Aurel Rădulescu

Aurel Rădulescu (13 October 1953 – 4 July 1979) was a Romanian football forward.^[1]

Aurel Rădulescu

Personal information
Date of birth	(1953-10-13)13 October 1953[1]
Place of birth	Adamclisi, Romania[1]
Date of death	4 July 1979(1979-07-04) (aged 25)[1]
Place of death	Hanover, Germany[1]
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward / Attacking midfielder[1][2]
Youth career
1967–1971	Farul Constanța
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1973	Farul Constanța	25	(2)
1973–1979	Sportul Studențesc București	146	(26)
1974	→ FC Galați (loan)	4	(0)
Total		175	(28)
International career
1973–1977	Romania U21[3]	4	(0)
1974–1979	Romania Olympic[3]	7	(0)
1978	Romania	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 January 2020

Club career

"Aurel Rădulescu was incredibly talented. In terms of talent, he could be compared to any great Romanian footballer, Dobrin, Iordănescu or Hagi"

–Mircea Rădulescu, former Sportul Studențesc București manager^[4]

Aurel Rădulescu was born in on 13 October 1953 in Adamclisi into a large family where he was the youngest of five boys and later his family settled in Constanța.^[5][6][7] He started playing football on a field from the Brătianu neighborhood, afterwards playing on his school's field where he was seen by Farul Constanța's junior coach, Adam Munteanu who brought him to the club.^[5][6] Rădulescu made his Divizia A debut on 2 April 1972, playing for Farul in a 3–0 away loss against Steagul Roșu Brașov.^[1][7] After two seasons spent at Farul, he went to play for Sportul Studențesc București, a team where he spent 6 seasons, with a short interruption in 1974 when he was loaned at FC Galați.^[1][7] He played 146 Divizia A games in which he scored 26 goals for The Students, helping the team reach the 1979 Cupa României final where coach Mircea Rădulescu used him the whole match that eventually ended with a 3–0 loss in front of Steaua București, also appearing in three games in the 1976–77 UEFA Cup and helped them win the 1979–80 Balkans Cup and reach the final in the 1976 edition.^[1][7][8][9] He made his last Divizia A appearance on 24 June 1979, playing for Sportul Studențesc in a 1–0 away loss against Olimpia Satu Mare, having a total of 171 games and 28 goals scored in Divizia A.^[1] He died at age 25 while jumping out of a moving train in Hanover.^{[4][5][6][7][10][11]}

International career

Aurel Rădulescu played six games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 5 April 1978 under coach Ștefan Kovacs in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 loss against Argentina played on Estadio La Bombonera from Buenos Aires.^[12][13] He made a good impression in the game, being praised by journalist, Marius Popescu in the Sportul newspaper:"The first player that is a win for the national team - Rădulescu, from Sportul Studentesc. He leads the ball excellently, he is combative, he is technical, he is passionate, he wants to become a footballer of international level. If he will keep his seriousness, modesty, conscience to the games, he will get there!".^[4] He also played two matches at the Euro 1980 qualifiers.^[12] On 19 December 1978, Rădulescu made his last appearance at international level in a friendly which ended 1–1 against Israel.^[12]

Honours

FC Galați

• Divizia B: 1973–74^[1]

Sportul Studențesc București

• Balkans Cup: 1979–80, runner-up 1976^[9]
• Cupa României runner-up: 1978–79^[5][8]

References

1. Aurel Rădulescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
2. Aurel Rădulescu at National-Football-Teams.com
3. "Aurel Rădulescu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
4. "RETRO GSP. 42 de ani de la debutul în națională al lui Aurel Rădulescu, cel ce trebuia să fie mai bun decât Hagi. Și care a sfârșit stupid, sub roțile trenului, după o șuetă cu o blondă" [GSP RETRO. 42 years since the national debut of Aurel Radulescu, who had to be better than Hagi. And who passed away stupidly, under the wheels of the train, after a whisper with a blonde] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 5 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
5. "Au trecut 33 de ani de la decesul legendarului fotbalist Aurică Rădulescu" [33 years have passed since the death of the legendary football player Aurică Rădulescu] (in Romanian). Ziuaconstanta.ro. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
6. "Familia legendarului Aurică Rădulescu trăieşte acolo unde el a murit: în Germania" [The family of the legendary Aurică Radulescu lives where he died: in Germany] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
7. "42 de ani de la tragica moarte a lui Aurică Rădulescu" [42 years since the tragic death of Aurică Rădulescu] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
8. "Romanian Cup - Season 1978 - 1979". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
9. "106 ani de la înființarea Sportului Studențesc. Căpitanul istoric Paul Cazan dă verdictul:"Cred că am fost blestemați! Morți, accidente grave, faliment, nicio speranță de înviere!"" [106 years since the establishment of Sportul Studențesc. Historian Captain Paul Cazan gives the verdict:"I think we were cursed! Deaths, serious accidents, bankruptcy, no hope of resurrection!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
10. "Sfarsitul tragic al fotbalistilor Aurica Radulescu, Mihai Baicu si Andrei Mutulescu toti au jucat si la FC Farul" [The tragic end of footballers Aurica Radulescu, Mihai Baicu and Andrei Mutulescu they all played at FC Farul] (in Romanian). Ziuaconstanta.ro. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
11. "Povestea tragica a mortii lui Aurica Radulescu, rememorata de fostul sau antrenor, Mircea Radulescu" [The tragic story of Aurica Radulescu's death, recalled by his former coach, Mircea Radulescu] (in Romanian). Sptfm.ro. 4 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
12. "Aurel Rădulescu". European Football. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
13. "Argentina - Romania 2:0". European Football. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

External links

• Aurel Rădulescu at WorldFootball.net