Nicolae Georgescu


Nicolae Georgescu was a Romanian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Spending most of his career in Rapid București, he was capped 18 times for Romania.

Club career

Georgescu was born 1 January 1936 in Câmpina, Romania, and began playing football in 1950 at local club Rafinăria. In 1954 he moved to Voința București in Divizia B, after one year joining Progresul CPCS București in the same league. On 25 March 1956 he made his Divizia A debut, playing for Rapid București under coach Ferenc Rónay in a 0–0 draw against Locomotiva Timișoara. Georgescu spent 10 seasons at Rapid, helping the club win the 1966–67 Divizia A, which was the first title in its history, being used by coach Valentin Stănescu in six matches. He also reached two Cupa României finals in 1961 [Cupa României final|1961] and 1962 under coach Ion Mihăilescu which were lost to ACS [Sticla Arieșul Turda|Arieșul Turda] against whom he scored a goal, and Steaua București respectively. Subsequently, he helped the club win two Balkans Cups in 1964 and 1966. Georgescu made his last Divizia A appearance on 2 October 1966 in a 2–1 away loss to Dinamo București, totaling 211 appearances with 46 goals in the competition, all of them for Rapid. He retired after playing two more seasons for his hometown club, Poiana Câmpina in Divizia B.

International career

Georgescu played 13 matches and scored seven goals for Romania, making his debut on 29 May 1955 under coach Gheorghe Popescu in a 2–2 friendly draw against Poland in which he scored the last goal of the match. His last three appearances for the national team were in the 1966 [FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4|1966 World Cup qualifiers], being the team's captain in two of them and scoring a goal in each leg against Turkey. He also played for Romania [Olympic football team|Romania's Olympic team], being chosen by coach Silviu Ploeșteanu to be part of the 1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Summer Olympics] squad in Tokyo where he played two games, helping the team finish in fifth place.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.29 May 1955Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania2–22–2Friendly
2.15 June 1955Ullevi Stadion, Gothenburg, Sweden1–41–4Friendly
3.18 September 1955Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania1–02–3Friendly
4.28 September 1955Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania1–01–0Friendly
5.9 October 1955Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania1–01–1Friendly
6.2 May 1965Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania1–03–01966 FIFA [World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4|1966 World Cup qualifiers]
7.23 October 1965Ankara [19 Mayıs Stadium|19 Mayıs Stadium], Ankara, Turkey1–21–21966 World Cup qualifiers

Personal life and death

Georgescu's daughter Monica was a basketball player. His nephew, Gabriel Manu was a football player and current coach.
Georgescu died on 22 August 1983, at the age of 47.

Honours

Rapid București