Florin Oprea (2 January 1948 â 23 April 2024) was a Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was part of "U" Craiova's team that won the 1973âÂÂ74 Divizia A, which was the first trophy in the club's history.
Oprea was born on 2 January 1948 in MÃÂceÃÂu de Sus, Romania. He began his senior career in 1967 at Universitatea Craiova, making his Divizia A debut on 17 December under coach Robert Cosmoc in a 4âÂÂ2 home win over Rapid BucureÃÂti. He was close to winning the title in the 1972âÂÂ73 season, but "U" finished in second place on equal points with Dinamo BucureÃÂti, losing controversially on the goal difference. This outcome led poet Adrian PÃÂunescu to nickname Craiova as "Campioana unei mari iubiri" (The Champion of a great love). Eventually, Oprea helped the team win its first title in the following season, coach Constantin CernÃÂianu using him in 23 games. In the next season he made his debut in a European competition, playing in a 3âÂÂ1 away loss to àtvidaberg in the first round of the European Cup. The team also reached the 1975 Cupa României final, but he did not play in the 2âÂÂ1 loss to Rapid. Oprea made his last Divizia A appearance on 8 December 1974, keeping a clean sheet for Universitatea in a 6âÂÂ0 win over FC GalaÃÂi, totaling 102 matches with 94 goals conceded in the competition. He played two more seasons for Dinamo Slatina in Divizia B, before retiring.
From 1969 until 1970, Oprea made six appearances for Romania's under-23 national team.
In 2023, Oprea was named Honorary Citizen of Craiova. In the same year he talked about his career in an interview, saying:"There were beautiful and interesting aspects, my greatest joy was when I arrived in the courtyard of Universitatea Craiova. It was a moment of joy when I was informed that I was staying in the group. I did my job, I had competition because in front of me were two experienced goalkeepers, Papuc and Vasilescu. They left, I came instead. The joys were enough, let's not forget that in almost 10 years, only three coaches have changed. Cosmoc took me, Coidum matured me and CernÃÂianu consecrated me. There have been good times since I made my debut, and it all culminated in winning the title in 1974".
Oprea died on 23 April 2024, at the age of 76.
Universitatea Craiova