Silviu Lung (; born 9 September 1956) is a former Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper, who serves as a goalkeeping coach for the Romania national under-20 team.
Lung was born on 9 September 1956 in SânmiclÃÂuÃÂ, Satu Mare County, Romania. He started to play senior football in 1971 at Victoria Carei in Divizia C, being helped due to a rule imposed by the Romanian Football Federation requiring the use of a junior player in lower league games. During his time at Victoria, he helped the club achieve promotion to Divizia B.
Lung joined Universitatea Craiova, making his Divizia A debut on 29 August 1974 under coach Constantin CernÃÂianu in a 1âÂÂ0 victory against Politehnica TimiÃÂoara. He spent 14 seasons with Universitatea, being part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation that won two consecutive league titles in 1980 and 1981. In the first one, coach Valentin StÃÂnescu gave him only three appearances because he was diagnosed with hepatitis and in the second he played 20 games under the guidance of coach Ion Oblemenco. He also won the Cupa României four times, in the years 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1983, but played only in the latter final. Lung helped The Blue Lions reach the quarter-finals of the 1981âÂÂ82 European Cup after eliminating Olympiacos and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, being eliminated with 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. He was also an integral part of "U" Craiova's team that reached the 1982âÂÂ83 UEFA Cup semi-finals where they lost to Benfica, making 10 appearances in the campaign. Lung won the Romanian Footballer of the Year in 1984 and in the same year he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or. He kept a clean sheet in a 3âÂÂ0 win over AS Monaco in the second leg of the first round of the 1985âÂÂ86 European Cup Winners' Cup, after losing the first leg 2âÂÂ0. However, they were eliminated in the following round by the eventual winners of the competition, Dynamo Kyiv.
In 1988, he joined Steaua BucureÃÂti and won The Double in his first season with coach Anghel IordÃÂnescu, appearing in 29 league matches and keeping a clean sheet in the 1âÂÂ0 win over rivals Dinamo BucureÃÂti in the Cupa României final. In the same season he helped the club reach the 1988âÂÂ89 European Cup final, playing nine games in the campaign, including the final which was lost 4âÂÂ0 to AC Milan. In the following season, Lung managed to not concede any goals for 736 consecutive minutes.
Afterwards, Lung went abroad to play for Spanish team Logroñés where he made his La Liga debut on 2 September 1990 under coach David Vidal in a 2âÂÂ1 home loss to Mallorca. In his single season spent at the club, he played only nine league games, having suffered a knee injury.
In 1991, he returned to Romania, first at Electroputere Craiova, where he finished the 1991âÂÂ92 season in third place. In the middle of the following season, Lung joined Universitatea Craiova, and under coach Marian Bondrea, secured a Cupa României victory by maintaining a clean sheet in the 2âÂÂ0 win against Dacia Unirea BrÃÂila in the final. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 24 October 1993 in "U" Craiova's 2âÂÂ0 loss to FC BraÃÂov, totaling 419 matches in the competition and 58 appearances in European competitions.
Lung played 76 games for Romania, making his debut under coach ÃÂtefan Kovács on 21 March 1979 in a 3âÂÂ0 friendly victory against Greece. His second game was a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Spain in the Euro 1980 qualifiers.
His following appearance for the national team came after three and a half years of absence in a 0âÂÂ0 draw against Italy during the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers in which he made a total of five appearances. Lung played two games under coach Mircea Lucescu during the final tournament in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Spain and a 2âÂÂ1 loss to West Germany as Romania did not get past the group stage. He played seven games in the 1986 World Cup qualifiers and five during the Euro 1988 qualifiers.
Afterwards he played five matches in the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers. Subsequently, he was used by coach Emerich Jenei as captain for the entirety of all four matches in the final tournament, where The Tricolours were eliminated by Ireland in the round of 16. Lung played four games in the Euro 1992 qualifiers and made his last appearance for the national team on 2 June 1993 in a 5âÂÂ2 loss to Czechoslovakia during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers.
For representing his country at the 1990 World Cup, Lung was decorated by President of Romania Traian BÃÂsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" â (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III. In 2022, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) included Lung in its "Romania's all-time dream team" first XI.
After retirement, Lung began his coaching career and for over 20 years he was the assistant coach or goalkeeping coach for clubs such as Universitatea Craiova, NaÃÂional BucureÃÂti, Nagoya Grampus, Pandurii Târgu Jiu, Astra PloieÃÂti, CFR Cluj, CS Universitatea Craiova and Concordia Chiajna. Between 1995 and 1997 he was the head coach of Minerul Motru and earlier in 1994, of Olympique de Casablanca. Those were his only jobs as a head coach, until December 2017, when he was announced as the new head coach of Liga III side, CSO FiliaÃÂi.
Lung has two sons, Tiberiu and Silviu Jr., both of whom played as goalkeepers and represented Romania at international level. In 2003, Lung received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.
In January 2014, he was involved in a car accident which killed the driver of the other vehicle, receiving a punishment of one year and four months suspended sentence.
Victoria Carei
Universitatea Craiova
Steaua BucureÃÂti