Nicolae Ungureanu

Personal information
Date of birth	(1956-10-11)11 October 1956 (age 69)
Place of birth	Craiova,Romania
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position	Left back
Youth career
1973–1975	CSȘ Craiova
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1975–1977	Electroputere Craiova
1977–1987	Universitatea Craiova	284	(17)
1987–1992	Steaua București	136	(10)
1992–1993	Rapid București	17	(2)
1993–1994	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
Total		437	(29)
International career
1981–1989	Romania	56	(1)
Managerial career
1993–1994	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
1994	Electroputere Craiova
1996–1997	Drobeta-Turnu Severin
2001	FC Universitatea Craiova
2001	Internațional Pitești
2004	Oltul Slatina
2004–2006	FC Caracal
2006	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
2006	FC Universitatea Craiova (assistant)
2007	FC Caracal
2008–2009	Internațional Curtea de Argeș (assistant)
2012	Minerul Mătăsari
2013	FC Podari
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicolae Ungureanu (born 11 October 1956) is a Romanian former professionalfootballer who played as adefender.

Ungureanu, nicknamed "Roșu" (Red) because his face was turning red from physical effort, was born on 11 October 1956 inCraiova,Romania.^[1][2][3] He began playing junior-level football in 1973 at CSȘ Craiova.^[1] He started playing senior-level football in 1975 atDivizia B clubElectroputere Craiova.^[1][2][4]

In 1977 he went to play forUniversitatea Craiova, making hisDivizia A debut on 21 August under coach Constantin Deliu in 3–0 home win overSportul Studențesc București.^[1][5] Ungureanu spent 10 seasons with Universitatea, being part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation that won two consecutive league titles in1980 and1981.^{[1][2][3][6][7]} In each season he played 34 matches and scored one goal under coachesValentin Stănescu andIon Oblemenco respectively.^[1][2][7] He also won theCupa României three times, playing in all the finals, which were a victory againstOlimpia Satu Mare and two wins overPolitehnica Timișoara.^[1][8]

Ungureanu played 43 games and scored one goal for "U" Craiova in European competitions.^[1] In the second round of the1979–80 UEFA Cup he played in both legs of the 4–0 aggregate win overLeeds United, as Universitatea became the first Romanian club that eliminated a team from England in European competitions.^[1][9] Afterwards, they reached the quarter-finals of the1981–82 European Cup after eliminatingOlympiacos andKjøbenhavns Boldklub, being eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate byBayern Munich.^[1][10] He made nine appearances in the1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign, with Ungureanu scoring once in a 3–1 win overFiorentina, which helped them reach the semi-finals where they were eliminated byBenfica on theaway goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate.^{[1][2][6][11]} Ungureanu played in a 3–0 win overAS Monaco in the second leg of the first round of the1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup, after losing the first leg 2–0.^[1][12] However, they were eliminated in the following round by the eventual winners of the competition,Dynamo Kyiv.^[1][12]

In 1987, he joinedSteaua București and won the title in hisfirst season with coachAnghel Iordănescu, appearing in 24 league matches in which he scored four goals.^[1][7] The team also reached the semi-finals of theEuropean Cup where they lost toBenfica.^[1][13] In thefollowing season, they wonThe Double, Ungureanu playing 31 league matches and scoring once under Iordănescu, but he did not play in the 1–0 win overDinamo București in theCupa României final.^{[1][2][7][14]} In the same season he helped the club reach the1988–89 European Cup final, playing nine games in the campaign, including thefinal which was lost 4–0 toAC Milan.^[1][15][16] His last trophy won with Steaua was the1991–92 Cupa României, as coachVictor Pițurcă used him as a starter in the penalty shoot-out victory againstPolitehnica Timișoara in thefinal.^[1][17]

In 1992, Ungureanu went to play forRapid București.^[1] There, he made his last Divizia A appearance on 21 March 1993 in a 5–0 loss toUniversitatea Cluj, totaling 437 matches with 29 goals in the competition and 71 games with one goal in European competitions.^[1][3][18] Subsequently, he was a player-coach during the1993–94 Divizia C season atPandurii Târgu Jiu.^[19]

Ungureanu played 56 matches and scored one goal forRomania, making his debut on 8 April 1981 under coachValentin Stănescu in a 2–1 friendly loss toIsrael.^[20][21] He played seven games in the successfulEuro 1984 qualifiers, including a 1–0 victory againstWorld Cup holdersItaly.^[20][22] CoachMircea Lucescu used him for the entirety of all three games in thefinal tournament which were a draw againstSpain and losses toWest Germany andPortugal, as his side failed to progress from their group.^[20][23] Subsequently, he played seven games in the1986 World Cup qualifiers and five matches with one goal scored in a 3–1 victory against Spain during theEuro 1988 qualifiers.^[20] Ungureanu's last appearance took place on 15 November 1989 in a 3–1 home win overDenmark in the1990 World Cup qualifiers.^[20]

For representing his country at theEuro 1984 final tournament, Ungureanu was decorated byPresident of RomaniaTraian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.^[24]

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ungureanu goal.

List of international goals scored by Nicolae Ungureanu^[20]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 April 1987	Stadionul Steaua,Bucharest, Romania	Spain	3–0	3–1	Euro 1988 qualifiers

Ungureanu started coaching during the1993–94 Divizia C season, being a player-coach atPandurii Târgu Jiu.^[19] In 1994 he had his firstDivizia A experience, being head coach atElectroputere Craiova.^[25][26] He would go on to have two more spells in the Romanian first league, with the first being in 2001 atFC Universitatea Craiova and the second in 2006 at Pandurii, totaling 32 matches in the competition.^[19][26][25] However, he spent most of his coaching career in the Romanian lower leagues for teams such asDrobeta-Turnu Severin,Internațional Pitești, Oltul Slatina,FC Caracal, Minerul Mătăsari and FC Podari.^[19][27] He also worked as an assistant coach at "U" Craiova andInternațional Curtea de Argeș.^[19][28]

In 2003, Ungureanu received the Honorary Citizen ofCraiova title.^[29]

Universitatea Craiova

• Divizia A:1979–80,1980–81^[1]
• Cupa României:1977–78,1980–81,1982–83^[1]

Steaua București

• Divizia A:1987–88,1988–89^[1]
• Cupa României:1988–89,1991–92^[1]
• European Cup runner-up:1988–89^[15]

• Nicolae Ungureanu profile
• Nicolae Ungureanu –FIFA competition record (archived)
• Nicolae Ungureanu at National-Football-Teams.com
• Nicolae Ungureanu at Labtof.ro

• 1956 births
• Living people
• Footballers from Craiova
• Romanian men's footballers
• Olympic footballers for Romania
• Liga I players
• Liga II players
• CS Universitatea Craiova players
• FCSB players
• FC Rapid București players
• CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players
• Romania men's international footballers
• UEFA Euro 1984 players
• University of Craiova alumni
• Men's association football defenders
• Romanian football managers
• FC U Craiova 1948 managers
• CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu managers
• 20th-century Romanian sportsmen

• Articles with Romanian-language sources (ro)
• CS1 Romanian-language sources (ro)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from September 2020
• Pages using national squad without sport or team link