Ion Nunweiller


Ion Nunweiller was a Romanian football defender and manager.

International career

Nunweiller played 26 games for [Romania national Association football|football team|Romania], making his debut on 26 October 1958 under coach Augustin Botescu in a 2–1 friendly loss to rivals Hungary. He played four matches in the 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifiers as Romania eliminated Turkey in the round of 16, reaching the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Czechoslovakia, who advanced to the final tournament. Nunweiller played two games in the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers, one during the 1966 World Cup qualifiers and four in the Euro 1968 qualifiers. He also played for Romania's Olympic team, being chosen by coach Silviu Ploeșteanu to be part of the 1964 Summer Olympics squad in Tokyo where he played four games, helping the team finish the competition in fifth place.

Managerial career

After ending his playing career in 1972, Nunweiller became the head coach of Dinamo București, managing to win the title in his first season, one of his players being his brother Radu. Together, they won another title in the 1974–75 season, but this time Nunweiller was the assistant coach of Nicolae Dumitru. As head coach he led The Red Dogs to a third title in the 1976–77 season, having his brother Lică as his assistant coach.
In the following years he qualified Flacăra Moreni to the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, had an experience in Turkey at Bursaspor and obtained the first ever promotion to Divizia A of his hometown team Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. Nunweiller has a total of 374 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A, consisting of 163 victories, 76 draws and 135 losses.
On 25 March 2008, Nunweiller was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for all of his achievements as a football coach, and for forming young generations of future champions with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — class III.

Death

Nunweiller died on 3 February 2015 at age 79 in a hospital in Pitești. He was buried in a cemetery in Albota, with his coffin wrapped in the flags of Dinamo București and Fenerbahçe. After his death, his former Dinamo teammate, Cornel Dinu talked about him: "He was the creator of The Red Dogs symbol and the main pillar of resistance through which the great team was built from the early 1960s. A player who had many moments of heroism, blocking opponents and ensuring that his own defense was never overtaken. He was an indisputable leader of that era and achieved great success as a coach in the 1970s, also serving in a leadership role at Dinamo. Both as a player and as a coach, he embodied the spirit of determination and loyalty in service to the club."

Honours

Player

Dinamo București
Fenerbahçe

Manager

Dinamo București
Dinamo București
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț