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Romanian footballer (born 1965) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marcel Sabou (born 22 August 1965) is a Romanian retired footballer who played for amongst others, Romanian side Dinamo București, Spanish sides CD Tenerife, Racing Santander and Sporting de Gijón, and Portuguese side Desportivo Chaves.[1][2] In 2013 he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that causes the death of neurons controlling voluntary muscles.[3]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 22 August 1965 | ||
Place of birth | Timișoara, Romania | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
Politehnica Timișoara | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1985–1986 | Politehnica Timișoara | 46 | (9) |
1986–1989 | Dinamo București | 48 | (0) |
1989–1990 | Real Madrid Castilla | 7 | (0) |
1990–1991 | Tenerife | 20 | (0) |
1991–1993 | Racing Santander | 66 | (9) |
1993–1996 | Sporting Gijón | 72 | (6) |
1996–1998 | Desportivo Chaves | 59 | (10) |
Total | 318 | (34) | |
International career | |||
1986–1987 | Romania U-21 | 7 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Sabou is one of the few footballers who managed to escape from Romania's communist regime, at that time defection from the country being illegal.[4][5][6]
His escape was in 1989 while he was playing for Dinamo București in a friendly tournament held in Madrid, Spain.[5] Together with teammate Gheorghe Viscreanu, he sneaked out of the hotel and went to the airport.[6] They bought tickets to Frankfurt where Sabou said he had a friend who would help them, but when they arrived they didn't have an entrance visa so they were sent back to Madrid.[5] When they got back at the airport from Madrid, they found out that their visa for Spain was no longer available.[5] A police commissioner from the airport understood their situation and allowed them to stay in the airport for two days and introduced them to some people he knew from Rayo Vallecano.[5] They signed three-year contracts with Rayo, but did not play in the first one because in those times there was a rule that every footballer who ran away from the communist bloc would be suspended for one year before being allowed to play again.[4][5] Viscreanu and Sabou made an agreement that they would not sign a contract one without the other, but Sabou did not respect this pact as he signed with Real Madrid Castilla without thinking of Viscreanu's situation, a fact that ruined their friendship.[6]
Politehnica Timișoara
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