.jpg) Bölöni withPAOK in 2011 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ladislau Iosif Bölöni | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1953-03-11)11 March 1953 (age 72) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Târgu Mureș, Romania | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| –1968 | Chimica Târnăveni | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1968–1970 | Chimica Târnăveni | 38 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1970–1984 | ASA Târgu Mureș | 406 | (64) | |||||||||||
| 1984–1987 | Steaua București | 97 | (24) | |||||||||||
| 1988 | Racing Jet Wavre | 32 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 1989 | Créteil | 11 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 1989–1992 | Orléans | 77 | (4) | |||||||||||
| Total | 661 | (97) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1972–1975 | Romania U21 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1975–1976 | Romania Olympic | 12 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 1975–1988[1] | Romania | 102 | (23) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–2000 | Nancy | |||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Romania | |||||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | Sporting CP | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2006 | Rennes | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | Monaco | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Al Jazira | |||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Standard Liège | |||||||||||||
| 2010 | Al Wahda | |||||||||||||
| 2011 | Lens | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | PAOK | |||||||||||||
| 2012–2015 | Al Khor | |||||||||||||
| 2015 | Al Ittihad | |||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Antwerp | |||||||||||||
| 2020 | Gent | |||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Panathinaikos | |||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Metz | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Ladislau "Loți"Iosif Bölöni (Hungarian:László József Bölöni; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professionalfootballmanager and former player.
After starting out atASA Târgu Mureș, Bölöni became an integral part of theSteaua București team that won theEuropean Cup in1986, making it the only Romanian team—and one of twoEastern European sides—to have achieved the honour. He was twice namedRomanian Footballer of the Year and took part in 484Divizia A games, the fourth-most appearances in the history of the competition. Internationally, Bölöni earned 102caps with thenational team, which ranks him fifth in the nation's all-time list, and scored 23 goals, the sixth highest all-time mark. He is thus considered one of the best Romanian footballers in history.
Following his retirement as a player, he went on to coach clubs in France, Portugal, the Arabian Peninsula, Belgium and Greece. Bölöni was also at the helm of the Romania national team between 2000 and 2001. In terms of trophies won, his most successful stints were atSporting CP andStandard Liège, with three domestic honours each.
Bölöni was born inTârgu Mureș, Romania, into anethnic Hungarian family fromTârnăveni.[2] His first team was Chimica Târnăveni, and in 1970 he moved toASA Târgu Mureș. He stayed there until 1984, when he joinedSteaua București, where he was part of the team which won the1986 European Cup Final (where he missed his penalty in the shootout) and theEuropean Super Cup the following year.[3]
Bölöni remained at Steaua until 1987. In 1988, aged 35, Bölöni left the country to play in Belgium atRacing Jet Wavre, and then in France atCréteil. He retired from professional football in 1992. On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by Romanian presidentTraian Băsescu with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II, for his part in winning the European Cup in 1986.[4][5]
Bölöni won theUniversiade gold medal with Romania's students football team in the 1974 edition that was held in France, playing alongsideGheorghe Mulțescu,Dan Păltinișanu,Romulus Chihaia andPaul Cazan.[6]
Playing for theRomania national team in 1983, Bölöni scored one of his most notable goals, in the 1–0 win againstItaly in aEuro 84 qualification match, which eventually proved invaluable to the country's qualification for the tournament. At the finals themselves in France, he played in all three of Romania's games, and scored the equaliser in the 1–1 draw withSpain at theStade Geoffroy-Guichard. In total, Bölöni won 102caps for Romania and scored 23 goals[1]—or 108 caps and 25 goals if the Olympic games qualification is included.[7]
As a football coach, Bölöni started with French clubNancy, where he was head coach for several years. He promoted with the team inDivision 1. In 2000, he was appointed as national team coach, but in the summer of 2001 decided to leave the job.
Then he joinedPortugal's clubSporting CP, where he won both thePrimeira Liga andTaça de Portugal in his first year. He was fired at the end of the next season due to mediocre results. His legacy at Sporting was the introduction of youth team players such asRicardo Quaresma,Hugo Viana andCristiano Ronaldo into the senior's team starting lineup.
In 2003, he returned toFrance as manager ofRennes. In 2005, he managed the team to their best position in history (4th inLigue 1), and a subsequentUEFA Cup qualification.
In May 2006, Bölöni signed a two-year contract withMonaco, but was fired on 23 October for lack of results. Monaco were 19th out of 20 in the league.
On 9 June 2008,Belgian teamStandard Liège appointed Bölöni as their new manager, as he succeededMichel Preud'homme, who led the club to their firstBelgian First Division title in 25 years (season 2007–2008). On 24 May 2009, he won the Belgian First Division title in his first season at Standard (season 2008–2009) after playing the championship play-off againstAnderlecht.On 10 February 2010, Bölöni resigned from his coaching position at Standard Liege.[8]
On 29 May 2010, it was officially announced that Bölöni signed a contract with Emirati clubAl Wahda.[9] On 2 September 2010, Al Wahda sacked Bölöni, despite the team's 3–1 win overIttihad Kalba.[10]
On 2 January 2011, he was hired byLens, on a one-year contract, but he couldn't save the team from relegation.[11] Bölöni was immediately released in June, and signed a two-year contract withPAOK on 8 June 2011, following a short negotiation period.[12]
Bölöni's tenure at PAOK started with two wins againstVålerenga for the Third Qualifying Round of2011–12 UEFA Europa League, that brought them againstKarpaty Lviv for the Play-off round. PAOK won the first leg at home and drew the second leg, qualifying for the group stage. In a tough group that consisted ofTottenham Hotspur,Rubin Kazan andShamrock Rovers, Bölöni's PAOK managed to qualify undefeated at the first place, winning the game atWhite Hart Lane on the process, a remarkable feat considering that no Greek team had won at English soil since 1999, when PAOK defeated Arsenal at Highbury. For the round of 32, PAOK facedUdinese, and although a 0–0 draw at the first game in Italy spread optimism, a weakened PAOK side was eliminated off the competition when the home leg ended with a 0–3 defeat. All and all, the European presence was positive despite the abrupt end, as PAOK managed six wins out of twelve games, with impressive performances and a milestone win against Tottenham.
At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as the team managed to finish third in regular season, with 5th being its final position after Play-off. During the season, PAOK won the away games againstAEK Athens andPanathinaikos, marking the end of a winless, ten-year-old tradition against those teams when playing away from home. The team's form was inconsistent though, and the departure – due to the club's financial difficulties – of two of the most significant players of the team,Vieirinha andPablo Contreras, didn't help matters. Bölöni had to improvise to cover for the roster's lack of depth, with mixed results. Although the season was not deemed successful, fans didn't put the blame on Bölöni, who had won their hearts with his personality, his results against some major opponents and the team's style of play when on good form.
On 25 May 2012, PAOK released Bölöni, after a one-year cooperation.
Bölöni was hired by Qatari clubAl Khor on 21 June 2012.[13] On 26 January 2013, in a league match againstQatar SC, he was involved in a controversial incident. He threw a water bottle at a ball boy behind the goal after the boy took the ball, which went out of play, off the pitch. The bottle did not hit the boy, however, it was spotted by the match observer, Ali Al-Naimi, who relayed the information to a referee's assistant who eventually informed the referee, Fahad Jaber, who decided to send him off. Instead of going directly to the stands, he chose to illegally stay within the checkpoint. Security officers attempted to guide him off, but he retorted by using foul language and pushing the police officers. As a result, a police report was filed against him. He was later fined 75,000 Qatari riyals by theQFA and banned for 5 matches.[14]
In August 2013,Croatian media speculated that Bölöni might be named the new head coach ofDinamo Zagreb, following the sacking of team's former head coach,Krunoslav Jurčić. Bölöni had previously been linked withHajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb's fierce rival, as well.[15]
On 21 July 2015, Saudi clubAl Ittihad announced Bölöni as their new coach.
On 16 June 2017, Bölöni was announced as the new manager of Belgian clubRoyal Antwerp.[16] In his first season at the club, he finished eighth place in the regular season, and third place in the Europa League play-off group, to keep the team safe from relegation.
In his second season, Antwerp was the surprise package of the championship, finishing the regular season on sixth place, and qualifying for the championship play-offs for the first time. Antwerp recorded important victories overGenk (1–0),Anderlecht (2–1),Gent (2–1),Standard Liège (2–1), as well as a blank draw withClub Brugge in the first half of the play-off, and climbed on the 3rd place, but later losses to these teams meant Antwerp finished fourth, thus going for the Europa League play-offs final. In the final, Antwerp beatCharleroi 3–2 after coming back from 0-2 down in the first minutes. Thus, Antwerp secured qualification in the third qualifying round ofUEFA Europa League after 26 years of absence from Europe.
After surprisingly knocking outViktoria Plzeň on away goals in the third round, Antwerp stopped short of the group stages, as they were subsequently knocked out byAZ in the play-offs. Internally, Bölöni led the team to another fourth-place finish in the league, as well as the Belgian cup final in the2019–20 season, their first since 1992. However, the competition was postponed until 1 August, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and Bölöni's contract subsequently expired on 20 May, leading his successorIvan Leko to manage the team for the final.
On 20 August 2020, Belgian Leaguerunners-upGent announced Bölöni as their new head coach.[17] In September, he was sacked after only three games in charge.[18]
On 19 October 2020, Bölöni was announced as the new head coach for Greek clubPanathinaikos.[19] He drew his first game 1–1 againstVolos in theSuper League.[20] On 10 May 2021 Boloni was, for the second time this season, sacked, this time by the Greens after failing to guide them to a European qualification spot;[21] he was replaced byIvan Jovanović on 24 May.[22]
Throughout January 2022, Bölöni was in talks withRomanian Football Federation presidentRăzvan Burleanu to return as manager of the Romania national team, more than twenty years after leaving the job. The failed negotiations led to the appointing ofEdward Iordănescu instead.[23]
When Bölöni was 15, his father died of astroke while watching him play from the stands. The death of the parent strongly affected him, but Bölöni was persuaded by his mother to continue playing football. She moved from their native city Târnăveni toBudapest sometime later in her life. During his time at Steaua București, Bölöni also worked as adentist for six years; his daughter followed in his footsteps, and studiedimplantology in France.
In 2021, he was hired by theNemzeti Sport daily to analyzeHungary's matches at theUEFA Euro 2020,[24] and in the same year revealed his support of theSzékely Land football team.[25] Nevertheless, after failed negotiations to take charge of the Romania national team in 2022, Bölöni expressed his regret for not being able to represent his country again.[23]
Bölöni holdsRomanian,Hungarian andFrench nationalities.[26][27][28] He acquiredFrench nationality bynaturalization on 7 July 1998.[29]
| Club | Season | League | Continental | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| ASA Târgu Mureș | 1970–71 | Divizia B | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
| 1971–72 | Divizia A | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 1972–73 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
| 1973–74 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| 1974–75 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | ||
| 1975–76 | 33 | 4 | 2[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 4 | ||
| 1976–77 | 33 | 11 | 2[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 11 | ||
| 1977–78 | 31 | 3 | 2[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3 | ||
| 1978–79 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| 1979–80 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 6 | ||
| 1980–81 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 6 | ||
| 1981–82 | 31 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 10 | ||
| 1982–83 | 32 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 7 | ||
| 1983–84 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 7 | ||
| Total | 406 | 64 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 412 | 64 | ||
| Steaua București | 1984–85 | Divizia A | 24 | 3 | 1[d] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| 1985–86 | 31 | 9 | 9[e] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 10 | ||
| 1986–87 | 28 | 10 | 1[f] | 1 | 1[g] | 0 | 30 | 10 | ||
| 1987–88 | 14 | 2 | 4[h] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | ||
| Total | 97 | 24 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 113 | 27 | ||
| Racing Jet Brussels | 1987–88 | Belgian Pro League | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Créteil | 1988–89 | Ligue 2 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| Orléans | 1989–90 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 4 | |
| 1990–91 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 1991–92 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| Total | 77 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 607 | 94 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 628 | 97 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 July 1976 | Aryamehr Stadium,Tehran, Iran |  Iran | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 29 November 1976 | 23 August Stadium,Bucharest, Romania |  Bulgaria | 2–1 | 3–2 | Balkan Cup |
| 3 | 21 September 1977 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Greece | 2–0 | 6–1 | Friendly |
| 4 | 21 September 1977 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania | Greece | 4–1 | 6–1 | Friendly |
| 5 | 15 November 1977 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Yugoslavia | 3–2 | 4–6 | 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 16 February 1980 | Stadio San Paolo,Napoli, Italy |  Italy | 1–0 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 7 | 14 April 1982 | Lokomotiv Stadium,Rousse, Bulgaria | Bulgaria | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 8 | 1 May 1982 | Corvinul Stadium,Hunedoara, Romania |  Cyprus | 3–1 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 1984 qualification |
| 9 | 15 August 1982 | Areni Stadium,Suceava, Romania |  Japan | 3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 10 | 18 August 1982 | 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania | Japan | 1–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 11 | 2 February 1983 | Alkazar Stadium,Larissa, Greece |  Greece | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 12 | 9 March 1983 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Turkey | 3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 13 | 16 April 1983 | 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania | Italy | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 1984 qualification |
| 14 | 12 November 1983 | Tsirion Stadium,Limassol, Cyprus | Cyprus | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 1984 qualification |
| 15 | 22 January 1984 | Estadio Modelo,Guayaquil, Ecuador |  Ecuador | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 16 | 14 June 1984 | Stade Geoffroy-GuichardSaint-Étienne, France |  Spain | 1–1 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 1984 |
| 17 | 8 October 1986 | Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel |  Israel | 2–1 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 18 | 4 March 1987 | 19 Mayıs Stadium,Ankara, Turkey | Turkey | 2–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 19 | 25 March 1987 | 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania |  Albania | 2–1 | 5–1 | UEFA Euro 1988 qualification |
| 20 | 2 September 1987 | Stadion Zawiszy,Bydgoszcz, Poland |  Poland | 1–3 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 21 | 7 October 1987 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania | Greece | 2–2 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 22 | 3 February 1988 | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium,Haifa, Israel | Israel | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 23 | 30 March 1988 | Kurt-Wabbel Stadion,Halle, Germany |  East Germany | 1–1 | 3–3 | Friendly |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
 Nancy-Lorraine | July 1994 | June 2000 | 256 | 97 | 78 | 81 | 037.89 |
 Romania | July 2000 | June 2001 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 061.54 |
 Sporting CP | July 2001 | June 2003 | 90 | 53 | 21 | 16 | 058.89 |
| Rennes | July 2003 | June 2006 | 135 | 57 | 26 | 52 | 042.22 |
 Monaco | July 2006 | October 2006 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 027.27 |
 Al-Jazeera | June 2007 | June 2008 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 047.37 |
 Standard Liège | 9 June 2008 | 10 February 2010 | 81 | 42 | 19 | 20 | 051.85 |
| Al-Wahda | 29 May 2010 | 2 September 2010 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.00 |
| Lens | 1 January 2011 | 26 May 2011 | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 019.05 |
| PAOK | 8 June 2011 | 25 May 2012 | 51 | 24 | 14 | 13 | 047.06 |
 Al Khor | 1 July 2012 | 30 June 2015 | 74 | 19 | 32 | 23 | 025.68 |
 Al Ittihad | 1 July 2015 | 17 November 2015 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 066.67 |
| Antwerp | 16 June 2017 | 15 May 2020 | 118 | 52 | 32 | 34 | 044.07 |
| Gent | 20 August 2020 | 14 September 2020 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 033.33 |
| Panathinaikos | 19 October 2020 | 10 May 2021 | 32 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 043.75 |
| Metz | 1 June 2022 | 4 July 2024 | 78 | 30 | 18 | 30 | 038.46 |
| Total | 992 | 419 | 264 | 309 | 042.24 | ||
ASA Târgu Mureș
Steaua București[31]
Romania
Individual
Nancy[33]
Sporting CP[33]
Al Jazira[33]
Standard Liège[33]
Al Khor[33]
Individual
Önfeledt, napfényes gyermekkor pillanatai ezek, pedig a háttérben egy meghurcolt erdélyi magyar család huszadik századi, könnyel, verítékkel írt küzdelmes története rejlik.[These are moments of an exuberant, sunny childhood, but in the background lies the struggling, twentieth-century story of a persecuted Transylvanian Hungarian family, written with tears and sweat.]
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)
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