Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu (8 December 1921 â 17 March 1999) was a Romanian footballer and manager. As a footballer, he played mainly as a forward and throughout his career, he won four Divizia A titles and two cups with ITA Arad. As a manager, he won two titles with the same team, also in the 1970âÂÂ71 European Cup season they eliminated Feyenoord who were European champions at that time. For these performances he is considered a symbol of the club.
Dumitrescu was born on 8 December 1921 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing football in 1938 at local club Suter. In 1941 he went to Sparta BucureÃÂti with whom he played a Cupa României final which was lost with 4âÂÂ0 to CFR Turnu Severin. In 1946, Dumitrescu joined ITA Arad where he made his Divizia A debut under coach Zoltán Opata on 22 September 1946 in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against UD ReÃÂiÃÂa in which he scored a goal. By the end of the season he earned a total of 10 goals in 10 appearances, helping the club win the first title in its history. In the following season, Dumitrescu helped the team win The Double, playing under coach Petre Steinbach in 27 matches in which he netted a personal record of 17 goals. However, he was not the team's top-scorer as Ladislau Bonyhádi scored 49 and Adalbert Kovács scored 19. He also played the entire match in the 3âÂÂ2 victory in the 1948 Cupa României final against CFR TimiÃÂoara. In the 1950 season he won another title with the club, being used by coach Francisc Dvorzsák in 15 matches in which he did not score, also appearing in the Cupa României final which was lost with 3âÂÂ1 to CCA BucureÃÂti. Dumitrescu helped The Old Lady win the 1953 Cupa României, being utilized by coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan in the 1âÂÂ0 victory against CCA BucureÃÂti in the final. Braun-Bogdan further used him in 23 matches in which he scored four goals in the 1954 Divizia A season, where he and the club secured their fourth title together. On 27 November 1955, Dumitrescu made his last Divizia A appearance, playing for ITA in a 2âÂÂ0 away victory against CCA BucureÃÂti, totaling 164 appearances with 51 goals in the competition, all while representing The Old Lady.
Dumitrescu played 10 games and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut under coach Colea Vâlcov on 25 May 1947 in a 4âÂÂ0 away victory against Albania in the 1947 Balkan Cup, a competition in which he made a total of three appearances. He scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly that ended with a 6âÂÂ2 loss to Czechoslovakia. He made his last four appearances in the 1948 Balkan Cup in which he netted a goal in a 3âÂÂ2 home victory against Bulgaria.
Dumitrescu started his coaching career shortly after he ended his playing career at the junior squads of UTA Arad in 1956 where he stayed until 1964. During this time he reached three national junior championship finals, winning the first two against Dinamo BucureÃÂti and Farul ConstanÃÂa, and losing the third to Rapid BucureÃÂti. In these years he discovered and promoted talents such as Mihai ÃÂârlea, Constantin Koszka and his stepbrother, Ion PârcÃÂlab. He also coached Romania's under-18 national team with Gheorghe Ola, winning together the 1962 European championship. In 1965, Dumitrescu became the head coach of UTA's senior squad with whom he reached the 1966 Cupa României final which was lost with 4âÂÂ0 to Steaua BucureÃÂti and won two consecutive Divizia A titles in the 1968âÂÂ69 and 1969âÂÂ70 seasons. He also made some European performances with The Old Lady as eliminating Ernst Happel's Feyenoord in the 1970âÂÂ71 European Cup who were the defending European champions. They also reached the 1971âÂÂ72 UEFA Cup quarter-finals by eliminating Austria Salzburg, Zagà ÂÃÂbie Waà Âbrzych and Vitória Setúbal, being eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur who eventually won the competition. Dumitrescu coached UTA on several other occasions, having a total of 375 matches as manager in Divizia A, consisting of 154 victories, 80 draws and 141 losses.
His stepbrother, Ion PârcÃÂlab, was also an international footballer.
A book about Dumitrescu was written by Radu RomÃÂnescu titled Coco Dumitrescu, pentru totdeauna în inima BÃÂtrânei Doamne (Coco Dumitrescu, forever in the heart of the Old Lady), which was released on 18 April 2021, a date that signified 100 years since his birth.
Dumitrescu died on 17 March 1999 at age 77.
Sparta BucureÃÂti
ITA Arad
Romania U18
UTA Arad