Nicolae "NicuÃÂor" Dumitru (12 December 1928 â 8 August 2005) was a Romanian player and manager.
He is the most successful manager in Romania, winning the Romanian first league on seven occasions, all with Dinamo BucureÃÂti. Dumitru also won two Romanian Cups, and went on to guide Dinamo to the European Cup semi-finals in the 1983âÂÂ84 season. He has a total of 558 matches as manager in Divizia A.
As a player, he played as a forward, spending most of his career with Dinamo BucureÃÂti.
Dumitru was born on 12 December 1928 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing football in 1945 at Sparta BucureÃÂti in the regional championship and then in Divizia B. After two seasons he went to play for Metalul BucureÃÂti, also in Divizia B, helping them get promoted to Divizia A. Subsequently, he made his debut in the competition under coach Augustin Botescu on 22 August 1948 in Metalul's 6âÂÂ1 loss to CFR TimiÃÂoara.
Dumitru was transferred to Dinamo BucureÃÂti in 1949, remaining with the club for 10 seasons. His first performance with the club was reaching the 1954 Cupa României final where coach Angelo Niculescu used him the entire match in the eventual 2âÂÂ0 loss to Metalul ReÃÂiÃÂa. In the following season he helped the club win its first Divizia A title, being used by Niculescu in 21 matches in which he scored two goals. Dumitru played in the first European match of a Romanian team in the 1956âÂÂ57 European Cup in the 3âÂÂ1 victory against Galatasaray. The Red Dogs advanced to the next phase of the competition where they were eliminated by CDNA Sofia, against whom he scored a goal. On 9 October 1957, he scored a goal in a 3âÂÂ2 league derby victory against CCA BucureÃÂti. He reached another Cupa României final in 1959, and this time the club won it, but coach Iuliu Baratky did not use him in the 4âÂÂ0 win over CSM Baia Mare. On 23 August 1959, Dumitru played his last Divizia A match for Dinamo in a 0âÂÂ0 draw against Minerul Lupeni, totaling 191 matches with 56 goals in the competition.
Dumitru played eight games for Romania, making his debut under coach Gheorghe Popescu on 14 June 1953 in a 2âÂÂ0 away loss to Czechoslovakia in the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. His following two games were in the same qualifiers, the first one was a 3âÂÂ1 win over Bulgaria and the second was a 1âÂÂ0 loss to Czechoslovakia. His following five games were friendlies, his last appearance taking place on 9 October 1955 in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Bulgaria.
Dumitru started his managerial career at Dinamo BucureÃÂti, having several spells at the club, winning a total of seven Divizia A titles and two Cupa României. He also guided Dinamo to the European Cup semi-finals in the 1983âÂÂ84 season after eliminating Kuusysi Lahti, Hamburg who were the defending European Cup champions and Dinamo Minsk, before being eliminated with 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate by Liverpool.
Dumitru also coached Victoria BucureÃÂti, SC BacÃÂu, ArgeÃÂ PiteÃÂti, Progresul BrÃÂila and Progresul BucureÃÂti in Divizia A, having a total of 558 matches as manager in the competition, consisting of 250 victories, 120 draws and 188 losses. His only experience outside Romania was when he coached Ghana's national team from 1973 until 1974.
Dumitru died on 8 August 2005 in Bucharest at the age of 76.
Metalul BucureÃÂti
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
Dinamo BucureÃÂti