Narcis Coman (born 5 November 1946 in Giurgiu) is a retired Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper and was selected Romanian Footballer of the Year in 1978.
Coman was born on 5 November 1946 in Giurgiu, Romania. He grew up as a fan of CCA BucureÃÂti (for whom he would get to play when the team was named Steaua) and of goalkeeping after seeing a game of the team on TV, being impressed by how Ion Voinescu defended the goal post. He began playing football as a goalkeeper around the age of 12 with his cousin. Three years later, he joined local club Olimpia, where he was coached by Marin Anastasovici, afterwards moving to neighboring team, Victoria. Coman started playing senior level football at ÃÂN OlteniÃÂa in the regional championship, helping it gain promotion to Divizia C where after playing only two games he was transferred by UTA Arad. He made his Divizia A debut on 26 September 1965 under coach Nicolae Dumitrescu, managing to keep a clean sheet in UTA's 2âÂÂ0 victory against Universitatea Craiova.
After one season, he was transferred by Dinamo BucureÃÂti, who then, two weeks later used him as an exchange player for fellow goalkeeper Spiridon Niculescu from ArgeàPiteÃÂti. Coman played all six games for Argeàin the 1966âÂÂ67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, as the team eliminated Sevilla and Toulouse in the first two rounds, and was defeated in the third round with 1âÂÂ0 on aggregate by Dinamo Zagreb, who eventually won the competition. Following a notable performance in ArgeÃÂ's away game in the second leg of the confrontation against Sevilla that ended in a 2âÂÂ2 draw, the Marca newspaper praised him, stating:"Coman managed some phenomenal saves and blocked Sevilla. Even though he conceded two goals, the Romanian closed the gate in some difficult phases". Sevilla's coach wanted to transfer him, but Coman and the team's officials did not accept, as transfers outside the country were not allowed by Romania's communist regime and if he had accepted the offer he would have risked never seeing his family again. In his second season, he helped the team earn a runner-up position in the domestic league.
Afterwards, he went to play for two seasons at Dinamo BucureÃÂti. In the first one, the team earned a runner-up position in the league and reached the Cupa României final where in the 2âÂÂ1 loss to rivals Steaua BucureÃÂti, coach Bazil Marian used Coman in the first half, replacing him with Ilie Datcu for the second. He then spent a short period in his native Giurgiu at Divizia B club DunÃÂrea, but returned to Divizia A football when he went to Steaua. With them, he won the only trophy of his career, the 1970âÂÂ71 Cupa României, though he did not play in the final as coach ÃÂtefan Kovács chose Carol Haidu for the 3âÂÂ2 victory against Dinamo. Coman also played four games in the 1971âÂÂ72 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, as The Military Men reached the quarter-finals by eliminating Hibernians and Barcelona, being eliminated after 1âÂÂ1 on aggregate on the away goal rule by Bayern Munich. After the 0âÂÂ0 in the second leg, he was congratulated for the way he defended his goal post by Bayern's goalkeeper Sepp Maier.
In 1974 he went to SC BacÃÂu in Divizia B, where in the first season he helped the team get promoted to the first league. After one more season spent with BacÃÂu, he went back to Divizia B, signing with CS TârgoviÃÂte. Coman helped the team from TârgoviÃÂte gain promotion to Divizia A after one season. This spell was the best period of his career, managing to become the first goalkeeper to earn the Romanian Footballer of the Year award in 1978. An important match that helped him achieve this performance was keeping a clean sheet in TârgoviÃÂte's 0âÂÂ0 draw against Universitatea Craiova for which he received a grade 10 in the Sportul newspaper. After making his last Divizia A appearance on 12 March 1980, playing for CS TârgoviÃÂte in a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Jiul PetroÃÂani, Coman went back to his native Giurgiu to play for FCM where he retired after playing only a few games. He has a total of 214 Divizia A appearances and 12 matches in European competitions (including eight in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).
Under the guidance of coaches Nicolae Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Ola, Coman helped Romania's under-18 national team win the 1962 European championship. Subsequently, between 1967 and 1971, he played four matches for Romania's Olympic team.
Coman played eight games for Romania, making his debut on 29 October 1967 under coach Constantin TeaÃÂcàin a 0âÂÂ0 friendly draw against Poland in which he managed to keep a clean sheet. He played injured in a 3âÂÂ0 away loss to Portugal in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers. As he conceded three goals, coach Angelo Niculescu blamed him for the loss, but Coman claims he had informed Niculescu about his injury prior to the game. This controversy ultimately led to Coman's 10-year absence from the national team's squad. In 1978 he was called up by ÃÂtefan Kovács, playing in a 1âÂÂ0 away loss to Spain in the Euro 1980 qualifiers. His last appearance for the national team took place on 11 December 1978 in a friendly which ended in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Israel.
For winning the 1962 European Under-18 Championship, Coman 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.
Coman, who was nicknamed "Campionul reflexelor" (The Champion of Reflexes) by the press for his spectacular saves, claimed that he disliked his spells at Dinamo and Steaua due to their very strict rules, but he enjoyed his time at ArgeàPiteÃÂti and CS TârgoviÃÂte. He was known for playing most of his career without gloves because he felt that he had a better grip that way, consequently ending up with three broken fingers. Outside the field, he was known for his bohemian lifestyle. He was considered a ladies' man and enjoyed partying and drinking in pubs, particularly with his friend and ArgeàPiteÃÂti colleague Nicolae Dobrin. Coman claimed these activities never affected his performance on the football field. In 2013, Coman received the Honorary Citizen of Giurgiu title. A book about him was written by Gelu Brebenel, titled Narcis Coman - prin viaÃÂàfÃÂràmÃÂnuÃÂi (Narcis Coman - through life without gloves) which was published in 2017.
Steaua BucureÃÂti
SC BacÃÂu
CS TârgoviÃÂte
Romania U18