Emil Dumitriu (born 5 November 1942), commonly known as Nichi Dumitriu or Dumitriu II, is a Romanian former footballer who played as a forward.
Dumitriu was born on 5 November 1942 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1957 at Locomotiva BucureÃÂti, then joined Progresul CPCS BucureÃÂti. He made his Divizia A debut on 25 March 1962, playing for Jiul PetroÃÂani under coach Bazil Marian in a 3âÂÂ2 victory against UTA Arad. In the following season he played in the first half for Viitorul BucureÃÂti, going for the second half to Rapid BucureÃÂti.
During his time at Rapid, Dumitriu made a successful partnership in the team's offence with Ion Ionescu, winning the first league title in the club's history in the 1966âÂÂ67 season in which he scored 12 goals in 26 matches under coach Valentin StÃÂnescu. He made four appearances in European competitions for Rapid (including one in the Inter-cities Fairs Cup), most notably helping The Railwaymen eliminate Trakia Plovdiv in the 1967âÂÂ68 European Cup and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by Juventus. He also won two Balkans Cups, netting a brace in the 2âÂÂ0 win in the second leg against Farul ConstanÃÂa in the final of the 1964âÂÂ66 edition. For the way he played in 1966, Dumitriu was placed fourth in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award. He suffered a lung illness which kept him off the field for one and a half years and in 1968, StÃÂnescu took him to Steagul RoÃÂu BraÃÂov, aiming to help him relaunch his career. In 1971, Dumitriu went to play for one season at Dinamo BucureÃÂti. There, on 4 June 1972 he netted the only goal in a derby win against Steaua BucureÃÂti. Afterwards he returned for two seasons to Rapid where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 10 March 1974 in a 2âÂÂ0 away loss to ArgeàPiteÃÂti, totaling 235 matches with 68 goals in the competition. Dumitriu ended his career by playing three seasons in Divizia B, the first one at Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea and the other two at Progresul BucureÃÂti, helping both teams earn promotion to Divizia A.
Under the guidance of coaches Nicolae Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Ola, Dumitriu helped Romania's under-18 national team win the 1962 European championship. He scored a goal in the 4âÂÂ0 win over Turkey in the semi-finals and another one in the 4âÂÂ1 victory against Yugoslavia in the final. Between 1962 and 1966, he played 13 games for Romania U23, scoring four goals. He appeared in a friendly match for Romania's Olympic team, that ended in a 2âÂÂ1 away victory against Yugoslavia. He was selected by coach Silviu PloeÃÂteanu to be part of the squad for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but he did not play in any games due to an injury sustained during a training session caused by his teammate Mircea Petescu.
Dumitriu played six games and scored three goals for Romania, making his debut under coach Ilie Oanàon 23 October 1965 in a 2âÂÂ1 away loss to Turkey in the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. He played two games in the Euro 1968 qualifiers in which he scored a hat-trick in a 7âÂÂ0 victory against Cyprus after which the opponents captain Kostas Panayiotou said:"Dumitriu's game is simply confusing. He is an opponent who creates nightmares". He made his last appearance for the national team on 5 June 1968 in a 0âÂÂ0 friendly draw against the Netherlands.
For winning the 1962 European Under-18 Championship, Dumitriu was decorated by President of Romania, Traian BÃÂsescu on 25 March 2008, with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" â (The Medal of "Sportive Merit") Class III.
Dumitriu is the older brother of Dumitru Dumitriu (Dumitriu III), who also appeared internationally for Romania and played for Rapid BucureÃÂti before becoming a manager, and Constantin Dumitriu (Dumitriu IV) who won the Romanian championship with Steaua BucureÃÂti. In 1987, he settled in Athens, Greece, where he married a Greek woman.
Rapid BucureÃÂti
Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea
Progresul BucureÃÂti
Romania U18
Individual