Angelo Niculescu
Niculescu in 1970
Personal information
Full name Angelo Niculescu
Date of birth (1921-10-01)1 October 1921
Place of birth Craiova, Romania
Date of death 20 June 2015(2015-06-20) (aged 93)
Place of death Bucharest, Romania
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1937–1939 Rovine Grivița Craiova
1939–1944 FC Craiova
1945–1947 Carmen București
1947–1948 Ciocanul București 29 (1)
1948–1950 Dinamo București[lower-alpha 1] 17 (0)
Total 46 (1)
Managerial career
1952 Dinamo București (juniors)
1953–1957 Dinamo București
1958 Steaua București
1958–1959 Tractorul Brașov
1964–1966 Dinamo București
1967–1972 Romania
1973–1977 Sportul Studențesc București
1977–1979 Politehnica Timișoara
1979–1980 Dinamo București
1980–1981 SC Bacău
1981–1983 Universitatea Cluj
1983–1984 Oțelul Galați
1991–1992 Club Africain (technical director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Angelo Niculescu (1 October 1921 – 20 June 2015) was a Romanian football player and manager. He is best remembered in Romania for being the national team's coach at the 1970 World Cup and for inventing the "temporizare" ("delaying") tactics in which the team keeps the possession of the ball inside its own half and the players are using many short passes from one side to another of the field in order to disrupt the opponents patience when they go out of their field to make pressing, this is also considered an early form of tiki-taka, with such tactics he managed to qualify Romania to a World Cup after more than 30 years and register a win against Czechoslovakia.[2][3][4][5]

Playing career

Angelo Niculescu was born on 1 October 1921 in Craiova, Romania and he started playing football in 1937 at age 15 in Divizia B at local club Rovine Grivița.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] In 1939 he moved to play for neighboring team, FC Craiova with whom he won the 1942–43 championship which was not recognized by the Romanian Football Federation because the teams from Transylvania were unable to participate as the territory was annexed to Hungary due to the Second Vienna Award.[6][10][11][14] During World War II his career was interrupted for a while as he was called by the Romanian Army to fight in the Eastern Front.[9][11][12] In 1945, Niculescu went to play for Carmen București where he stayed two years, moving afterwards at Ciocanul București who after one year merged with Carmen in order to form Dinamo București where he played in the following two years, ending his career at age 29 in which he earned a total of 93 Divizia A appearances with 3 goals scored.[1][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][15]

Managerial career

"He was an innovator of football. A fair guy, severe enough, a man of justice. The most important thing was that he formed people. Valuable people of Romanian football."

– Mircea Sandu, former Sportul Studențesc București player talking about Angelo Niculescu[2]

Angelo Niculescu started coaching in 1952 at Dinamo București's junior center, after one year moving to be the head coach of the senior squad which he helped win the first Divizia A title in the clubs history in 1955, also reaching the 1954 Cupa României final which was lost by Dinamo with 2–0 in front of Metalul Reșița and led the team in the first European match of a Romanian team in the 1956–57 European Cup in the 3–1 victory against Galatasaray, helping The Red Dogs go to the next phase of the competition where they were eliminated by CDNA Sofia.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][16][17][18] He left Dinamo in 1957 but after two short experiences at Steaua București and Tractorul Brașov, he returned at Dinamo in 1964, helping the club win another Divizia A title in the 1964–65 season, also he has a total of 16 matches led in European competitions, all with The Red Dogs consisting of 10 victories and 6 losses.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][16][19] He was named coach of Romania's national team in 1967, making his debut in a 1–0 home loss in front of Italy at the Euro 1968 qualifiers.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][20] He guided the national team threw the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers where they earned the first position of a group composed of Greece, Switzerland and Portugal, thus qualifying for the final tournament after a absence of 32 years where they earned a 2–1 victory in front of Czechoslovakia but lost with 1–0 in front of World Cup title holders, England and with 3–2 in front of the eventual winners of the Mexican tournament, Brazil.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][19][20] He was very criticized because he did not use Nicolae Dobrin in any games at the 1970 World Cup, the reasons Niculescu didn't use him are unclear but the fact that Dobrin did not play is considered one of the most controversial moments in the history of the Romanian football.[6][7][9][10][11][12][21] He also guided the national team at the 1972 Euro qualifiers where they earned the first position of a group composed of Czechoslovakia, Wales and Finland, thus managing to reach the quarter-finals where Romania was defeated by Hungary, who advanced to the final tournament.[6][7][8][9][10][13][20] His last game led as Romania's manager took place on 29 October 1972 in a 2–0 home victory against Albania at the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, having a total of 38 games consisting of 12 victories, 17 draws and 9 losses.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][19][20] In 1973, Angelo Niculescu went to coach Sportul Studențesc București until 1977, then he went to coach for two years Politehnica Timișoara where in the 1977–78 season he was close to win the championship as the team was leading with 3 rounds before the end of the season but after a loss with 4–2 in front of Dinamo, they ended the championship on the 3rd position with 3 points behind champions, Steaua.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] From 1979 until 1980 he had a third spell at Dinamo București, then he coached SC Bacău for one season, moving to Universitatea Cluj for two seasons where in the first one, the team relegated to Divizia B and he ended his coaching career in 1984 after one season spent at Oțelul Galați, having a total of 445 Divizia A matches, consisting of 196 victories, 101 draws and 148 losses.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][19][22] After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, he went to work as technical director in Tunisia at Club Africain, bringing Ilie Balaci as head coach and in only one season spent at the club they won the CAF Champions League, Tunisian League and the Tunisian Cup.[3][6][11][23] For representing his country at the 1970 World Cup, Niculescu was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.[24]

Innovative tactic

He is known in Romania for inventing the "temporizare" ("delaying") tactics in which the team keeps the possession of the ball inside its own half and the players are using many short passes from one side to another of the field in order to disrupt the opponents patience when they go out of their field to make pressing, this is also considered an early form of tiki-taka, with such tactics he managed to qualify Romania to a World Cup after more than 30 years and register a win against Czechoslovakia.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] In 2011 FIFA named Niculescu the inventor of the tiki-taka style of play and so did UEFA in 2014.[9][12][25][26][27]

Writing

Angelo Niculescu started writing chronicles, comments and match analysis in 1958 as a journalist at the "Sportul popular" newspaper.[6] He also wrote two volumes about football:[4][5][6][8][13][28]

  • Fotbal. Metode si mijloace de antrenament (Football. Training methods and means) - co-written with Ion V. Ionescu (1972)
  • Corabia cu 11 pasageri (The ship with 11 passengers) (1974)

Personal life

He had four brothers and one of them, Jean Niculescu was a footballer at Olympia București.[11][12] Angelo Niculescu died on 20 June 2015 in his apartament from Bucharest and the president of FIFA, Joseph Blatter said:"Please accept my condolences for the passing of former player and coach Angelo Niculescu. He will be remembered for his contribution to Romanian football, especially as the inventor of the tiki-taka style of play."[2][4][5][8][9][10][13][25][29][30]

Honours

Manager

Dinamo București

Notes

  1. ↑ Only the statistics for the 1950 Divizia A season are available.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1950". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Foștii elevi îl omagiază pe Angelo Niculescu: "A fost cel mai mare antrenor al României!"" [Former students pay tribute to Angelo Niculescu: "He was Romania's greatest coach!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Angelo Niculescu: "Gicu a fost indisciplinat"" [Angelo Niculescu: "Gicu was undisciplined"] (in Romanian). Revistavip.net. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Fostul selectioner Angelo Niculescu a incetat din viata" [The former national team coach Angelo Niculescu has passed away] (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Angelo Niculescu, antrenorul considerat de FIFA inventatorul "tiki-taka", a murit la varsta de 93 de ani" [Angelo Niculescu, the coach considered by FIFA to be the inventor of "tiki-taka", died at the age of 93] (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "În tinereţe, Angelo Niculescu i-a admirat pe Baratki și Bodola. Amintiri pe o scoarță de copac" [In his youth, Angelo Niculescu admired Baratki and Bodola. Memories on a tree bark] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "După 41 de ani Angelo Niculescu rupe tăcearea în cazul Dobrin: "Pleca noaptea din cantonament la băutură!"" [After 41 years, Angelo Niculescu breaks the silence in the Dobrin case: "He left the cantonment at night to drink!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "A murit Angelo Niculescu! Își simțea sfârșitul: "Am trăit destul!"" [Angelo Niculescu died! He felt his end: "I have lived enough!"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "La moartea unui geniu. Angelo Niculescu, singurul antrenor român creditat cu o invenție care a revoluționat fotbalul, a luptat pe Frontul de Est și a adus România pe harta Mondialelor. În 2011, FIFA l-a recunoscut oficial ca părinte al stilului tiki-taka" [On the death of a genius. Angelo Niculescu, the only Romanian coach credited with an invention that revolutionized football, fought on the Eastern Front and put Romania on the World Cup map. In 2011, FIFA officially recognized him as the father of the tiki-taka style] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "100 de ani de la nașterea lui Angelo Niculescu" [100 years since the birth of Angelo Niculescu] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Angelo Niculescu dezvăluie de ce n-a jucat Dobrin în Mexic" [Angelo Niculescu reveals why Dobrin did not play in Mexico] (in Romanian). Historia.ro. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Angelo Niculescu, inventatorul tiki-taka: "Cumpăr ghidurile TV ca să ştiu în ce zi suntem"" [Angelo Niculescu, the inventor of tiki-taka: "I buy TV guides to know what day it is"] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "A murit Angelo Niculescu, antrenorul care a condus România la Mondialul din 1970" [Angelo Niculescu, the coach who led Romania to the World Cup in 1970, has died] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  14. ↑ "Angelo Niculescu: "Răzvan Lucescu îşi poate depăşi tatăl"" [Angelo Niculescu: "Răzvan Lucescu can surpass his father"] (in Romanian). Clujcapitala.ro. 16 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  15. ↑ "Sfârșitul echipei Ciocanul". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  17. 1 2 "Romanian Cup - Season 1954". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  18. ↑ "RETRO GSP. 64 de ani de la primul meci european al unei echipe românești. Dinamo i-a scos pe turci, apoi a urmat măcelul!" [RETRO GSP. 64 years since the first European match of a Romanian team. Dinamo took out the Turks, then the slaughter followed!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "50 de ani de la ultimul meci al lui Angelo Niculescu, selecționerul care s-a războit cu Dumitrache și Dobrin. Fănuș Neagu l-a "îngropat" într-un articol din România literară" [50 years since the last match of Angelo Niculescu, the selector who fought with Dumitrache and Dobrin. Fănuș Neagu "buried" him in an article from Literary Romania] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Angelo Niculescu manager profile". European Football. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  21. ↑ "Angelo Niculescu dezvaluie de ce nu a jucat Dobrin la mondialul din Mexic" [Angelo Niculescu reveals why Dobrin did not play at the World Cup in Mexico] (in Romanian). Mediafax.ro. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  22. ↑ "Top 60 antrenori" [Top 60 coaches] (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer.ro. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  23. ↑ "Angelo Niculescu, acuzat că a vrut să-l "termine" şi pe Ilie Balaci: "Nu puteam să realizez cât de periculos e moşu'. Aşa s-a întâmplat şi cu Dobrin, în Mexic!"" [Angelo Niculescu, accused of wanting to "finish off" Ilie Balaci: "I couldn't realize how dangerous the old man is. That's what happened to Dobrin, in Mexico!"] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  24. ↑ "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  25. 1 2 "Fotbalul românesc, în doliu! Angelo Niculescu, selecționerul României la Mondialul din '70, a decedat! Ultimul interviu acordat ProSport" [Romanian football, in mourning! Angelo Niculescu, Romania's coach at the 1970 World Cup, has died! The last interview given to ProSport] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  26. ↑ "Antrenorul care a inventat tiki-taka a ajuns la 93 de ani! "Varsta m-a subtiat. E rau cand depinzi de altii!", ce spune de Mircea Lucescu" [The coach who invented tiki-taka has reached 93 years old! "Age has thinned me out. It's bad when you depend on others!", says Mircea Lucescu] (in Romanian). Cancan.ro. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  27. ↑ UEFA.com (20 June 2015). "Romania mourns World Cup coach Niculescu | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  28. ↑ "S-a stins din viață fostul antrenor al naționalei României, Angelo Niculescu" [The former coach of the Romanian national team, Angelo Niculescu, passed away] (in Romanian). Frf.ro. 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  29. ↑ "Blatter: "Angelo Niculescu va fi ținut minte ca inventatorul tiki-taka"" [Blatter: "Angelo Niculescu will be remembered as the inventor of tiki-taka"] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  30. ↑ "Omagiu suprem adus de șeful FIFA unei legende a fotbalul românesc: El a inventat tiki-taka" [The supreme tribute paid by the head of FIFA to a legend of Romanian football: He invented tiki-taka] (in Romanian). Antena3.ro. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
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