Dumitru Moraru (born 8 May 1956) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1972 until 1991.
Moraru was born on 8 May 1956 in BucureÃÂti, Romania, growing up in the Pantelimon neighborhood, where he started playing football in 1966 at the junior teams of Metalul BucureÃÂti. There, he earned the nickname "ÃÂeÃÂe" (Tsetse) after a teammate told him in a training camp that he sleeps so much as if he had been bitten by a tsetse fly. In 1972 he started playing for Metalul's senior team, making 56 appearances in Divizia B, before joining Steaua BucureÃÂti. Moraru made his Divizia A debut under coach Constantin TeaÃÂcàon 25 August 1974, playing for Steaua in a derby against Dinamo BucureÃÂti, which ended with a 2âÂÂ0 loss, but his performance in the match was appreciated by journalist Eftimie Ionescu who gave him a grade 8 in the Sportul newspaper. He played 24 games in the 1975âÂÂ76 Divizia A season and 26 in the 1977âÂÂ78 season, helping The Military Men win the title in each of them and also won the 1975âÂÂ76 Cupa României, all these performances being obtained under the guidance of coach Emerich Jenei.
In 1978 he went to play for three seasons at Sportul StudenÃÂesc BucureÃÂti where he won the 1979âÂÂ80 Balkans Cup. Then Moraru was transferred from Sportul StudenÃÂesc to Dinamo BucureÃÂti in exchange for Andrei Speriatu and Constantin PanÃÂ. There, he played 31 league games in each of his first three seasons as the club won the title in all of them, working with coach Valentin StÃÂnescu for the first one and with Nicolae Dumitru for the other two. He also won three Cupa României, the first one after a final against FC Baia Mare. The following two were won after finals against rivals Steaua, and in the 1986 final, under coach Mircea Lucescu he managed to keep a clean sheet in the 1âÂÂ0 win against them, a team that had recently won the European Cup. Moraru made some notable performances with The Red Dogs in European competitions, such as helping the club eliminate Inter Milan in the 1981âÂÂ82 UEFA Cup. He also appeared in eight matches in the 1983âÂÂ84 European Cup edition, being the team's captain as the club eliminated title holders Hamburg in the campaign, reaching the semi-finals where they were defeated by Liverpool. For the way he played in 1984, Moraru was placed fifth in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award.
After eight seasons spent at Dinamo, Moraru alongside teammates Costel Orac and Alexandru Nicolae were transferred to Victoria BucureÃÂti. There, he made his last Divizia A appearance on 5 November 1989 in a 5âÂÂ0 home win over Inter Sibiu, totaling 393 matches in the competition and 33 games in European competitions. Shortly afterwards, Moraru went to play in Norway for IK Start where he ended his career in 1991 by playing 41 league games over the course of two seasons.
Moraru played 38 games for Romania, making his debut on 24 September 1975 under coach Valentin StÃÂnescu in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Greece in the 1973âÂÂ76 Balkan Cup. He played one game in each of the 1978 and 1982 World Cup qualifiers. Subsequently, he made three appearances, including two clean sheets in wins over Sweden and World Cup holders Italy during the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers. Moraru played one game under coach Mircea Lucescu in the final tournament in a 1âÂÂ0 loss to Portugal as Romania did not get past the group stage. He made one appearance during the 1986 World Cup qualifiers which was a 2âÂÂ0 victory against Finland, then kept another clean sheet in a 4âÂÂ0 win over Austria in the Euro 1988 qualifiers. Moraru's last game played for the national team took place on 30 March 1988 in a 3âÂÂ3 friendly draw against East Germany.
Moraru's cousin ÃÂtefan Georgescu was a footballer who played for Metalul BucureÃÂti.
Sports commentator Ilie Dobre wrote a book about him titled ÃÂeÃÂe Moraru - Glorie. Reflexe. Amintiri (ÃÂeÃÂe Moraru - Glory. Reflexes. Memories), which was released in 2001.
Steaua BucureÃÂti
Sportul StudenÃÂesc BucureÃÂti
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
Individual