 Pârcălab in the 1970s | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1941-11-05)5 November 1941 (age 84) | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward,winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Dinamo București | |||
| UTA Arad | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1961 | UTA Arad | 38 | (13) |
| 1961–1970 | Dinamo București | 194 | (53) |
| 1970–1973 | Nîmes | 83 | (20) |
| Total | 315 | (86) | |
| International career | |||
| 1961–1968 | Romania[a] | 38 | (5) |
| Managerial career | |||
| UTA Arad (assistant) | |||
| Gloria Buzău | |||
| Sportul Studențesc București (juniors) | |||
| IMUM Medgidia | |||
| 1980 | Progresul Pucioasa | ||
| Aversa București | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ion Pârcălab (born 5 November 1941)[3] is a Romanian formerfootball player andmanager.
Pârcălab, nicknamed "TheCarpathian Arrow", was born on 5 November 1941 inBucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local clubDinamo, working with coachPetre Steinbach.[4][5][6][7] He was brought toUTA Arad by his stepbrother,Nicolae Dumitrescu, who was a junior coach there, and they won together the 1958–59 national junior championship after defeatingFarul Constanța in the final.[6] He started his senior career at UTA, making hisDivizia A debut on 24 May 1959 under coachColoman Braun-Bogdan in a 2–1 loss toProgresul București.[8] In his lastseason spent withThe Old Lady, Pârcălab scored 10 goals in the league.[4]
In 1961, Pârcălab joinedDinamo București where, during his first four seasons, he helped the club win four consecutive Divizia A titles from 1962 to 1965.[4][9] In the first one he worked with three coaches,Traian Ionescu,Constantin Teașcă andNicolae Dumitru, who gave him 24 appearances in which he scored seven goals.[4][9] In the following two Dumitru and Ionescu used him in 21 matches in which he netted seven times in the first and in 25 games with 10 goals scored in the second.[4][9] In the last one he played 20 matches, finding the net eight times under the guidance ofAngelo Niculescu.[4][9] Pârcălab also won twoCupa României trophies withThe Red Dogs.[4] In the1964 final, coach Ionescu played him for the full 90 minutes, and he scored a goal in their 5–3 victory overrivalsSteaua București, then in the1968 final, coachBazil Marian used him the entire match in the 3–1 win againstRapid București.[10] He would score two more goals against Steaua, including one in a 2–0 victory.[11]
In 1965, Pârcălab was awarded the title "Best Football Player" in Romania, and in 1966 he was ranked third for the firstRomanian Footballer of the Year award.[5][12] In the1963–64 European Cup campaign, he played all four games as Dinamo got pastEast Germany champion,Motor Jena, being eliminated in the next phase byReal Madrid against whom he scored a goal in a 5–3 loss.[4][13] In the1965–66 European Cup edition he scored a goal that helped them eliminateDenmark's champion,Boldklubben 1909.[14] Subsequently, they were eliminated by the winners of the previous two seasons of the competition,Inter Milan, but earned a historical 2–1 victory in the first leg, after which he said:"I am happy, very happy! This victory is primarily a lesson for us. We proved to ourselves that we can do much more".[4][14][15]
Pârcălab's last Divizia A appearance took place on 19 July 1970, playing for Dinamo in a 1–1 draw againstPolitehnica Iași, having a total of 232 matches with 66 goals in the competition.[4]
"I remember epic evenings because Pârcălab was a crazydribbler. He would dribble past his defender, stop, and the crowd would applaud and scream for him to dribble past him again."
DuringRomania's communist era, transfers of Romanian footballers outside the country were rarely allowed.[5][17] However, in June 1970, dictatorNicolae Ceaușescu visitedFrance, where he was invited by presidentGeorges Pompidou.[5][17] Pompidou took him toNîmes, a town where communists consistently won elections.[5][17] There, Ceaușescu spoke with the mayor, who complained about the poor results of the local football team,Nîmes Olympique.[5][17] Consequently, Ceaușescu promised to send two Romanian footballers to the club.[5][17] Subsequently, some French officials were dispatched to observe the1970 Cupa României final, whichSteaua București won 2–1 againstDinamo București.[5][17] From this match, they selectedFlorea Voinea from Steaua and Pârcălab from Dinamo to play for Nîmes.[5][17]
Pârcălab made hisFrench Division 1 debut on 26 September 1970 under coachKader Firoud in a 4–2 away loss toMetz.[18][19] He scored his first goal on 31 October in a 2–1 loss toRed Star and by the end of the season he netted a brace in a 5–3 win overSaint-Étienne.[18] In the following season he scored a hat-trick in a 5–2 home victory againstLille.[20] Pârcălab and compatriot Voinea finished the1971–72 season with each scoring 11 goals, which helped the team finish second in the championship.[4][5][17][20][21] He made his last French Division 1 appearance on 11 February 1973 in a 1–1 draw against Red Star, having a total of 80 matches with 20 goals in the competition.[4][22] Pârcălab also has a total of 20 games and five goals in European competitions.[4]
Pârcălab played 26 games and scored three goals forRomania, making his debut on 8 October 1961 under coachGheorghe Popescu in a 4–0 friendly victory againstTurkey.[1][23] His following game was a 3–1 win overSpain in the1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers.[1][24] Pârcălab scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 victory againstEast Germany.[1][25] He played six matches and scored one goal in a 2–0 victory againstEusébio'sPortugal during the1966 World Cup qualifiers.[1][26] Pârcălab scored his last goal forThe Tricolours in a 2–1 friendly success overIsrael.[1][27] He made four appearances in theEuro 1968 qualifiers and one in the1970 World Cup qualifiers.[1]
Pârcălab also played 12 games forRomania's Olympic team, being chosen by coachSilviu Ploeșteanu to be part of the1964 Summer Olympics squad inTokyo where he scored two goals, one in a 3–1 victory againstMexico and one in a 3–0 win overYugoslavia, helping the team finish in fifth place.[2][28]
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 May 1963 | 23 August Stadium,București,Romania |  East Germany | 2–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 21 November 1965 | 23 August Stadium,București,Romania |  Portugal | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1966 World Cup qualifiers |
| 3 | 7 December 1966 | Bloomfield Stadium,Tel Aviv,Israel |  Israel | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
In 1980, Pârcălab was coach at Progresul Pucioasa in thethird division.[29][30] After a victory in the championship, he took his players to celebrate in a restaurant, but after a few drinks, a conflict between him and the goalkeeper Nicolae Stancu started because of a waitress.[29][30] They went to the bathroom to solve their problem, and it is assumed that there Pârcălab killed Stancu by introducing a broomstick in his throat or by hitting him in the back of his head.[29][30] He was sentenced to three years in prison, but got released after two.[29][30] In the early 2000s, Pârcălab claimed he was innocent and that he was wrongfully convicted.[29]
Pârcălab's stepbrother,Nicolae Dumitrescu, was also an international footballer and a manager.[6][31]
Dinamo București
Nîmes Olympique
Individual
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