Nicolae Ungureanu


Nicolae Ungureanu is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Early career

Ungureanu, nicknamed "Roșu" because his face was turning red from physical effort, was born on 11 October 1956 in Craiova, Romania. He began playing junior-level football in 1973 at CSȘ Craiova. He started playing senior-level football in 1975 at Divizia B club Electroputere Craiova.

Universitatea Craiova

In 1977 he went to play for Universitatea Craiova, making his Divizia A debut on 21 August under coach Constantin Deliu in 3–0 home win over Sportul Studențesc București. Ungureanu spent 10 seasons with Universitatea, being part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation that won two consecutive league titles in 1980 and 1981. In each season he played 34 matches and scored one goal under coaches Valentin Stănescu and Ion Oblemenco respectively. He also won the Cupa României three times, playing in all the finals, which were a victory against Olimpia Satu Mare and two wins over Politehnica Timișoara.
Ungureanu played 43 games and scored one goal for "U" Craiova in European competitions. In the second round of the 1979–80 UEFA Cup he played in both legs of the 4–0 aggregate win over Leeds United, as Universitatea became the first Romanian club that eliminated a team from England in European competitions. Afterwards, they reached the quarter-finals of the 1981–82 European Cup after eliminating Olympiacos and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, being eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. He made nine appearances in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign, with Ungureanu scoring once in a 3–1 win over Fiorentina, which helped them reach the semi-finals where they were eliminated by Benfica on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate. Ungureanu played in a 3–0 win over AS Monaco in the second leg of the first round of the 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup, after losing the first leg 2–0. However, they were eliminated in the following round by the eventual winners of the competition, Dynamo Kyiv.

Steaua București

In 1987, he joined Steaua București and won the title in his first season with coach Anghel Iordănescu, appearing in 24 league matches in which he scored four goals. The team also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup where they lost to Benfica. In the following season, they won The Double, Ungureanu playing 31 league matches and scoring once under Iordănescu, but he did not play in the 1–0 win over Dinamo București in the Cupa României final. In the same season he helped the club reach the 1988–89 European Cup final, playing nine games in the campaign, including the final which was lost 4–0 to AC Milan. His last trophy won with Steaua was the 1991–92 Cupa României, as coach Victor Pițurcă used him as a starter in the penalty shoot-out victory against Politehnica Timișoara in the final.

Late career

In 1992, Ungureanu went to play for Rapid București. There, he made his last Divizia A appearance on 21 March 1993 in a 5–0 loss to Universitatea Cluj, totaling 437 matches with 29 goals in the competition and 71 games with one goal in European competitions. Subsequently, he was a player-coach during the 1993–94 Divizia C season at Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

International career

Ungureanu played 56 matches and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 8 April 1981 under coach Valentin Stănescu in a 2–1 friendly loss to Israel. He played seven games in the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers, including a 1–0 victory against World Cup holders Italy. Coach Mircea Lucescu used him for the entirety of all three games in the final tournament which were a draw against Spain and losses to West Germany and Portugal, as his side failed to progress from their group. Subsequently, he played seven games in the 1986 World Cup qualifiers and five matches with one goal scored in a 3–1 victory against Spain during the Euro 1988 qualifiers. Ungureanu's last appearance took place on 15 November 1989 in a 3–1 home win over Denmark in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers.
For representing his country at the Euro 1984 final tournament, Ungureanu was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – class III.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
129 April 1987Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania3–03–1Euro 1988 qualifiers

Managerial career

Ungureanu started coaching during the 1993–94 Divizia C season, being a player-coach at Pandurii Târgu Jiu. In 1994 he had his first Divizia A experience, being head coach at Electroputere Craiova. He would go on to have two more spells in the Romanian first league, with the first being in 2001 at FC Universitatea Craiova and the second in 2006 at Pandurii, totaling 32 matches in the competition. However, he spent most of his coaching career in the Romanian lower leagues for teams such as Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Internațional Pitești, Oltul Slatina, FC Caracal, Minerul Mătăsari and FC Podari. He also worked as an assistant coach at "U" Craiova and Internațional Curtea de Argeș.

Personal life

In 2003, Ungureanu received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.

Honours

Player

Universitatea Craiova
Steaua București