Dudu Georgescu


Dudu Georgescu is a retired Romanian footballer who played as a forward and former coach.

Club career

Georgescu was born on 1 September 1950 in Bucharest, Romania. He began his career at Progresul București, making his Divizia A debut on 11 June 1969 under coach Cornel Drăgușin in a 3–0 victory against Universitatea Craiova in which he played as a central defender. After playing for Progresul in the first two leagues for a few years, Georgescu went to play for a short while at CSM Reșița, where he scored a double in a 4–1 victory against Dinamo București, which convinced them to transfer him.
His Dinamo spell consisted of 10 Divizia A seasons in which he won four league titles and was the team's top-scorer in the first three of those. In the conquest of the first one he was coached by Nicolae Dumitru, in the next two by Ion Nunweiller and Valentin Stănescu respectively, while at the last he worked once again with Dumitru. He won the 1981–82 Cupa României in which he scored two goals in the 1982 [Cupa României final|final] that ended with a 3–2 win over CS [Minaur Baia Mare (football)|FC Baia Mare], Stănescu using him the entire match. Georgescu also made some notable individual performances such as being the Divizia A top-scorer four consecutive times from 1975 until 1978 and winning the European Golden Shoe in 1975 and 1977. He won the Romanian [Footballer of the Year (Gazeta Sporturilor)|Romanian Footballer of the Year] award in 1976 and was nominated three times for the Ballon d'Or. With 207 goals scored in 260 Divizia A matches, Georgescu is Dinamo's all time leading top-scorer. He represented The Red Dogs in European competitions by appearing in 23 games in which he scored 17 goals. Seven of these goals were netted in the European Cup of which four are in a 11–0 win over Crusaders, two against Atlético Madrid and one against Dukla Prague. He also scored one goal in a 3–2 win over Inter Milan which helped the team eliminate the Italians in the second round of the 1981–82 UEFA Cup.
After his period spent at Dinamo, Georgescu went to play for SC Bacău, Gloria Buzău and Flacăra Moreni. At the latter he made his last Divizia A appearance on 23 November 1986 in a 3–1 home loss in which he scored his side's goal against his former team, Dinamo, obtaining a competition record of 252 goals scored in 371 games. Georgescu ended his career in 1988 after playing two seasons in Divizia C for Muscelul Câmpulung and Unirea Urziceni.

International career

Georgescu played 40 matches and scored 21 goals for Romania, making his debut on 14 September 1973 under coach Valentin Stănescu in his national team's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 win in which he scored one goal against Finland in the 1974 [FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4|1974 World Cup qualifiers]. He scored four goals in five matches in the Euro 1976 qualifiers and made three appearances in which he scored two goals during the 1977–80 Balkan Cup. Then he played four games and scored two goals in the 1978 [FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 8|1978 World Cup qualifiers], and made two appearances with two goals netted in a 2–2 draw against Spain during the Euro 1980 qualifiers. Subsequently, he made one appearance in each of the 1982 FIFA [World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4|1982 World Cup qualifiers] and the Euro 1984 qualifying Group 5|1984 Euro qualifiers]. Georgescu's last game for the national team was 1–0 friendly victory against China.
For helping his country qualify to Euro 1984, Georgescu was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – class III.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 October 197323 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania9–09–01974 World Cup qualifiers
211 May 197523 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania1–06–1Euro 1976 qualifiers
311 May 197523 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania4–06–1Euro 1976 qualifiers
41 June 197523 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania1–01–1Euro 1976 qualifiers
516 November 197523 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania2–12–2Euro 1976 qualifiers
65 June 1976San Siro, Milan, Italy2–42–4Friendly match
722 September 197623 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania1–11–1Friendly match
86 October 1976Letenský Stadion, Prague, Czechoslovakia2–12–3Friendly match
923 March 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania1–04–01977–80 Balkan Cup
108 May 1977Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia1–02–01978 World Cup qualifiers
1114 August 1977Stade du FUS, Rabat, Morocco1–03–1Coupe Mohamed V 1977
1214 August 1977Stade du FUS, Rabat, Morocco2–13–1Coupe Mohamed V 1977
1321 September 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania6–16–1Friendly match
1413 November 1977Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania4–44–61978 World Cup qualifiers
1522 March 1978İnönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey1–11–11977–80 Balkan Cup
1621 March 1979Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania3–03–0Friendly match
174 April 197923 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania1–02–2Euro 1980 qualifiers
184 April 197923 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania2–12–2Euro 1980 qualifiers
1915 July 1982Stadionul Areni, Suceava, Romania4–04–0Friendly match
2018 July 198223 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania2–13–1Friendly match
2118 July 198223 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania3–13–1Friendly match

Managerial career

After he ended his playing career, Georgescu coached Romanian teams such as CSM Reșița, Corvinul Hunedoara, Acvila Giurgiu and Dunărea Călărași. He also had coaching spells outside Romania at Moldovan side Zimbru Chișinău and in Saudi Arabia at Al-Najma.

Personal life

His son, who is also named Dudu Georgescu, was a football referee who officiated matches including in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A.

Honours

Progresul București
Dinamo București
Individual