Anghel Iordănescu

Club career

One of Steaua București's greatest players, Iordănescu was a forward or attacking midfielder with a well-developed scoring technique and uncommon dribbling ability. He was also well known for his vision and set-piece ability. In Romania, he played only for Steaua, a team he joined as a youth in 1962, aged 12. Six years later, he made his debut for the first team, followed by his first appearance for the Romania national team in 1971. During this period, he scored 155 goals, becoming the team's highest ever goal scorer.

Iordănescu won two league championships (in 1976 and 1978) and four Cupa Romaniei (in 1970, 1971, 1976, and 1979). In 1981–82, he was Divizia A's top goalscorer.

In 1982, aged 32, Iordănescu left Romania to play for OFI in Greece under head coach Les Shannon, but returned to Steaua two years later to become the club's assistant manager. Together with Emerich Jenei, then head coach, he won the championship in 1985 and helped lead the team to its European Cup triumph in 1986, playing as a substitute in the final against Barcelona.

International career

Iordănescu made his international debut on 22 September 1971 against Finland and scored the opening goal of a 4-0 win. The highlight of his international career came in the 1977-80 Balkan Cup, when he scored a hat-trick in the second leg of the final to defeat Yugoslavia 4-3 on aggregate and give Romania a record-breaking fourth title (Bulgaria won 3 times), and subsequently being the tournament's top goal scorer with 6 goals.

Career statistics

International goals

Scores and results table. "Score" indicates the score after the player's goal:

Coaching career

Emerich Jenei was appointed as Romania's manager in the summer of 1986, leaving Iordănescu as Steaua's new head coach. From his new position, he led his side to victory in three championships (1987, 1988 and 1989) as well as three Cupa Romaniei in the same years. At international level, Steaua and Iordănescu reached the European Cup semi-final in 1988 and the final one year later.

In 1990, he left Steaua for the second time as he signed a two-year contract with Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta. After being released from his contract, he returned to Steaua in 1992 to lead the club to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals in 1993, and then a new league championship.

In the summer of 1993, he was asked to replace Cornel Dinu as Romania's coach and managed to lead the team to qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where Romania reached the quarter-finals, the best-ever performance of the Romanian national team at that level. He continued as Romania's coach after the World Cup and led the team to a new qualification, for UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup, where Romania reached the knockout stage as winners of Group G.

However, although he had led the team to a new qualification for a World Cup, Iordănescu was harshly criticized by the media, with some journalists accusing him of the low level of the team during the process. After losing against Croatia in the second round of the 1998 World Cup, he resigned and took over the managerial position of Greece, from where he would be sacked in 1999 after Greece failed to qualify for Euro 2000.

In the 1999–2000 season, Iordănescu was appointed head coach of Saudi club Al-Hilal, where he won the Saudi Crown Prince Cup and the Asian Club Championship (the forerunner to the AFC Champions League). Despite these performances, he left the club to lead Rapid București. He led Rapid to the first round of the 2000–01 UEFA Cup, losing 1–0 on aggregate to eventual winners Liverpool. However, he was sacked after only three months, after which he signed with Emirati club Al Ain, guiding them to UAE President's Cup title.

After Romania failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, Iordănescu was asked to replace Gheorghe Hagi, thereby becoming the national football team's coach for the second time. His main objective was to qualify the team for Euro 2004, but failed to do so. Saying that there was no one else both better than he and available to take charge of the national team, the Romanian Football Federation gave him credit for the 2006 World Cup qualifying stage, but after a poor performance away against Armenia, he was finally sacked.

After his second stint as Romania's coach, Iordănescu returned to Saudi Arabia to manage Al-Ittihad, with whom he won his second AFC Champions League (in 2005) and the Arab Champions League, but one year later was sacked after drawing with Al-Ettifaq. Just as the 2006–07 UAE League season began, Iordănescu returned to coach Al Ain for a few months before announcing his retirement from professional football.

In October 2014, Iordănescu came out of retirement to take charge of Romania for a third time. On 27 June 2016, he resigned as Romania coach after an unsuccessful Euro 2016 finals campaign, finishing last place in Group A with just one point earned, from a 1–1 draw with Switzerland.

Honours

Player

Steaua București

• Divizia A: 1975–76, 1977–78
• Cupa României: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1975–76, 1978–79
• European Cup: 1985–86

Romania

• Balkan Cup: 1977–80

Individual

• Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year runner-up: 1980
• Divizia A top scorer: 1981–82

Coach

Steaua București

• Divizia A: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93
• Cupa României: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
• European Cup runner-up : 1988–89
• European Super Cup: 1986
• Intercontinental Cup runner-up: 1986

Al Hilal

• Asian Club Championship: 1999–00
• Saudi Crown Prince Cup: 2000
• Saudi Federation Cup: 1999–00
• Saudi Founder's Cup: 1999–00
• Gulf Club Champions Cup runner-up: 2000

Al Ain

• UAE President's Cup: 2000–01

Al Ittihad

• AFC Champions League: 2005
• UAFA Arab Champions League: 2005

References

References

1. "Anghel Iordanescu – Goals in International Matches". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
2. "Anghel Iordănescu Senate 2004–2008". Cdep.ro.
3. "Anghel Iordănescu senate 2008–2012". Cdep.ro.
4. "Progressist Parliamentary Group". [[Senate of Romania.
5. (4 May 2020). "Anghel Iordănescu a împlinit 70 de ani! 5 momente decisive din cariera "Generalului": cel mai mare regret, o viață pentru Steaua, lupta FCSB-CSA, naționala și lumea politică". prosport.ro.
6. "Anghel Iordănescu a decis! Anunțul făcut azi de fiul său". gsp.ro.
7. (9 May 2016). "SPECIAL Situaţie de gradul I în Liga 1. Ce a realizat Silviu Lung jr. prin câştigarea titlului cu Astra. De la fraţii Vâlcov, la fraţii Costea şi familia Piţurcă". prosport.ro.
8. (6 May 2011). "Lotul 1986 al Stelei, decorat de Armată". [[România Liberă]].
9. "National football team player Anghel Iordănescu". football.eu.
10. "Balkan Cup 1977-1980 results". football.eu.
11. (11 July 2006). "Experienced Al Ain back on familiar territory". [[Asian Football Confederation.
12. (28 September 2000). "Reds achieve Rapid progress". [[BBC Sport]].
13. (22 November 2001). "Al Ain hope to maintain winning streak". [[Gulf News]].
14. (6 March 2006). "Saudi League: Al Ittihad sack Iordanescu". [[Asian Football Confederation.
15. (27 October 2014). "Iordanescu returns to Romania helm". [[FIFA]].
16. (27 June 2016). "Anghel Iordanescu to step down as Romania coach".