, signing a contract for one and a half years withFC Vaslui. In 2014 he was named head coach ofLiga II sideCS Universitatea Craiova and helped the club winpromotion for the top-flightLiga I.
| Team | Country | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Bihor Oradea |  | 1 August 1998 | 30 June 1999 | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 044.12 |
| Sportul Studențesc | | 1 September 1999 | 31 December 1999 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 057.14 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol |  | 1 July 2002 | 30 June 2003 | 30 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 076.67 |
| Sportul Studențesc | | 23 December 2003 | 1 June 2004 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 073.33 |
| FC Timișoara | | 29 December 2008 | 1 June 2009 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 066.67 |
| Moldova | | 20 January 2010 | 19 December 2011 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 027.78 |
| Vaslui | | 9 April 2013 | 16 June 2013 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 055.56 |
| Universitatea Craiova | | 17 March 2014 | 10 June 2014 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 073.33 |
| Total | 153 | 90 | 23 | 40 | 058.82 | |||
Steaua București
Romania U20
Individual
Sheriff Tiraspol
Sportul Studențesc
Universitatea Craiova
