Florea Dumitrache

Florea Dumitrache (22 May 1948 – 26 April 2007) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a striker.

Florea Dumitrache
Dumitrache with Dinamo București
Personal information
Full name Florea Dumitrache
Date of birth (1948-05-22)22 May 1948
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Date of death 26 April 2007(2007-04-26) (aged 59)
Place of death Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1961–1963 Rapid București
1963–1964 TUG București
1964–1965 Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1976 Dinamo București 208 (115)
1976–1979 Jiul Petroșani 80 (37)
1979–1983 Corvinul Hunedoara 103 (42)
1983–1984 Minerul Știința Vulcan
Total 381 (185)
International career
1968–1974[1] Romania 31 (15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dumitrache spent most of his senior career at Dinamo București, appearing in over 200 league matches and winning three national titles and one national cup. Internationally, he earned 31 caps for the Romania national team and scored 15 goals.

Dumitrache was considered one of the best forwards in Europe during his time, and was well known for his technique and aerial ability.

Club career

Florea Dumitrache was born in Bucharest on 22 May 1948, having been nicknamed since his childhood "Mopsul" (The pug) because of his nose that looked like one of a pug.[2][3][4][5] While playing for TUG București at junior level, he was seen by Dinamo București's coach Traian Ionescu who convinced him to come and play for his team.[3][6] He made his Divizia A debut on 2 May 1966, playing for Dinamo București in a 1–1 against Dinamo Pitești.[2] He remained with The Red Dogs for 11 seasons, winning three league titles in 1971, 1973 and 1975, in the first he contributed with 15 goals scored in 28 matches, in the second he played 26 games and scored 15 goals and in the third he made 10 appearances and scored 4 goals and one cup in which he scored one goal in the 1968 final which ended with a 3–1 victory against Rapid București.[2][3][6][7] He became the Divizia A top goalscorer twice, first in 1969 with 22 goals and the second in 1971, alongside Constantin Moldoveanu and Gheorghe Tătaru with 15 goals.[2][3][6] Dumitrache won twice (1968, 1969) the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, also in 1970 along with Dinamo teammate Cornel Dinu he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.[2][3][6][8][9] Italian club Juventus wanted to sign the 24 year-old Dumitrache after his performance at the 1970 World Cup, making an estimated $1.5 million offer for him, but Nicolae Ceauşescu's communist regime refused.[3][6][10] After scoring 103 goals in 288 Divizia A appearances for Dinamo, Dumitrache played for Jiul Petroșani and Corvinul Hunedoara obtaining a total of 170 goals scored in 357 Divizia A games.[2][3][6] He played a total of 20 games in which he scored 8 goals in European competitions, his last appearance being a 1982–83 UEFA Cup game for Corvinul against FK Sarajevo during which Dumitrache headbutted referee Gianfranco Menegal in the mouth, as a consequence, he was handed the maximum seven year suspension from all UEFA competitions.[6][11] He ended his career in 1984 after playing for Minerul Știința Vulcan.[12] The Victoria Ground was named "Stadionul Florea Dumitrache" after he died in April 2007 of a digestive hemorrhage.[4][13]

International career

Dumitrache played 31 games and scored 15 goals for Romania, making his debut under coach Angelo Niculescu in a friendly which ended 0–0 against Netherlands.[14] He played five games in which he scored three goals at the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers, also making a good performance at the final tournament, being used by coach Angelo Niculescu in all three games from the group stage in which he scored two goals, one against Czechoslovakia and one against Brazil and impressing with his dribbling abilities, especially in front of England's defenders Bobby Moore and Terry Cooper, however Romania did not manage to advance to the next stage.[3][6][4][10][14] He played three matches and scored two goals at the Euro 1972 qualifiers, also scoring five goals in five games at the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, including two in Romania's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 against Finland.[14][15] He also played in a 3–1 victory against Greece at the 1973–76 Balkan Cup, making his last appearance for the national team on 23 July 1974 in a friendly which ended with a 4–1 victory against Japan in which he scored two goals.[14]

International goals

Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first:[14]

Honours

Dinamo București

Corvinul Hunedoara

Individual

References
  1. "Florea Dumitrache – Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  2. Florea Dumitrache at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  3. ""Mopsul" Dumitrache dribla orice adversar. Nu și alcoolul. Ar fi împlinit 70 de ani…" ["The pug" Dumitrache dribbled past any opponent. But not alcohol. He would have turned 70…] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  4. "10 ani fără "Mops". Trei povești mai puțin știute cu Florea Dumitrache: cum s-a ales cu porecla și cum a trecut un examen doar cu un pom desenat" [10 years without "The pug". Three lesser known stories with Florea Dumitrache: how he got the nickname and how he passed an exam only with a drawn tree] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  5. "Marele fotbalist Florea Dumitrache a fost uitat! "Mopsul" a murit acum 12 ani" [The great football player Florea Dumitrache has been forgotten! The "pug" died 12 years ago] (in Romanian). Click.ro. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  6. "Legendele fotbalului: "Mopsul" s-a irosit în alcool" [Football legends: "Pug" wasted himself in alcohol] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 4 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  7. "Romanian Cup – Season 1967–1968". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  8. Pierrend, José Luis (1 February 2006). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1970". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  9. "Dumitru Macri, primul fotbalist român nominalizat la Balonul de Aur! Gică Hagi, aproape de succes în 1994" [Dumitru Macri, the first Romanian footballer nominated for the Golden Ball! Gica Hagi, almost successful in 1994] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  10. "Visul ratat: Juventus!" [The missed dream: Juventus!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  11. The Observer 14 November 1982 p.37 (subscription required)
  12. "54 de ani de la "cel mai frumos moment" al carierei lui Dumitrache. Dialog savuros cu Ioan Chirilă: "Beau mai puțin decât englezii şi citesc mai mult decât francezii"" [54 years since the "most beautiful moment" of Dumitrache's career. Tasty dialogue with Ioan Chirilă: "I drink less than the English and read more than the French] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 15 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  13. "Memorialul puterii, episodul 2: Victoria București" [The Memorial of Power, episode 2: Victoria Bucharest] (in Romanian). Wesport.ro. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  14. "Florea Dumitrache profile". EU Football. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  15. "Sandu și ceilalți "eroi" din 1973, despre culisele victoriei istorice cu 9-0 cu Finlanda" [Sandu and the other "heroes" from 1973, about the backstage of the historic 9-0 victory over Finland] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
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