Mircea Petescu

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Mircea Petescu
Petescu in 1962
Personal information
Full name Mircea Viorel Petescu
Date of birth (1942-05-15)15 May 1942
Place of birth Pecica, Arad County, Romania
Date of death 16 December 2018(2018-12-16) (aged 76)
Place of death Vosselaar, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959–1960 UTA Arad 10 (1)
1960–1963 Știința Timișoara 50 (2)
1962–1963 → Viitorul București (loan) 14 (0)
1963–1967 Steaua București 80 (1)
1967–1973 UTA Arad 172 (20)
1973–1975 FC Dordrecht
Total 326 (24)
International career
1964–1968 Romania[a] 5 (0)
Managerial career
1973–1975 FC Dordrecht (assistant)
1975–1977 NEC (assistant)
1977–1978 Telstar
1978–1980 Sparta Rotterdam
1981–1982 DS'79
1982–1984 's-Gravenzandse SV
1985–1988 Go Ahead Eagles (manager)
1988 Go Ahead Eagles (caretaker)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mircea Viorel Petescu (15 May 1942 – 16 December 2018)[3] was a Romanian professional footballer, coach and sports agent.[4]

Club career

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Petescu was born on 15 May 1942 in Pecica, Romania.[5][6][7][8] He made his Divizia A debut on 6 September 1959, playing for UTA Arad under coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan in a 2–2 draw against Steagul Roșu Brașov.[5][9] After only one season, he joined Știința Timișoara, UTA's rivals, where he spent three years, including half a season on loan at Viitorul București.[5][6][7]

Petescu (right) in a duel with Constantin Frățilă in 1963.

In 1963, Petescu moved to Steaua București, which he helped win two Cupa României in his four seasons at the club.[6][7][8] Coach Ilie Savu used him in only one of the finals, the one in 1966 when he played the entire match in the 4–0 win over his former side, UTA.[8][10]

Mircea Petescu (standing, fourth from left) with UTA Arad the champions of Romania in 1970.

In 1967, Petescu returned to UTA, where he played for six seasons.[5][6][7][8] He helped them win two consecutive Divizia A titles in the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons under coach Nicolae Dumitrescu.[5][8][11] He contributed with eight goals in 27 appearances in the first season and one goal in 30 games in the second.[5][11] Petescu also played European football with The Old Lady, captaining the team as they managed to eliminate defending European Cup champions Feyenoord in the 1970–71 European Cup season.[5][6] The following year, he played eight games in the 1971–72 UEFA Cup campaign as UTA reached the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur who eventually won the competition.[5][6][12] He made his last Divizia A appearance on 20 June 1973 in UTA's 0–0 draw against Universitatea Cluj, having a total of 326 matches with 24 goals in the competition, also totaling 22 appearances in European competitions.[5][6][7][8]

Petescu ended his playing career at FC Dordrecht in the Netherlands.[5][6][7][8]

International career

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Under the guidance of coaches Nicolae Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Ola, Petescu helped Romania's under-18 national team win the 1962 European championship.[7][13]

Petescu played two games for Romania, making his debut on 27 October 1968 under coach Angelo Niculescu in a 3–0 loss to Portugal in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers.[1][14] His second game was a 0–0 friendly draw against England.[1] He was chosen by coach Silviu Ploeșteanu to be part of Romania's Olympic team for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he played three games, helping the team finish in fifth place.[15]

For winning the 1962 European Under-18 Championship, Petescu was decorated by President of Romania, Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008, with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal of "Sportive Merit") Class III.[16]

Managerial career

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After years of preparation, Petescu and his wife defected while on a state-approved vacation to the Netherlands.[17] There, he started a coaching career and became known for promoting youngsters in the teams he coached.[4] He coached Louis van Gaal at Telstar and Sparta, and discovered Danny Blind among many other players.[4][18]

Sports agent career

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Petescu became a sports agent following the end of his career as a football player and manager.[7][8] After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, he oversaw the first important transfer in Romanian football, Gheorghe Hagi's move from Steaua București to Real Madrid for $4 million.[7][8] He also worked on the transfers of Gheorghe Popescu to PSV Eindhoven, Ioan Sabău to Feyenoord and Dorinel Munteanu to Cercle Brugge.[7][8]

Honours

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Club

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UTA Arad

Steaua București

International

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Romania U18

Notes

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  1. ^ Including three appearances for Romania's Olympic team.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mircea Petescu". European Football. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Mircea Petescu at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ "Voormalig trainer Mircea Petescu overleden" (in Dutch). sparta-rotterdam.nl. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Mircea Petescu: "Eu l-am descoperit pe Van Gaal!" Cine e Mircea Petescu? – Libertatea (in Romanian)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mircea Petescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "A murit Mircea Petescu, impresarul care l-a dus pe Gică Hagi la Real Madrid. A fost căpitan la UTA, când arădenii au eliminat-o pe Feyenoord" [Mircea Petescu, the manager who took Gica Hagi to Real Madrid, has died. He was captain at UTA, when the Arad team eliminated Feyenoord] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "A murit Mircea Petescu, unul dintre primii impresari ai anilor 90, omul care i-a dus pe Hagi la Real Madrid și Gică Popescu la PSV Eindhoven. Fostul căpitan de la UTA suferea de Alzheimer" [Mircea Petescu died, one of the first sports agent of the 90s, the man who took Hagi to Real Madrid and Gică Popescu to PSV Eindhoven. The former UTA captain was suffering from Alzheimer's disease] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Mircea Petescu, cel care l-a dus pe Hagi la Real Madrid, a murit. Drama prin care a trecut în ultimii ani" [Mircea Petescu, who took Hagi to Real Madrid, has died. The drama he's been through for the last few years] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  9. ^ "UA Brașov vs UTA Arad 2-2". Labtof. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  10. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1965–1966". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1966–1967". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Fotbalul de altă dată: UTA Arad – Tottenham Hotspur, Cupa UEFA, 1972" [Football of another time: UTA Arad - Tottenham Hotspur, UEFA Cup, 1972] (in Romanian). Tackle.ro. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  13. ^ "România, campioană europeană la fotbal în 1962! Juniorii U18, succes total prin toate mijloacele" [Romania, European football champion in 1962! Juniors U18, total success by all means] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
    "Acum 55 de ani, Romania devenea campioana europeana la fotbal!" [55 years ago, Romania became the European football champion!] (in Romanian). Playbuzz.com. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
    "Șase decenii de la singurul titlu European al fotbalului nostru" [Six decades since our football's only European title] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  14. ^ "Portugal 3-0 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Mircea Petescu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
    "Cum a fost ultima participare a României la Olimpiadă, în 1964, când "tricolorii" au pierdut dramatic sfertul cu Ungaria" [How was Romania's last participation in the Olympics, in 1964, when "The Tricolors" dramatically lost the quarter to Hungary] (in Romanian). Theplaymaker.ro. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
    "Mircea Petescu - Olympic Games 1964". WorldFootball. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  16. ^ "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
    "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  17. ^ Poul Annema, Petescu, van vedette tot anonyme, Nieuwe Leidsche Courant, 8 September 1973. (in Dutch)
  18. ^ Roemeense krant betitelt Van Gaal als 'Van Hitler' – AD (in Dutch)
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