Paul Cazan (born 30 September 1951 in Bucharest) is a Romanian former football player and former coach who mostly played and coached for Sportul StudenÃÂesc of Bucharest.
Cazan, nicknamed "AÃÂÃÂ" (Yarn), was born on 30 September 1951 in Bucharest, Romania and first played basketball, before starting football at junior level in 1967 at "23 August" BucureÃÂti, moving in 1970 to TUG BucureÃÂti. He began his senior football career in the 1970âÂÂ71 Divizia C season at TM BucureÃÂti. Subsequently, he moved to Steaua BucureÃÂti for half a season without playing, before transferring to Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea in Divizia B, where he played eight games and contributed to avoiding relegation. Cazan made his Divizia A debut on 14 December 1972, playing for Sportul StudenÃÂesc under coach Gheorghe Ola in a 3âÂÂ0 loss to Jiul PetroÃÂani. He stayed with Sportul until the end of his career, spanning 16 Divizia A seasons in which he made a club record of 465 appearances of which 444 as a starter, scoring 10 goals. He made a strong partnership in the central defense with Gino Iorgulescu, serving for many years as captain of a team that included players such as Gheorghe Hagi, Mircea Sandu, Marcel Coraàand Aurel RÃÂdulescu. The highlights of his period spent with The Students were a second place in the 1985âÂÂ86 season and reaching a Cupa României final in 1979 in which coach Mircea RÃÂdulescu used him the entire match in the 3âÂÂ0 loss to Steaua. He represented the club in 13 UEFA Cup matches, including a 1âÂÂ0 victory against Inter Milan, and also helped them win the 1979âÂÂ80 Balkans Cup and reach the final in the 1976 edition. In the 1987âÂÂ88 UEFA Cup campaign, Cazan started as a player, appearing in the 1âÂÂ0 victory in the first round against GKS Katowice which helped the team advance to the second round. There, as the team's head coach, he faced Peter Schmeichel and Brian Laudrup's Brøndby, winning the second leg 3âÂÂ0 after an away loss by the same score, securing a historic penalty shootout qualification to the third round where they were defeated by Hellas Verona. As the team finished domestically in 14th place in that season, Cazan was dismissed and gave up coaching, instead working in leadership positions at Sportul StudenÃÂesc, Politehnica TimiÃÂoara, Rapid BucureÃÂti, Universitatea Cluj and UTA Arad.
He won the Universiade gold medal with Romania's students football team in the 1974 edition that was held in France, playing alongside László Bölöni, Gheorghe MulÃÂescu, Dan PÃÂltiniÃÂanu and Romulus Chihaia. Even though he played for Romania's under-23 and Olympic team, Cazan never played for Romania's senior team. On 13 May 2020, Gazeta Sporturilor included him on a list of best Romanian players who never played for the senior national team.
His son, Lucian Cazan, was also a footballer who played for Sportul StudenÃÂesc.
Sportul StudenÃÂesc