Ioan Lupescu

Club career

Youth career

Lupescu, nicknamed Kaiserul, was born on 9 December 1968 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing football in 1975 at the youth center of Austrian club Admira Wacker where his father Nicolae played until his retirement. When his family returned to Romania, he wanted to play for Rapid București, but was rejected after a trial.

Dinamo București

On 21 September 1986 at age 17, Lupescu made his Divizia A debut when coach Mircea Lucescu sent him in the 68th minute to replace Ilie Balaci in Dinamo's 4–1 home victory against SC Bacău. At age 19, Lucescu gave him the captain's armband. In the following season the club won The Double with Lupescu playing 29 league matches, scoring four goals, and Lucescu also used him for the entire 6–4 victory against rivals Steaua București in the 1990 Cupa României final. In the same season he appeared in six matches in which he scored one goal against Partizan Belgrade in the 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup as Dinamo reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated after 2–0 on aggregate by Anderlecht.

Bayer Leverkusen

After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Lupescu had offers to play in Italy from Bologna and Mircea Lucescu's team, Pisa. He made his Bundesliga debut on 11 August 1990 when he was sent by coach Jürgen Gelsdorf in the 46th minute to replace Marcus Feinbier in a 1–1 draw against Bayern Munich in which he provided the assist for Ulf Kirsten's goal. On 8 September 1990, Lupescu scored his first league goal for Leverkusen in a 3–1 home victory against FC St. Pauli. In the 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup, The Black and Reds reached the quarter-finals, being eliminated on the away goals rule after 5–5 on aggregate by Benfica. In the 1994–95 UEFA Cup campaign, they reached the semi-finals and were eliminated by the eventual winners, Parma, with Lupescu making 10 appearances.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

In 1996, Lupescu joined fellow Bundesliga team Borussia Mönchengladbach, making his league debut for them on 16 August when coach Bernd Krauss used him the entire match in a 0–0 home draw against Arminia Bielefeld. He netted his first goal on 11 March 1997 in a 2–1 away loss to Hamburg. On 2 May 1998, he made his last Bundesliga appearance during a 5–2 home win over Hansa Rostock in which he scored once, totaling 227 matches with 10 goals in the competition.

Return to Dinamo

Lupescu returned to Dinamo where in the 1998–99 season he netted a personal record of eight goals. He also played the entire match in the 2–0 victory against Universitatea Craiova in the 2000 Cupa României final.

Bursaspor

In 2000, Lupescu went to play in Turkey at Bursaspor where he was also the team's captain. In the following round he scored once again in a 2–1 away loss to Trabzonspor, and these were his only two goals in a total of nine matches played in the Turkish league.

Dinamo and Al-Hilal

Lupescu paid his $225,000 termination clause to Bursaspor to return to Dinamo. He started the 2001–02 season at Dinamo, making his last Divizia A appearance on 30 September 2001 in a 4–2 home win against FCM Bacău, totaling 183 matches with 25 goals in the competition. However, at the end of the season, both Dinamo and Al-Hilal won the title. Throughout his career, Lupescu was placed several times among the top five in the Romanian Footballer of the Year ranking, finishing third in both 1991 and 1994.

International career

Early years and 1990 World Cup

Lupescu made 74 appearances for Romania and scored six goals, making his debut on 3 February 1988 when coach Emerich Jenei sent him in the 81st minute to replace Ioan Sabău in a 2–0 friendly victory against Israel. He played one match in the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers. Afterwards he played eight games and scored one goal in the Euro 1992 qualifiers.

1994 World Cup and Euro 1996

He made nine appearances with three goals scored during the successful 1994 World Cup qualifiers. After getting past the group stage, they defeated Argentina with a 3–2 victory in the round of 16. They were eliminated after the penalty shoot-out by Sweden in the quarter-finals, with Lupescu netting his spot kick.

He played nine games during the successful Euro 1996 qualifiers.

Final years and Euro 2000

He played two matches in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, but was not part of the squad that went to the final tournament. Jenei used Lupescu during the final tournament in the group game that ended in a 1–1 draw against Germany when he replaced Viorel Moldovan in the 85th minute. He also played in the quarter-final against Italy that ended with a 2–0 loss when he replaced Constantin Gâlcă in the 68th minute. Lupescu's last national team appearance was on 7 October 2000 in a 3–0 away loss to Italy in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.

Managerial career

In 2003, Lupescu acquired his coaching license at the German Sport University of Cologne. He started to work as a manager in the second part of the 2003–04 Divizia A season, helping FCM Bacău avoid relegation. In the following season he worked for FC Brașov in Divizia A but left the club after refusing to participate in a fixed match against Gloria Bistrița. He insisted in a discussion with the club's leader, Romeo Pașcu, to play the game fairly, promising that he will leave the club if he loses.

In July 2023, Lupescu was appointed as a board member in Mahd Sports Academy, a sports academy based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.{{cite news |author= |date=2023-07-31 |title=Saudi crown prince approves board of directors for Mahd Sports Academy

Personal life

Lupescu is the son of former Romanian international player Nicolae Lupescu.

In 1994, Lupescu was named Honorary Citizen of Bucharest. On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu for contributing as general manager of the Romanian Football Federation at the national team's successful Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

In 2010 he appeared in the "Be free" video of Smiley's band Radio Killer alongside Senegalese international footballer Ousmane N'Doye and former tennis ATP number 1, Ilie Năstase.

Career statistics

:Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lupescu goal.

Honours

Dinamo București

• Divizia A: 1989–90, 1999–00, 2001–02
• Cupa României: 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2000–01
• Supercupa României runner-up: 2001 Bayer Leverkusen
• DFB-Pokal: 1992–93
• DFB-Supercup runner-up: 1993 Al-Hilal
• Saudi Premier League: 2001–02 Individual
• Romanian Footballer of the Year (third place): 1991, 1994, (fourth place): 1990, 1992, (fifth place): 1998

References

References

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2. {{RomanianSoccer. 1103/ioan-angelo-lupescu
3. (6 December 2010). "Ionuţ Lupescu e fan al Generaţiei Mexico '70, iar tatăl său, Culae, e convins că tinerii din '94 le-au luat faţa: "Ei au fost mai buni decît noi!"". Gsp.ro.
4. (25 March 2021). "Viata mea in fotbal. Ionut Lupescu, despre perfomanta din SUA: "Primeam dupa doua zile cate o caseta de la ambasada cu ceea ce se dadea la televizor in Romania si abia atunci realizam ce-am facut"". Mediafax.ro.
5. (9 December 2018). "Ionuţ Lupescu la 50 de ani. Kaiserul, românul de la UEFA". Fanatik.ro.
6. (25 March 2021). "Cum au fost create marile echipe ale anilor '80?. Episodul 3: Dinamo - Show cu doar 14 "câini". Dar de rasă". Gsp.ro.
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11. "Bayern München - Bayer Leverkusen 1:1". WorldFootball.
12. (9 December 2021). "Ionuț Lupescu, la borna 53. "Jumătate din viață am stat în străinătate, dar mă simt român" + Amintiri de la zilele de naștere precedente". Prosport.ro.
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17. "Bursaspor - Gaziantepspor 3:3". WorldFootball.
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20. (9 June 2023). ""Notti magiche" Cum i-am bătut pe sovietici, la 9 iunie 1990, în primul meci de la Mondiale, după 20 de ani. Lăcătuș a ajuns coșmarul lui Dasaev, iar Gică Popescu a refuzat Real Madrid". Prosport.ro.
21. (22 May 2008). "Lizenz zum Trainieren". Uni-protokolle.de.
22. (1 September 2019). "Cum s-a terminat aventura de antrenor a lui Ionuț Lupescu:"N-a acceptat un pact cu Pădureanu"". Libertatea.ro.
23. (1 September 2019). "Blatul refuzat care i-a încheiat cariera de antrenor lui Ionuț Lupescu. Dezvăluiri incredibile: "Nu fac așa ceva!"". Gsp.ro.
24. "Cetățeni de onoare". Pmb.ro.
25. (28 March 2008). "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv". Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241.
26. (25 March 2008). "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială.
27. (9 June 2010). "Urmărește-i în acțiune pe N'Doye, Ilie Nastase, Lupescu şi Smiley în noul videoclip Radio Killer!". Gsp.ro.