Dorel Zamfir

Dorel Zamfir was a Romanian footballer who played as a right midfielder.

Club career

Zamfir was born on 30 September 1961 in Vișeu de Sus, Maramureș County, Romania, but when he was two months old, his parents settled in his father's city, Constanța. He started playing football at age 7, at FC Constanța's youth center where he worked with coach Iosif Bükössy. He made his Divizia A debut for the senior team when he played a full match at the age of 15 years, five months and 16 days on 16 March 1977 under coach Gheorghe Ola in a 1–0 loss to Steaua București. In the beginning of 1980, Zamfir went to play for Dinamo București, a team with which he won The Double in the 1981–82 season, being used by coach Valentin Stănescu in nine league matches. With Dinamo he also played his only game in a European competition, a 3–0 victory against Levski Sofia in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup. In 1982 he played for Dinamo's rival, Steaua, after which he joined Argeș Pitești for six seasons. In the following years of his career, Zamfir went to play for Gloria Bistrița, and also had experiences playing abroad in Turkey and Israel. He ended his career as a player-coach at Flacăra Moreni.

Zamfir was selected by coach Constantin Cernăianu to be part of Romania's under-20 squad for the 1981 World Youth Championship held in Australia. He appeared in five games, scoring once in a 1–1 draw against Brazil in the group stage, helping the team finish the tournament in third position, winning the bronze medal. Although defection from the Socialist Republic of Romania was illegal at that time, Zamfir decided to remain in Australia after the tournament, but eventually he willingly returned to the country.

Zamfir died on 6 October 2023, at the age of 62.

Dinamo București