Bazil Marian


Bazil Marian was a Romanian professional footballer and coach.

Club career

Marian, nicknamed "Bombardierul" because of his powerful shots, was born on 7 November 1922 in Uioara de Sus, Romania. He began playing junior-level football at age 11 at local club Solvay. He made his Divizia A debut playing for Victoria Cluj on 24 September 1947 in a 2–1 home victory against Venus București. Victoria was relegated by the end of the season, but he stayed in Divizia A, playing one season for Mica Brad before moving to Carmen București.
At Carmen in December 1946 during a game against Ciocanul București when they were leading 4–0, he ran alone towards the opposite goal, dribbled the goalkeeper, after which he sat down with his bottom on the ball and his hand over his eyes, as if looking for his opponents, before pushing the ball into the net. At the end of the season, following another victory against Ciocanul with 6–0 in which he scored two goals, the Carmen team was dissolved by the Communist regime that just took over the country. He and teammate Valentin Stănescu attempted to flee to Italy by boarding a ship in the Port of Constanța. However, the authorities apprehended them, offering a choice between imprisonment or playing for a working-class team like Locomotiva București, and they both chose the latter option.
At Locomotiva he managed to score 32 goals in 24 appearances in the 1947–48 Divizia A season, but did not win the top-scorer of the league as ITA Arad's Ladislau Bonyhádi scored a record of 49 goals. In 1950 in a game against CFR Timișoara, Marian scored a goal with a powerful shot from 18 meters that broke the net and after the game the opponents goalkeeper, Dumitru Pavlovici said:"I am the happiest that Marian's bomb was a goal. Otherwise, if his kick would have hit me in full, I would have gone straight to the hospital". At the end of the 1951 Divizia A season, Locomotiva was relegated to Divizia B, but Marian stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back to the first league after one season. During a match played in cold weather against Metalul București, he scored a goal that the referee disallowed. He then ran to the fence near the stands, where boiled țuică was sold, and drank a cup before returning to the pitch. Upon scoring another goal, which the referee again cancelled, he drank another cup of țuică. Marian then shook the referee's hand, asked to be replaced, and left the pitch, stating that if he scored another goal and it was cancelled, he'd have to drink another cup and would get drunk. He retired after playing for Locomotiva on 14 November 1954 in a Divizia A match which ended with a 3–2 loss against Progresul Oradea. However, six years later at age 39, Marian came out of retirement after he, as a coach, gained promotion with Jiul Petroșani to the first league because the squad's quality was insufficient for the top-division. He played 14 games in which he scored two goals for The Miners during the 1961–62 Divizia A season.

International career

Marian played 18 games and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 1 June 1941 under coach Virgil Economu in a 4–1 friendly loss to Germany. He scored his first goal for the national team in a 2–2 friendly draw against Slovakia. Afterwards he made two appearances in the 1946 Balkan Cup and played four games in which he scored a goal in a 3–2 away win over Bulgaria during the 1947 Balkan Cup. He also made two appearances in the 1948 Balkan Cup. Marian's last appearance for the national team took place on 8 May 1949 in a home friendly that ended with a 2–1 victory against Poland.

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
113 June 1943Stadionul Giulești, București, Romania1–02–2Friendly
26 July 1947Yunak Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria3–13–21947 Balkan Cup

Managerial career

Marian started coaching in 1954 at juniors and as an assistant for six years at Rapid București. He started to work as head coach in the 1960–61 Divizia B season at Jiul Petroșani, helping it earn promotion to Divizia A, but the team was relegated after one season. He went on to coach Viitorul București, shortly thereafter moved to Romania's under 21 national team, and in 1967, he coached Romania's senior team for one friendly game that ended in a 1–1 draw against Uruguay in Montevideo at Estadio Gran Parque Central.
Marian won his first trophy as a coach in 1968 when he guided Dinamo București to win the 1967–68 Cupa României after a 3–1 victory in the final against Rapid București which was coached by his former Carmen București teammate Valentin Stănescu. Marian went to have some short spells at Farul Constanța and Argeș Pitești before going to Rapid. There, he won the 1971–72 Cupa României after a 2–0 victory in the final against Jiul Petroșani. At Rapid he also had his first European performances. They reached the round of 16 in the 1971–72 UEFA Cup campaign after eliminating, for the first time in Romanian football history, an Italian team, Napoli, then getting past Legia Warsaw, being eliminated by the team who eventually won the competition, Tottenham. In the 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign the team reached the quarter-finals, eliminating Landskrona BoIS and Rapid Wien.
In 1973 he went to coach abroad in Algeria at Boufarik and JS Kabylie, afterwards returning for one season at Rapid București. From 1979 until his retirement at age 67 in 1989 he coached Romania's under 21 national team.

Death

Marian, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the last years of his life, died on January 19, 2008, in Bucharest at the age of 85 and was buried in the town's Andronache cemetery.

Honours

Player

Locomotiva București

Manager

Jiul Petroșani
Dinamo București
Rapid București