Angelo Niculescu

Playing career

Niculescu was born on 1 October 1921 in Craiova, Romania and began playing football in 1937 at age 15 in Divizia B at local club Rovine Grivița. 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. During World War II his career was interrupted for a while as he was called by the Romanian Army to fight on the Eastern Front. In 1945, Niculescu joined Carmen București where he stayed two years.

Managerial career

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First and second spell at Dinamo

Niculescu started coaching in 1952 at Dinamo București's junior center. He also reached the 1954 Cupa României final which was lost with 2–0 to Metalul Reșița. He 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 Dinamo reach the next phase of the competition where they were eliminated by CDNA Sofia. Niculescu left Dinamo in 1957 and had two short experiences at Steaua București and Tractorul Brașov. One of his most important European victories was the historical 2–1 over Helenio Herrera's Inter Milan in the 1965–66 European Cup edition, the Italians being the winners of the previous two seasons of the competition. Niculescu said after the game:"I am happy that Herrera's "concrete" was broken by the movement on the field of our players. With fair refereeing we would have won even more clearly". However, they lost the second leg with 2–0.

Romania national team

Niculescu was named coach of Romania's national team in 1967, making his debut in a 1–0 home loss to Italy in the Euro 1968 qualifiers. He guided the national team through the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers where they earned first place in a group composed of Greece, Switzerland and Portugal. Thus they qualified for the final tournament after a 32-year absence. He also guided the national team during the 1972 Euro qualifiers where they earned first place in a group with Czechoslovakia, Wales and Finland, thereby reaching the quarter-finals. There, Romania was defeated by Hungary, who advanced to the final tournament. His last game as Romania's manager took place on 29 October 1972 in a 2–0 home victory against Albania in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, totaling 38 matches consisting of 12 victories, 17 draws and 9 losses.

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.

Sportul Studențesc and Politehnica Timișoara

In 1973, Niculescu went to coach Sportul Studențesc București until 1977. Afterwards he worked for two years at Politehnica Timișoara where in the 1977–78 season he was close to winning the championship as the team was leading with three rounds before the end of the season, but after a 4–2 loss to Dinamo, they ended the championship in third place, three points behind the champions Steaua.

Third spell at Dinamo, SC Bacău, U Cluj and Oțelul

From 1979 until 1980 he had a third spell at Dinamo, then he coached SC Bacău for one season.

Club Africain

After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, he went to work as technical director in Tunisia at Club Africain, bringing Ilie Balaci as head coach. In their single season at the club, they won the CAF Champions League, Tunisian League and the Tunisian Cup.

Innovative tactic

Niculescu is known in Romania for inventing the "temporizare" ("delaying") tactics.

Writing

Niculescu started writing chronicles, comments and match analysis in 1958 as a journalist for the "Sportul popular" newspaper.

• 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. 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."

Honours

Manager

Dinamo București

• Divizia A: 1955, 1964–65
• Cupa României runner-up: 1954

Notes

References

References

1. "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1950". RomanianSoccer.
2. (22 June 2015). "Foștii elevi îl omagiază pe Angelo Niculescu: "A fost cel mai mare antrenor al României!"". Gsp.ro.
3. "Angelo Niculescu: "Gicu a fost indisciplinat"". Revistavip.net.
4. (20 June 2015). "Fostul selectioner Angelo Niculescu a incetat din viata". Mediafax.ro.
5. (23 June 2015). "Angelo Niculescu, antrenorul considerat de FIFA inventatorul "tiki-taka", a murit la varsta de 93 de ani". Mediafax.ro.
6. (16 April 2010). "În tinereţe, Angelo Niculescu i-a admirat pe Baratki și Bodola. Amintiri pe o scoarță de copac". Gsp.ro.
7. (18 January 2011). "După 41 de ani Angelo Niculescu rupe tăcearea în cazul Dobrin: "Pleca noaptea din cantonament la băutură!"". Gsp.ro.
8. (20 June 2015). "A murit Angelo Niculescu! Își simțea sfârșitul: "Am trăit destul!"". Libertatea.ro.
9. (21 June 2015). "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". Prosport.ro.
10. (1 October 2021). "100 de ani de la nașterea lui Angelo Niculescu". Welovesport.ro.
11. "Angelo Niculescu dezvăluie de ce n-a jucat Dobrin în Mexic". Historia.ro.
12. (16 September 2009). "Angelo Niculescu: "Răzvan Lucescu îşi poate depăşi tatăl"". Clujcapitala.ro.
13. (19 October 2013). "Angelo Niculescu, inventatorul tiki-taka: "Cumpăr ghidurile TV ca să ştiu în ce zi suntem"". Adevarul.ro.
14. "Sfârșitul echipei Ciocanul". RomanianSoccer.
15. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer.
16. "Romanian Cup - Season 1954". RomanianSoccer.
17. (26 August 2020). "RETRO GSP. 64 de ani de la primul meci european al unei echipe românești. Dinamo i-a scos pe turci, apoi a urmat măcelul!". Gsp.ro.
18. (1 December 2019). "1 decembrie 1965, Ziua națională a "câinilor": cea în care au învins dubla campioană a Europei și a lumii". Gsp.ro.
19. (2 June 2010). "România la CM 1970. Enigma Dobrin". Gsp.ro.
20. (19 January 2011). "Angelo Niculescu dezvaluie de ce nu a jucat Dobrin la mondialul din Mexic". Mediafax.ro.
21. (28 March 2008). "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv". Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241.
22. (12 April 2017). "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!"". Adevarul.ro.
23. UEFA.com. (26 June 2015). "Fotbalul românesc, în doliu! Angelo Niculescu, selecționerul României la Mondialul din '70, a decedat! Ultimul interviu acordat ProSport". Prosport.ro.
24. Dobrescu, Petre. (June 22, 2015). "Angelo Niculescu, depus la Mausoleul Eroilor din Cimitirul Ghencea Militar". [[Libertatea]].
25. (23 June 2015). "Blatter: "Angelo Niculescu va fi ținut minte ca inventatorul tiki-taka"". Digisport.ro.