Mircea Lucescu
Mircea Lucescu - Romanian footballer and football coach
Date of birth: 29.07.1945
Mircea Lucescu - Romanian footballer and football coach. Former head coach of the Turkish national team, previously a long-time coach (from 2004 to 2016) of Ukrainian Shakhtar. He ranks among the top fifteen coaches in terms of UEFA Champions League victories (14th place). He has won 35 trophies as a coach.
Place of birth: Born in Bucharest. Romanian citizen.
Player career. Position - forward. Played from 1963 to 1982 in Romanian clubs 'Dinamo' (Bucharest), 'Steaua' (Bucharest), 'Politehnica' (Bucharest), 'Corvinul' (Hunedoara).
In the highest Romanian league, he played 362 matches and scored 78 goals. He also played for the Romanian national team (74 matches, 9 goals).
Six-time Romanian champion, two-time Romanian Cup winner.
Best Romanian player in 1969.
In European cups, he played 15 matches and scored three goals.
Coaching career. From 1979 to 1980 and 1985 to 1990, he worked with Romanian clubs 'Corvinul' and 'Dinamo'. From 1981 to 1985, he coached the Romanian national team.
From 1990 to 1997, he coached Italian clubs 'Pisa', 'Brescia', and 'Reggina'.
From 1997 to 1999 - Romanian 'Rapid' (Bucharest).
From 1998 to 1999 - Italian 'Inter'.
In the 1999-2000 season - Bucharest 'Rapid'.
From 2000 to 2004, he worked with Turkish 'Galatasaray' and 'Besiktas'.
In 2004, at the invitation of Rinat Akhmetov, president of Shakhtar and main shareholder of 'System Capital Management', he signed a contract with the Ukrainian club from Donetsk.
In May 2016, Lucescu signed a contract with FC Zenit (Saint Petersburg).
On May 28, 2017, due to unsatisfactory team results, 'Zenit' terminated the contract with Lucescu.
On August 2, 2017, Lucescu became the coach of the Turkish national team. The contract with Mircea Lucescu was signed in a '2+1' system.
In February 2019, the national football team of Turkey terminated the contract with Mircea Lucescu by mutual agreement.
On July 23, 2020, Mircea Lucescu became the head coach of the Kyiv football club 'Dynamo'.
On November 3, 2023, he announced that he was resigning from his position as coach of 'Dynamo'.
Honors. Mircea Lucescu - two-time Romanian champion, seven-time silver medalist of the Romanian championships, three-time Romanian Cup winner.
Two-time Turkish champion, silver medalist of the Turkish championships, bronze medalist of the Turkish championships.
Under Mircea Lucescu, the Romanian national team advanced to a good part of the finals of the 1984 European Championship.
In August 2000, he led 'Galatasaray' to the title of UEFA Super Cup winner, brought the team to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the 2000-2001 season.
Eighteen-time Ukrainian champion (2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), six-time Ukrainian Cup winner (2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016).
In the 2007-2008 season, 'Shakhtar', under the guidance of the Romanian coach, won all the most prestigious trophies of domestic football - gold in the top league championship, the Cup, and the Supercup of Ukraine. Lucescu himself was named the best coach of the national championship.
Even more successful for the coach and his students was the 2008-2009 season. Without winning any trophy domestically, 'Shakhtar' under Lucescu achieved success in European cups. Thus, the team from Donetsk won its first European trophy in history - the UEFA Cup. At the same time, the final, which took place on May 20 in Istanbul at the 'Şükrü Saraçoğlu' stadium, was the last in the history of this tournament. From the next season, the UEFA Cup became the Europa League.
On July 16, 2009, Mircea Lucescu suffered a heart attack during the team's preparations for the new season in Switzerland. In the 2009/2010 season, 'Shakhtar' under the Romanian coach won the fourth championship title and the Ukrainian Supercup. In the 2010/2011 season, 'Shakhtar' advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time in history.
Awards. Order of 'For Merit' of the II degree (for winning the UEFA Cup). Honorary citizen of the city of Donetsk.
Family. Son of Mircea Lucescu - Răzvan - was the head coach of the Romanian national team (2009-2011).
08.11.2023.