_2018_Sports_Festival_-_meciul_amintirilor._(52810598439)_(cropped).jpg) Lupescu in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ioan Angelo Lupescu | ||
| Date of birth | (1968-12-09)9 December 1968 (age 56) | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | CS Dinamo București (head of youth development) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1975–1977 | Admira Wacker | ||
| 1977–1982 | Mecanică Fină București | ||
| 1982–1986 | Dinamo București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1990 | Dinamo București | 98 | (11) |
| 1990–1996 | Bayer Leverkusen | 184 | (4) |
| 1996–1998 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 43 | (7) |
| 1998–2000 | Dinamo București | 61 | (14) |
| 2000 | Bursaspor | 9 | (2) |
| 2000–2002 | Dinamo București | 24 | (0) |
| 2001 | →Al-Hilal (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| Total | 424 | (39) | |
| International career | |||
| 1988–2000[1] | Romania | 74 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2004 | FCM Bacău | ||
| 2004 | FC Brașov | ||
| 2023– | CS Dinamo București (head of youth development) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ioan "Ionuț" Angelo Lupescu (born 9 December 1968) is a Romanian former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder.
Lupescu, nicknamedKaiserul, was born on 9 December 1968 inBucharest, Romania and began playing football in 1975 at the youth center of Austrian clubAdmira Wacker where his fatherNicolae played until his retirement.[2][3][4][5] When his family returned to Romania, he wanted to play forRapid București, but was rejected after a trial.[3][4] After his family moved fromGrivița to thePantelimon neighborhood, he joined the junior center of Mecanică Fină București where his father was coaching the seniors.[2][3][4][5] However, after a while due to pressure from his mother who wanted to see him play for a bigger team, he went toDinamo București's youth center where he worked withIosif Varga.[2][3][4][5][6]
On 21 September 1986 at age 17, he made hisDivizia A debut under coachMircea Lucescu in Dinamo's 4–1 home victory againstSC Bacău.[2][4] At age 19, Lucescu gave him the captain's armband.[6] His first performance withThe Red Dogs was the quarter-finals reached in the1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup where they were eliminated on theaway goals rule after 1–1 on aggregate bySampdoria.[2][7] In the following season the club wonThe Double with Lupescu playing 29 league matches, scoring four goals, and Lucescu also used him for the entire 6–4 victory againstrivalsSteaua București in the1990 Cupa României final.[2][5][6][8][9] In the same season he appeared in six matches in which he scored one goal againstPartizan Belgrade in the1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup as Dinamo reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated after 2–0 on aggregate byAnderlecht.[2][5][6][10]
After the1989 Romanian Revolution, Lupescu had offers to play inItaly fromBologna and Mircea Lucescu's team,Pisa.[3] However, he chose to make his own path in football, going to play inGermany forBayer Leverkusen.[2][3][4][5][11] He made hisBundesliga debut on 11 August 1990 when he was sent by coachJürgen Gelsdorf in the 46th minute to replaceMarcus Feinbier in a 1–1 draw againstBayern Munich in which he provided the assist forUlf Kirsten's goal.[12][13] On 8 September 1990, Lupescu scored his first league goal for Leverkusen in a 3–1 home victory againstFC St. Pauli.[12] His biggest performances during his six seasons spent at the club were achieved under coachDragoslav Stepanović, starting with the triumph in the1993 DFB-Pokal final in which he played the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 win overHertha BSC Amateure.[2][5][11][14][15] In the1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup,The Black and Reds reached the quarter-finals, being eliminated on theaway goals rule after 5–5 on aggregate byBenfica.[2][16] In the1994–95 UEFA Cup campaign, they reached the semi-finals and were eliminated by the eventual winners,Parma, with Lupescu making 10 appearances.[2][5][11][14][17]
In 1996, Lupescu joined fellow Bundesliga teamBorussia Mönchengladbach, making his league debut for them on 16 August when coachBernd Krauss used him the entire match in a 0–0 home draw againstArminia Bielefeld.[2][5][11][18][19] He netted his first goal on 11 March 1997 in a 2–1 away loss toHamburg.[18] Lupescu played in both of Borussia's victories as they eliminatedArsenal in the first round of the1996–97 UEFA Cup.[20] On 2 May 1998, he made his last Bundesliga appearance during a 5–2 home win overHansa Rostock in which he scored once, totaling 227 matches with 10 goals scored in the competition.[14][21]
Lupescu returned to Dinamo where in the1998–99 season he netted a personal record of eight goals.[2][5][11][14] In thefollowing season he helped the club win The Double, being used by coachCornel Dinu in 29 league matches in which he scored six goals.[2][5][8][14] One of these goals was netted in a 3–2 derby win against Steaua that mathematically secured the title.[22] He also played the entire match in the 2–0 victory againstUniversitatea Craiova in the2000 Cupa României final.[2][14][23]
In 2000, Lupescu went to play inTurkey atBursaspor where he was also the team's captain.[2][3][5][14] He made hisSüper Lig debut on 12 August under coachJörg Berger in a 3–3 draw againstGaziantepspor in which he netted a goal.[24][25] In the following round he scored once again in a 2–1 away loss toTrabzonspor, and these were his only two goals in a total of nine matches played in the Turkish league.[2][14][24]
Lupescu paid his$225,000 termination clause to Bursaspor to return to Dinamo.[2][3] Coach Dinu played him for the full 90 minutes in the 4–2 victory againstRocar București in the2001 Cupa României final.[26] He started the2001–02 season at Dinamo, making his last Divizia A appearance on 30 September 2001 in a 4–2 home win againstFCM Bacău, totaling 183 matches with 25 goals scored in the competition.[2] In October 2001, Lupescu signed a contract withSaudi Arabia clubAl-Hilal.[2][5][11][14] There he worked with Portuguese coachArtur Jorge, but could not adapt, due to thehot climate, playing only five games and scoring once in theSaudi Premier League, before leaving the club in January 2002.[2][5][11][14][27] However, at the end of the season, both Dinamo and Al-Hilal won the title.[2][5][11][14] Lupescu has a total of 46 games played with three goals scored in European competitions (including two appearances and one goal in theIntertoto Cup).[2][14][28] Throughout his career, Lupescu was placed several times among the top five in the Romanian Footballer of the Year ranking, finishing third in both 1991 and 1994.[14][29]
Lupescu made 74 appearances forRomania and scored six goals, making his debut on 3 February 1988 when coachEmerich Jenei sent him in the 81st minute to replaceIoan Sabău in a 2–0 friendly victory againstIsrael.[30][31] He played one match in the successful1990 World Cup qualifiers.[30] Subsequently, he was used by Jenei in three matches during thefinal tournament, including in the round of 16 where the team got eliminated byIreland.[30][32] Afterwards he played eight games and scored one goal in theEuro 1992 qualifiers.[30]
He made nine appearances with three goals scored during the successful1994 World Cup qualifiers.[30] Lupescu was part of the "Golden Generation", being used by coachAnghel Iordănescu as a starter in all five games during thefinal tournament.[30][33] After getting past the group stage, they defeatedArgentina with a 3–2 victory in the round of 16.[30][34] They were eliminated after thepenalty shoot-out bySweden in the quarter-finals, with Lupescu netting his spot kick.[30][35]
He played nine games during the successfulEuro 1996 qualifiers.[30] Lupescu was used by Iordănescu in all three games in thefinal tournament which were losses toFrance,Bulgaria andSpain, as his side failed to progress from their group.[30][36]
He played two matches in the1998 World Cup qualifiers, but was not part of the squad that went to thefinal tournament.[30] Then he went on to play nine games during the successfulEuro 2000 qualifiers.[30][37] Jenei used Lupescu during thefinal tournament in the group game that ended in a 1–1 draw againstGermany when he replacedViorel Moldovan in the 85th minute.[30][37][38] He also played in the quarter-final againstItaly that ended with a 2–0 loss when he replacedConstantin Gâlcă in the 68th minute.[6][30][39] Lupescu's last national team appearance was on 7 October 2000 in a 3–0 away loss to Italy in the2002 World Cup qualifiers.[30]
On 25 March 2008, Lupescu was decorated byPresident of RomaniaTraian Băsescu for contributing as general manager of theRomanian Football Federation at the national team's successfulEuro 2008 qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.[40][41]
In 2003, Lupescu acquired his coaching license at theGerman Sport University ofCologne.[42] He started to work as amanager in the second part of the2003–04 Divizia A season, helpingFCM Bacău avoid relegation.[43] In the following season he worked forFC Brașov inDivizia A but left the club after refusing to participate in afixed match againstGloria Bistrița.[43][44] He insisted in a discussion with the club's leader, Romeo Pașcu, to play the game fairly, promising that he will leave the club if he loses.[43][44] Pașcu accepted the deal, but the game was lost with 3–1, so Lupescu resigned.[43][44] Shortly afterwards he was named general manager of theRomanian Football Federation by presidentMircea Sandu.[43] Years later he went to work as a technical director atUEFA and became a member ofFIFA's Technical and Development Committee.[43][45]
In July 2023, Lupescu was appointed as a board member inMahd Sports Academy, a sports academy based inRiyadh,Saudi Arabia.[46]
Lupescu is the son of former Romanian international playerNicolae Lupescu.[3][47]
In 2010 he appeared in the "Be free" video ofSmiley's bandRadio Killer alongside Senegalese international footballerOusmane N'Doye and former tennisATP number 1,Ilie Năstase.[48]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 1988 | 1 | 0 |
| 1989 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 7 | 2 | |
| 1991 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1992 | 5 | 3 | |
| 1993 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 15 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 74 | 6 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 August 1990 | Luzhniki Stadium,Moscow, Soviet Union |  Soviet Union | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 5 December 1990 | Stadionul Național,Bucharest, Romania |  San Marino | 4–0 | 6–0 | Euro 1992 qualifiers |
| 3 | 6 May 1992 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Faroe Islands | 5–0 | 7–0 | 1994 World Cup qualifiers |
| 4 | 20 May 1992 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Wales | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1994 World Cup qualifiers |
| 5 | 3–0 | |||||
| 6 | 18 August 1999 | Tsirio Stadium,Limassol, Cyprus |  Cyprus | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
Dinamo București
Bayer Leverkusen
Al-Hilal
Individual
Romania squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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