Rodion Cămătaru


Rodion Gorun Cămătaru is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Universitatea Craiova

Cămătaru was born on 22 June 1958 in Strehaia, Romania and began playing football in 1972 at local club Progresul. Two years later he went to play for Universitatea Craiova, making his Divizia A debut on 10 November 1974, aged 17 under coach Constantin Cernăianu in a 1–1 draw against CFR Cluj. He spent twelve seasons with Universitatea, being part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation that won two consecutive league titles in 1980 and 1981. He was the team's top-scorer in both, as in the first he netted 17 goals in the 26 appearances gave to him by coach Valentin Stănescu and in the second he scored 23 in the 33 matches under coach Ion Oblemenco. He also won the Cupa României four times, playing in all the finals, opening the score in the 3–1 win against Olimpia Satu Mare in the one in 1978 and he netted a brace in the 2–1 victory over Politehnica Timișoara in the 1983 final.
Cămătaru played 37 games and scored six goals for "U" Craiova in European competitions. In the first round of the 1979–80 UEFA Cup he netted a brace that helped the team get past Wiener Sport-Club. In the following round 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, with Cămătaru scoring once against the latter, being eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. He made nine appearances in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign when they reached the semi-finals, being eliminated by Benfica on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate. At one point he was heavily criticized by journalist Eugen Barbu in the Informația Bucureștiului newspaper, Cămătaru, in turn called the article "a blasphemy". However, after the 0–0 in the first leg of the semi-final against Benfica in which Cămătaru was all over the field helping the defense, midfield and offense, Barbu wrote another article titled:"M-ai învins, Rodioane!".
During his time with The Blue Lions, Cămătaru received offers to play abroad. The first came from Fiorentina after the Italians got eliminated by them in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup but Romania's communist regime did not allow the transfer. The second opportunity arose in 1985 when he went on a trial at Benfica. He played for them in a friendly against Porto, making a good impression. However, shortly afterwards, he suffered an injury that kept him off the field for six months, leading the Portuguese club to choose not to transfer him.

Dinamo București

In 1986, Cămătaru was transferred to Dinamo București, where he became the Divizia A top-scorer and European Golden Boot winner in his first season at the club with 44 goals netted in 33 games. However, as he scored 26 goals in the last nine matches of the season, his European Golden Boot was revoked after FIFA investigations claimed the goals were unfairly scored and the trophy was awarded to Anton Polster but Cămătaru was allowed to keep his copy of the trophy. In 1987 he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or, and during the 1980s he was on five occasions in the top five of the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, two times being ranked third. He played 10 matches and scored once for Dinamo in the European Cup Winners' Cup over the course of three seasons. Most notably in the 1988–89 campaign he was used by coach Mircea Lucescu in all six games as The Red Dogs reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated on the away goals rule after 1–1 on aggregate by Sampdoria. On 14 June 1989, Cămătaru made his last Divizia A appearance in Dinamo's 5–1 win over Bihor Oradea, totaling 378 matches with 198 goals in the competition.

Charleroi

In 1989 he went to play in Belgium for Charleroi. He made his Belgian First Division debut on 16 August 1989, with coach Eric Vanlessen using him for the full 90 minutes in the 3–0 home win over Mechelen. On 21 January 1991 he netted his first goal in a 1–1 draw against the same opponent. Over the course of a year and a half, Cămătaru made 29 appearances for Charleroi in the Belgian league, scoring six goals.

Heerenveen

The final spell of his career was at Heerenveen in Netherlands where for a while he was teammates with compatriot Ioan Andone. He made his Eredivisie debut on 27 February 1991, under coach Fritz Korbach who played him for the entire match in a 1–0 home loss to Twente. On 2 March he scored his first goal for Heerenveen in a 1–0 home win over MVV Maastricht. The team was relegated at the end of his first season, but Cămătaru stayed with the club for two more seasons in the second league. He scored his last goal as a professional in the 1992–93 KNVB Cup final, which was lost with 6–2 to Ajax Amsterdam. In 2020 with the occasion of Heerenveen's 100th anniversary, Cămătaru was selected the best striker in the club's history in front of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

International career

Cămătaru played 73 matches and scored 21 goals for Romania, making his debut on 13 December 1978 under coach Ștefan Kovács in a 2–1 friendly loss to Greece. He played two games in the [UEFA Euro 1979–80 Divizia A|1980 qualifying Group 3|Euro 1980 qualifiers], then scored one goal in the 4–1 victory against Yugoslavia in the second leg of the 1977–80 Balkan Cup final.
Cămătaru played six games and scored two goals during the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers, including one against goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli after a long pass from Costică Ștefănescu and a 30 meters run in a 1–0 win over Sweden at the Råsunda Stadium. Afterwards he was used by coach Mircea Lucescu in all three matches in the final tournament which were a draw against Spain and losses to West Germany and Portugal in Romania's group stage exit.
He played six games and scored three goals in the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, including a spectacular one at the Wembley Stadium against goalkeeper Peter Shilton in a 1–1 draw against England. In the following years, Cămătaru played four games in the Euro 1988 qualifiers and made five appearances during the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers, netting a double against goalkeeper and Bulgaria captain Borislav Mihaylov in a 3–1 away victory. He was also part of the squad that participated in the final tournament where coach Emeric Jenei did not use him in any games. Cămătaru's last appearance for the national team was in the Euro 1992 qualifiers, scoring Romania's goal in a 2–1 loss to Scotland.
For representing his country at the 1990 World Cup, Cămătaru was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – class III.

International

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
16 June 1980Stade du Heysel, Brussels, Belgium1–01–2Friendly
227 August 1980Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania2–04–11977–80 Balkan Cup
325 March 1981Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania1–02–0Friendly
415 April 1981Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark1–01–2Friendly
514 April 1982Gradski stadion, Ruse, Bulgaria1–12–1Friendly match
61 May 1982Stadionul Corvinul, Hunedoara, Romania2–03–1Euro 1984 qualifiers
72 February 1983Olympic Winner Crown Prince Constantine, Larissa, Greece2–13–1Friendly
82 February 1983Olympic Winner Crown Prince Constantine, Larissa, Greece3–13–1Friendly
99 June 1983Råsunda Fotbollsstadion, Solna, Sweden1–01–0Euro 1984 qualifiers
1029 July 1984Stadionul 23 August, Iași, Romania2–04–2Friendly
113 April 1985Stadionul Central, Craiova, Romania2–03–01986 World Cup qualifiers
123 April 1985Stadionul Central, Craiova, Romania3–03–01986 World Cup qualifiers
1311 September 1985Wembley Stadium, London, England1–11–11986 World Cup qualifiers
1423 April 1986Stadionul 1 Mai, Timișoara, Romania2–12–1Friendly
158 October 1986Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel3–14–2Friendly
1620 September 1988Stadionul 1 Mai, Constanța, Romania3–03–0Friendly
1719 October 1988Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria2–13–11990 World Cup qualifiers
1819 October 1988Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria3–13–11990 World Cup qualifiers
1923 November 1988Stadionul Municipal, Sibiu, Romania1–03–0Friendly
2021 May 1990Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania1–01–0Friendly
2112 September 1990Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–01–2Euro 1992 qualifiers

Personal life

Sports commentator Ilie Dobre wrote a book about him titled Rodion Cămătaru - tunarul din Bănie '''', which was released in 1996. In 2003, Cămătaru received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.

Honours

Universitatea Craiova
Dinamo București
Heerenveen
Romania

Individual