Gheorghe Constantin

Gheorghe Constantin (14 December 1932 – 9 March 2010) was a Romanian football player and coach, nicknamed 'The Professor' and a symbol of Steaua București.

Playing career Constantin began his career with Unirea Tricolor's youth team, and shortly after their dissolution, he signed with Venus București. He played for only one year at his new club before moving to Avântul Reghin, then CFR Iaşi, before finally signing a contract with Steaua București. He played for Steaua for 15 years and helped the club win 8 domestic titles. In 1969, the Romanian Communist authorities allowed him to play abroad for Kayserispor in Turkey at age 37.

Constantin made his debut for the Romania national team on 22 April 1956 in a 1–0 win against Yugoslavia in Belgrade, a game notable for the fact that the entire Romanian team consisted of players from Steaua București. He was also a member of Romania's team at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan.

Managerial career After his return from Turkey, he was appointed by Steaua București as assistant manager. Constantin was the manager of the club in 1972, but after only a short period, he moved to Bacău. After Bacău, he managed FCM Galaţi, but returned to Steaua in 1978. He won the Romanian Cup in his second spell there, then left the club to manage Politehnica Iaşi. In 1983, he was appointed the manager of Steaua București's second team, Steaua Mecanică Fină București. He managed a number of clubs in his native country and also coached in Turkey.

Death He died in Bucharest on 9 March 2010, at the age of 77.

Playing statistics Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Constantin goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Gheorghe ConstantinNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 14 September 1958 Zentral Stadium, Leipzig, East Germany 1–1 2–3 Friendly2 2 November 1958 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania 2–0 3–0 1960 European Nations' Cup qualification3 8 November 1959 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania 1–0 1–0 1960 European Nations' Cup qualification4 8 October 1961 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania 3–0 4–0 Friendly5 4–06 25 November 1962 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania 3–1 3–1 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying7 23 December 1962 Stade D'honneur, Casablanca, Morocco 1–0 1–3 Friendly8 23 June 1963 Idrætsparken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark 1–0 3–2 1964 Summer Olympics qualification9 27 April 1964 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania 1–0 4–1 Friendly10 3 May 1964 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania 1–0 2–1 Friendly11 2–012 22 October 1964 Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan 3–0 3–0 1964 Summer Olympics (5th place match)

Honours Player Steaua Bucharest Romanian League: 1956, 1960, 1961, 1968 Romanian Cup: 1955, 1962, 1966, 1967

Individual Romanian League top scorer: 1960, 1961, 1962

Manager Steaua Bucharest Romanian Cup: 1978–79 Romanian League runner-up: 1979–80

Politehnica Iaşi Romanian Second League: 1981–82

Notes

References

Gheorghe Constantin

Bron en licentie