World Cup 2018: Top 55 Greatest Romania Footballers Scheduled To Play In 2018 World Cup
50.Dan Coe
Dan Coe is one of the best players in Rapid's history and amongst the best romanian center backs ever. He helped Rapid win their first league title ever and also 2 Balkans Cup.
For the NT , Coe had some memorable performances. In 1969 after a match against Switzerland , the press nicknamed the defensive trio Raducanu-Coe-Boc as the "Golden triangle of Lausanne". He is also famous for a match against Portugal in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers. He completly neutralised Eusebio , prompting the portuguese to change shirts with him and say that if a defender like this marked him in the 1966 World Cup , Portugal wouldn't have reached far.
49.Gheorghe Constantin
Known as The Professor, he was a symbol of Steaua Bucureşti and is remembered as one of their best forwards ever. With Steaua , he was 4 times Romanian Divizia A winner , won 4 Romanian Cups and 3 times consecutively top-goalscorer of Divizia A.
48.Helmuth Duckhadam
Duckhadam played his best years at Steaua where he won 2 league titles , 1 Romanian Cup and most notably , the European Cup. He was dubbed "the Hero of Seville" due to his display in the 1986 European Cup Final. He then became the first goalkeeper in history to save 4 penalties in a match. For his brilliant performance , he was named Romanian player of the year and was ranked 8th at the Ballon d'Or.
47.Emerich Vogl
Emerich Vogl is one of the best romanian players of his generation. He started playing as a midfielder , even managing 15 goals in only 16 matches in Liga 1 in one season , but evetually made his named as a defender.
He won the Romanian League Title a total of 6 times during his career and was a key player of the Romanian generation that qualified for the 1930 and 1934 World Cups.
46.Aurel Guga
Regarded as one of the most talented and versatile players of the early 1920s, Guga was the first captain of the Romania football team.
As Ioan Chirilă recalls in his book:"Guga was one of the finest players this land ever gave, our land. And maybe the most complete. And the most modern"
45.Alexandru Boc
Sandu Boc is widley regarded as one of Romania's greatest defenders of all time. At 19 years old , he was a key player helping Petrolul Ploiești win the league title. He was later transfered at Dinamo where he stayed 2 seasons and helped the club win the Romanian Cup in 68. In 1969, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for having beaten a Securitate officer at a bar. He served one year and a month.
Upon his return to Divizie A , he helped Rapid win the Romanian Cup in 1972. He played his last years at Universitatea Craiova where he is remembered as one of the club's greatest defenders ever.
44.Lucian Sanmartean
Lucian Sanmartean is the best romanian football player since Mutu and Chivu. He is regarded for his exceptional passes, as well for his exceptional dribbling ability. Sânmărtean is also regarded by coach Ioan Sabău as Romania's most talented player since Hagi. However, much of his career was marked by injury
He had short stints abroad at Panathinaikos and Utrecht where he is dearly remembered by the fans but couldn't make an impact due to injuries and arguments with coaches. He met his prime at old age playing for Vaslui and Steaua. During this time , he was named Romanian football player of the year in 2015 and finished runner-up in 2011.
43.Mircea Lucescu
Mirceau Lucescu is regarded as one of Dinamo's greatest players ever and one of the best romanian wingers of all time.
With Dinamo , he won a total of 7 league titles and 1 romanian cup , being providential for the 4 titles won in the 70s.
Lucescu has been capped 70 times for Romania and scored 9 times. He was Romania's captain and played all matches at the 1970 World Cup. When planet World Cup compiled their all time Romania squad , they selected Mircea Lucescu in the first XI with the No.11 shirt.
42.Victor Piturca
Victor Piturca is one of the greatest players ever to play for Steaua Bucuresti. He was instrumental in Steaua's invincible run when they won 5 consecutive league titles(during that span , Steaua set the longest unbeaten run in European football history with 106 matches). In the league champion seasons , he scored 19 , 29 , 22 , 34 and 23 goals respectively , in the first 4 being the club's top scorer and in the 3rd , the European Bronze Shoe.
Pițurcă won with Steaua the European Cup in 1986, the European Supercup in 1987, and was semifinalist in the same competition losing to Benfica in 1988. During the 1988-89 season the team reached again the European Cup final, but loses to Milan.He also won 4 Romanian cups.
41.Gabi Balint
Gabi Balint is regarded as one of the best Romanian forwards of the 80s. Balint made his Divizia A debut with Steaua București in 1981 where he played until 1990 winning the league title in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, the Romanian Cup in 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989, the 1985–86 European Cup in 1986 and the European Super Cup in 1987. At the end of the 1989–90 season Balint became top goalscorer of Divizia A with 19 goals. He scored the second and last goal at the penalties shoot-out during the 1986 European Cup final, helping his team, Steaua to win the trophy.
In 1990, he was bought by Real Burgos for $1,000,000. He played for the Spanish side until his retirement in 1993.
Balint was capped 34 times by Romania, and scored 14 goals. He played at the 1990 World Cup where he scored twice, against Cameroon and Argentina.
40.Rica Raducanu
Rica Raducanu is considered by some to be Romania's most talented keeper but to reckless to fulfill his potential. His style of goalkeeping, although effective, was extravagant and he was the first Romanian goalkeeper to score in an official match and the first to be caught offside. He helped Rapid win their first league title ever in his first season as a starter and also 2 Romanian Cups.
Răducanu got 61 caps for the Romanian national team between 1967 and 1978. He represented his country at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, where he became the first goalkeeper to come in as a substitute on a World Cup match, replacing Stere Adamache against Brazil. Rica has also been included in top 5 romanian player of the year 3 times , once finishing runner-up.
39.Nicolae Simatoc
Simatoc was right wing half and inside right, very tall and strong but lazy and didn't like to run, pretty slow but excellent passer with great lucidity and vision, good technician with numerous assists.
He is the only Romanian player ever to play for both Inter Milan and Barcelona. His most succesful season performance wise was his first at Barcelona , where he debuted with a goal and 3 assists in a match against Real Sociedad. He was a key player of Barcelona that season and helped them win the Spanish Cup.
38.Ion Oblemenco
Ion Oblemenco si the greatest romanian player ever that was never capped for the National team. He is the second biggest idol for U.Craiova(only to Balaci) as he helped them win their first Championship ever over clubs like Steaua and Dinamo.
He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his unstopable shot and prolific goal scoring.His former teammate, Petre Deselnicu said: "I've kissed Oblemenco more than my wife, because he scored so many goals for our team".
During his career , Oblemenco was Romanian league's top scorer a record 4 times. He is U.Craiova's all-time top goalscorer with a total of 167 goals, and the club's stadium is named in his honour.
37.Dudu Georgescu
Dudu Georgescu is considered by some as Romania's greatest finsiher of all time. He was an oportunistic striker , similar to Inzaghi , with good heading.
He currently holds the record for the most goals in Romania's Divizia A with 252 goals, as well as Dinamo Bucureşti's club goalscoring record, with 207. During his career , he was Liga 1 top scorer an all time record 4 times , in 2 seasons even winning the golden boot. Until Ronaldo and Messi , Dudu's 1976–77 season was the highest scorin season in Europe since them inception of the Golden Shoe. He was also finished 9th at the Ballon d'Or in 77. With the National team , he played 40 matches and scored 21 goals.
36.Cosmin Contra
Cosmin Contra is one of the best romanian players of the 21th century. He maninly played as a right back , but because of his offensive mentality , he could also appear as a midfielder.
He played for many foreign clubs: Deportivo Alavés, AC Milan, Atlético Madrid, West Bromwich and Getafe.
His best year was in 2001 when he played for Deportivo and AC Milan. This year , he was named as the best right-back in Europe and was also named Romanian footballer of the year.
Over 14 years, Contra earned 73 caps for Romania, scoring 11 goals. He appeared for his country at UEFA Euro 2000 and 2008.
35.Ovidiu Sabau
Ioan Ovidiu Sabău debuted in Divizia A with U Cluj in 1986. He later won the league title with Dinamo București in 1990, before he played several seasons in the Netherlands and Italy. Upon returning to Romania he went to Rapid București, where he won two league titles (1999, 2003) and one cup title (2002).
He was considered an important member of the Golden Generation of Romanian football, despite missing out the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where Romania reached the quarter-finals, due to injury.
He finished runner-up for the Romanian player of the year in 1989 and featured in top 5 another two times.
34.Emerich Dembrovschi
Dembroschi was one of the best romanian players of the 70s. He is an underrated legend in romanian football because he never played for one of the big teams.
During the 1970 World Cup , wich was considered Romania's best generation till 94 , Dembroschi was rated as the best Romanian player of the tournament , and was schleuded to have a statue of him made in a champions hall for the best performes of the tourney.
33.Radu Nunweiller
Radu Nunweiller is commonly regarded as the best Romanian passer of all time and by some Romania's best central midfielder ever. He was a carbon copy of Xavi , being the main exponent of Angelo Niculescu(the inventor of tiki-taka) temporization style. The whole Dinamo team(whether it was the early team that played on counter atacks and required his long balls or the later ofensive one that required his impecable midfield control) and National team(including the 1970 generation) were bulit around him , his flawless passing , and extraordinary ability to unmark himself(he was always open to recieve pass due to his tireless runs across the field).
Angelo Niculescu said "When I decide who is going to play for the NT , I write Nunweiller on the no.10 shirt and then search for other players"
32.Dorinel Munteanu
Dorinel Munteanu is remembered as one of Romania's most complete midfielders ever. He known for his superb workrate playmaking abilities and yet could cover and defend just like a destroyer.
At club level , he spent 7 seasons in Bundesliga playing for Koln and Wolfsburg but also played 2 seasons for Cercle Brugge. Dorinel won his first cap for Romania in 1991 while still at FC Inter Sibiu. Since then he was a very important part of the national team of Romania, playing in various positions such as left back, left midfielder and playmaker. He has a total of 134 caps making him the all time record holder for Romania.
Munteanu scored 16 goals for Romania and played at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1996, 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.
During his career , he finished 6 times in top 5 Romanian player of the year.
31.Anghel Iordanescu
One of Steaua Bucureşti'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.
While playing at Steaua , Iordănescu won two championships , four Romanian Cups the European Cup and was the team's top scorer a record 4 times and the all time top scorer with 155 goals.
At the national team , he played 57 times and scored 21 goals.
30.Ilie Dumitrescu
Ilie Dumitrescu is one of Romania's best players during their golden years. He was a complete ofensive player being able to play all along the atacking line. He was a very fast , mobile player with great agility and dribbling.
He won with Steaua 3 league titles(was top scorer in 93) and most notably reached the 1989 European Cup Final but didn't play.
His best moment came at the 1994 World Cup played all the five games his team played.He was a key player in Romania's surprise 3-2 victory over previous runners-up Argentina, scoring the first two goals and assisting the third.
29.Marius Lacatus
Lacatus is so far the most successful football player ever to play for Steaua București. He is all-time top scorer for Steaua with 16 goals in European competitions.The supporters loved him for his spectacular way of playing football, as well as for his commitment during the games being nicknamed "Fiara" (The Beast).
As a player he won the Romanian football championship ten times(record) and the Romanian Cup seven times, as well as the European Cup in 1986 and the European Supercup in 1987, all with Steaua București. Lăcătuș was capped 84 times, scoring 13 goals for the Romanian national team, and played for his country in the 1990 World Cup, Euro 1996 and 1998 World Cup.
28.Florin Raducioiu
Raducioiu is widley regarded as one of Romania's greatest ever strikers and was particulaerly known for his efectivenes on counteratacks. He played for Dinamo Bucureşti, A.C. Milan, Brescia Calcio, West Ham United, RCD Espanyol, VfB Stuttgart and AS Monaco but apart from his time at Brescial , he wasn't very succesful abroad performance wise.
His career highpoint was at the national team during the 1994 World Cup. He scored 4 goals that tournament(2 against Columbia and 2 against Sweeden) becoming Romania's all time top scorer in World Cups.
27.Cornel Dinu
Dinu is the greatest defender in Dinamo Bucharest's history(winning six league titles and two cup titles with them) and one of the most complete romanian players ever(could play very well both sweeper and defensive midfielder). Very elegant player with trademark long diagonal 40 meters passes, good technician and with solid pace. He was even a solid scorer, had good sense of anticipating and decent tackling.
He was one of the key members of Romania during the 1970 World Cup and was even nominated for the Ballon d'Or that year.During his career he was named Romanian player of the year 3 times , finished runner-up 2 times , 4th once and another 2 times finished 5th.
26.Viorel Moldovan
At club level, Moldovan played for Gloria Bistrița (1990–93), Dinamo București (1993–95), Neuchâtel Xamax (1995–96), Grasshoppers (1996–98), Coventry City (1998), Fenerbahçe (1998–2000), Nantes (2000–04), Servette (2004–05), FCU Politehnica Timișoara (2005), and Rapid București (2005–2007).
The most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland (he was the Swiss Super League top scorer in 1996 and 1997), for Fenerbahçe between 1998 and 2000 and for Nantes between 2000 and 2004. He was a key player when Nantes won the French Ligue 1 in 2001. During his brief spell in England with Coventry City he scored twice, once in the FA Cup, scoring the winner against local rivals Aston Villa, and once in the league against Crystal Palace.
Moldovan was capped 70 times for Romania, scoring 25 goals. He represented his country at Euro 96, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored goals against England and Tunisia in the first round, and Euro 2000.
25.Ion Dumitru
Lita Dumitru is one of Romania's greatest ever midfielders , and arguably it's best passer ever. He was renowned for incredibly accurate long balls from as long as 50 metters and was almost lethal from free kicks from about 25 meters distance.
He has won the Romanian player of the year award 2 times and was also nominated another 3 times during his career.
24.Adrian Ilie
During his three years with Steaua, Ilie helped the club to three consecutive Romanian league titles and the 1995–96 Romanian Cup.In 1996, Ilie was purchased by Turkish side Galatasaray for an amount of €2.35 million, where he won the Turkish championship in 1996–97. After an impressive season, he moved from Galatasaray to Valencia CF for a reported US$ 7 million, where he replaced in the squad the Brazilian star Romário and took over his no. 11 jersey. At Valencia he impressed from his debut, scoring twelve goals in 17 matches, and thus getting the nickname of "Cobra" from coach Claudio Ranieri, because of his spectacular skills and goalscoring prowess. At the Mestalla, Ilie made a remarkable attacking duo together with team mate Claudio López, helping Los Che to win the 1998–99 Copa del Rey. In 2000, under Héctor Cúper's command, Valencia reached the final of the UEFA Champions League, where Ilie appeared as a substitute for Gerardo in a 3–0 loss to Real Madrid CF. Two years later, Ilie was a member of Rafael Benítez's 2001–02 La Liga winning squad, scoring only two goals in 10 matches because of injuries.
At the international level, Ilie won 55 caps for Romania, scoring 13 goals. He played at the 1996 European Football Championship, 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 European Football Championship. At 1998 FIFA World Cup, he scored against Colombia one of the most spectacular goals of the tournament. In the period between 1997-2000, alongside team mate Gheorghe Hagi, he was Romania's national team leader, scoring important goals and impressing with his skills. In 1998 he won the title of Romania's footballer of the year and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.
23.Titus Ozon
He was considered one of the greatest talents of the postwar in the Romanian football, famous for his extraordinary ability to dribble.He was a true wizard with the ball, an absolute expert in dribbling with great ball control, the ball stick to his feet like glue. Titus also knew how to make a good pass and was a great scorer as well, good tactician also who could orchestrate the attacking line of his team.
He finished 2 times as Romanian league's top scorer. Gustav Sebes said that he would be proud to have Titus Ozon amongst his superlative atacking line of the Mighty Magyars.
22.Marcel Raducanu
Between 1976 and 1981, he played 21 games for Romanian national team, during which he scored three goals. He played nearly 80 matches scoring many goals for Romania's Under-16, U-18, national youth sides, respectively for the U-21 and U-23, being the team's best all-around player and also made two appearances for the Olympic team.
In 1980 he was named Romanian player of the year scoring 23 goals in 33 matches in liga 1(Campanu ii from U.Cluj scored 4 goals in the last match , exactly how much he needed to surpass Raducanu) , despite being an atacking midfielder with incredible dribbling , similar with Dobrin , and also scored 3 goals in 3 matches in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup that season.
In 1981 , he defected Romania and joined Borussia Dortmund , where he ramined as the playmaker of the team for 6 seasons in Bundesliga
21.Rodion Camataru
He was a solid striker, hardly dispossessed, productive and great workrate and also known for his pace, strenght, superb balance and scoring ability.
His best years were at Universitatea Craiova , where he became a club idol winning 2 league titles and 4 Romanian Cups.
He controversially won the European Golden Boot as Europe's best goal scorer in 1987, after scoring 20 of his 44 goals in the last 6 games of the season. It is widely believed that this was due to manipulation and so 20 years later, the second placed Toni Polster was also granted a Golden Boot.
He won 75 caps with Romania national football team and scored 22 goals.
20.Ion Voinescu
Ion Voinescu is regarded by many as Romania's greatest ever goalkeeper. Despite being only 174 cm tall , he was had a spectacular jump with good handling and grip the ball, elastic body, commitment to sacrifice, absolute reliability and fairness and also good fighting spirit.
During his career , he had a famous rivalry with Costică Toma sharing many appearences with him at both Steaua and the National Team.
He played for Romania at the 1952 Summer Olyimpics in Helsinky , where the finish press dubbed him the best goalkeeper in the world for his amazing performance.
In 1956 Arsenal wanted to transfer him , and in 1961 , Vasco Da Gama , but both transfers couldn't go trough due to the restrictions of the communist regime. He was praised by the coach of the Mighty Magyars to be as good as legendary goalkeeper Gyula Grosics.
19.Silviu Lung
Silviu Lung is arguably Romania's greatest ever goalkeeper. He played fourteen seasons with Universitatea, winning two league titles and is regarded for his performances as Craiova's undisputed best ever goalkeeper and still revered for his incredible jumps. In 1988 he joined Steaua Bucureşti and won another league title the first season. He played in the 1988/89 European Cup and reached the Final with Steaua.
Lung was capped 77 times for Romania between 1979 and 1993, and represented his country at Euro 1984 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he was captain in all four matches.
His best moment for Craiova was in the 1983 UEFA Cup when he kept clean sheets against Fiorentina away , Shamrock Rovers in both games , against Bordeaux both games , against Kaiserslautern home and Benfica away in the semifinal. His best year came in 1984 when he was named Romanian footballer of the year and was also nominated for the Ballon d'Or
18.Ion Parcalab
Parcalab is one of the great legends of Romanian football. He was famed for his extraordinary ability to deliver a pinpoint accurate cross while running at top speed. For his amazing pace , the legendary coach Helenio Herrera nicknamed him "The Carpathian Arrow".
He played almost all his career for Dinamo FC , becoming one of the clubs all time idols and winning 4 league titles and 2 romanian cups. In 1965 , when he won his last league title , he also participated in the European Cup and scored 2 goals in 2 games and also scored against Euesbio's Portugal that year. He earned the distinction of Romanian Player of the year.
Parcalab was one of the few Romanian players of the time that was able to play for a foreign club and signed for Nîmes Olympique. In the
1971 - 1972 season , he was a key player for the club , contributing with 11 goals and assisting many others in 35 games as Nimes finished runner-up. They also won the Cup of the Alps that year , trashing Bordeaux 7-2 in the Final.
17.Dan Petrescu
Dan Petrescu is Romania's greatest right-back of all time. At only 21 years old , he was a regular starter for the Steaua team that reached the 1989 European Cup Final and played the whole 90 minutes of the match.
His career high point was at Chelsea where he won 1 FA Cup , 1 League Cup , 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and 1 UEFA Super Cup. At the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards , he was named as the best foreign right back since the inception of the Premiere League.
Petrescu registered 95 caps for the Romanian national football team. He made his debut for the squad in 1989, and played at four major tournaments: the 1994 World Cup, Euro 96, the 1998 World Cup, and Euro 2000.
16.Alexandru Apolzan
It was the Romanian Apolzan who invented the libero role while at Steaua Bucureşti , however, Apolzan played during the darkest period in the history of Romania, when the connections with the outside world were almost cut completely.
He was a complete player being able to play in all defensive positions and even started out his career as a forward. He had an impecable aerial game(was nickanmed Apollozan in reference to the greek sun god) , had a strong and accurate shot with both feet and possessed imbecable technique and elegance in both offensive and defensive play , never showing struggle. He was also an icredibly fast player , as his former team mate Ilie Savu recalls , he raced with multiple Balkan Champion at the 100 meter dash , Ion Moina and was beaten only at the last steps. He was clocked at 11 seconds over 100 meters with the heavy football boots.
Hungarian coach Gusztáv Sebes, builder of the great Hungarian team from the first half of the 1950s - the Magical Magyars, said in 1954, after the 1954 FIFA World Cup that Apolzan, Ion Voinescu and Titus Ozon are at the same level as his own Hungarian players and that he would be proud to be able to coach them.
15.Costica Stefanescu
Stefanescu si considred by many as Romania's most talented defender of all time but couldn't reach that status because he wasn't allowed to play abroad. He was nicknamed Beckenbauer and the "Minister of defence" because of his elegance , impecable ball skills and unrivalled dominance in defence , but many considered that his best atribute was his captain armband , Costica being a exemplary captain for both Craiova during their golden generation and Romania , possesing legendary leadership.
For many years , he was the all time appearance leader in Divizia A , until being recently surpassed by Ionel Danciulescu. In the early 80's , preceding the partnderships of Mutu-Chivu and Hagi-Popescu , Stefanescu alongside Balaci were Romania's top players.
In 1983 , he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.
14.Stefan Dobay
Dobay was one of the best Romanian football players during the pre-War era. He played as a left winger where he made great use of his pace. He is remembered as one of the players with the strongest shot during his era.
During his career , Dobay has finished an all time record 4 times as the Romanian league's top scorer and till the golden generation in 94 , he was Romania's all time top scorer in World Cups with 3 goals.
13.Cristian Chivu
Chivu is widley considered as one of the best romanian players of modern era. He started out as a incredibly talented defender in the Romanian league being aalready one of the best defenders in the league at 18 years old while playing for U.Craiova. Next season , he was bout by Ajax where he impressed from the first season earning the Marco van Basten Trophy. In the 2001–02 season , he was named best player of the Deutch league and was also included in the UEFA Team of the year. Next year , he replicated his form once again and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or. He was eventually bought by Roma where despite a regular in defence, he made limited appearances due to injuries. In his last season before joining Inter , he won the Coppa Italia and was considered the best left back in Serie A. At Inter , Chivu won 2 League titles and 2 Cups , but his greatest achievement was the UCL in 2010 , tough he is remembered as inconsistent , partially due to injuries.
He has been named Romanian player of the year , finished runner-up and 3rd place , 3 times each during his career.
12.Miodrag Belodedici
Nicknamed the deer due to his elegant tackles , Belodedici is remembered as one of the greatest eastern-european defenders ever and amongst the best defenders of his generation.
Belodedici was the key player in the Steaua generation that were crown European Champions and also the main defensive unit for the Red Star team that recieved the same accolade in 1991 , and became the first player to win the European Cup with two different clubs. That year , he finished 8th at the Ballon d'Dor , the highest defender in the ranking.
Belodedici was also part of Romania's golden generation that reached the best results in it's history , most notable the World Cup quarter finals in 1994.
11.Ladislau Boloni
Boloni is remembered as one of the countries finest players ever.He was an excellent box to box midfielder, good destroyer and creator in midfield. He had great passing range, solid shot and good technique, with very important defensive contribution, running and fighting in midfield.
At club level , he played most of his career for Targu Mures becoming their undisputed best player ever , and also was a key payer for the Steau generation that won the European Champions Cup. He was named 2 times Romanian player of the year , finished runner-up another 2 times , once 3rd and two times 4th.
Playing for the Romanian national team in 1983, Bölöni scored one of his most vital goals ever, in the 1–0 win against Italy in a Euro 84 qualification match which eventually proved invaluable to the country's qualification for the tournament. At the finals themselves in France, he played in all three of Romania's games, and scored the equaliser in the 1–1 draw with Spain in Saint-Etienne.In total, Bölöni won 102 caps for Romania and scored 23 goals.
10.Florea Dumitrache
Dumitrache is still remembered as one of the best Romanian players ever and as Dinamo Bucharest's best ever player. He was a striker renowned for his exceptional dribbling and spectacular aerial ability.
After the 1970 World Cup Italian club Juventus wanted to sign him for an estimated 1,5 million dollars(would have been the all-time transfer record) but Nicolae Ceauşescu's communist regime refused.
In 1968 and 1969 he was named Romanian footballer of the year and in 1970 for his World Cup performance , he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.
9.Stefan Auer
Auer was footballer of German descent who at various times competed for both Hungary and Romania. Auer has been an outstanding goal scorer during his career by any standard or era. For Ujpest , he scored 161 goals in 150 games. For Rapid 56 in 73. For Romania 3 goals in 2 matches and for Hungary 24 in only 21. In 1931 he was named Hungarian Footballer of the Year , while competing with many great legends of the time. In 1929 , he was hailed amongst the world's best player for being the top scorer of the Mitropa Cup with 10 goals.
8.Iosif Petschovschi
Petchovschi is remembered as Romania's top player during the late 40's and 50s. Iosif played on all positions but mainly as inside forward or wing half, nicknamed "Romanian Di Stefano" for his versatility and leadership , he was a complete player with highly refined technique, two-footed , great shot especially from long distances, great FK taker, strong in aerial play and above all stunning strategist. He was the brillant brain that organized all the team's moves with highly precise passes, great technician with perfect ball control and dribblings, great pace as well which compensated fragile physical constitution.
In 1952 he became the first footballer to receive the title of Master of Sport. Iosif was also the first Romanian footballer to be called to play for a World All Star XI alongside the biggest names of football.
7.Iuliu Bodola
Iuliu Bodola was a Romanian-Hungarian footballer who played international football for both nations. During his career he played for 6 clubs being a prolifc goals scorer for all of them.
"For me, the greatest Romanian footballer of all time was Iuliu Bodola. Neither Nicolae Dobrin, nor Gheorghe Hagi could be compared with him"-Former Romania coach Angelo Niculescu
Bodola was a very prolific scorer for Romania. He and Wetzer were the top two goalscorers of the 1929–1931 (first) edition of the Balkan Cup (which Romania won). They scored seven goals each for their country in that tournament alone. He played at both the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cup for Romania. After World War II he represented Hungary. For the Romanian national team , he was the all time top scorer for 50 years until Hagi broke his record. But Hagi scored 35 goals in 125 matches , while Bodola scored 30 in only 48. In adition , he also scored 4 goals for Hungary. In 1942 while playing for CA Oradea , he was named Hugarian footballer of the year , ahead of great players of the time like Sarosi and Zsengellér.
6.Iuliu Baratky
Nicknamed the "Blonde Miracle" , he is considered one of the best Romanian footballer of all time and the best during the pre-war era. His ex team mate Costea said he was better than Balaci , Dobrin and Hagi. He was a player with good technique, great free kick and penalty taker(allegedly he was able to hit the crossbar 10 out of 10 times everytime he tried) , excellent dribbling and had a very strong shot with his both feet.
He represented Romania in 2 of the pre war World Cups and has played during his career in all positions. Baratky was mainly a forward but was even described as Europe's best right-half in 1930. He played many times as defender and even as goalkeeper for Romania in a match against Spain. Even today Iuliu is Rapid's greatest player of all time.
5.Adrian Mutu
A highly skilful and creative player, with an eye for goal, who has been troubled by off-field issues, however, Mutu is capable of playing in several offensive positions, as a supporting forward, as a striker, as a winger, and also as an attacking midfielder, due to his ability to both score and assist goals. Often compared to compatriot Gheorghe Hagi, in his prime, Mutu was a quick and mobile player, with excellent technical skills and dribbling ability, and was also an accurate set-piece and penalty-kick taker.
He first caught the eye of big clubs at Dinamo scoring 25 goals in 24 matches and earned a transfer at Inter. He first started being world class at Parma scoring 22 i 36 games in the 2002/2003 season. That year he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or. His career later suffered because of off-field issues but regained his class at Fiorentina where he is still remembered as one of the very best players ever in the club's history. Adrian is also Romania's all time top scorer alongside Hagi with 35 goals.
4.Gica Popescu
Gheorghe Popescu is considered by many the greatest Eastern European defender of all-time. He could play as center-back and Defensive Midfielder. His tactical knowledge as a defender made him valuable team member in top European competitions even until he reached his late-thirties. Beside from his defending skills, his is also capable of using the ball and starting attacks from deep with his technical and playmaking abilities.
Popescu was never outside the top 4 in the Romanian Footballer of the Year awards for 13 years from 1989 until 2001 , winning the award a total of 6 times. During his career , he played for many teams , most notbaly for Barcelona.He was made captain of the Catalan club, contributing to their Copa del Rey glory in his first season and their UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph in his second.Gica has also been the most key defensive player during Romania's golden generation in the 90's and early 2000s.
3.Ilie Balaci
Ilie Balaci is considered by many the greatest romanian player of all time , and arguably the most talented. He was the complete player , possessing outstanding dribbling , being impossible to contain even for the likes of Passarella , Gentile , Briegel , Bertoni etc. , a vast array of passing , great speed , lethal dead-ball specialist , strong shot with either foot and also dangerous in the air.
Altough massively talented , Balaci was badly injured in 84 and his career went downhill ever since. He is by far Universitatea Craiova's greatest player ever winning with them 3 league titles and 4 Romanian Cups. He was a starter from his first season this his last for the team , being integral in all of their titles and european performances.
2.Nicolae Dobrin
Nicolae Dobrin is arguably the most talented Romanian player of all time and also is considered to have been one of the very best dribblers in football history.
He played almost all his career at Argeș Pitești where he became not only the club's idol , but also the Romanian League's best player ever. He managed to led Arges to 2 Romanian League titles , a phenomenal feat considering the lack of talent surrounding him in comparasion with the Bucharest Teams that also recieved many benefits.Dobrin is also known for famously missing out on a transfer to Real Madrid. After playing them in a European Cup game and scoring a goal, Santiago Bernabéu was so impressed with Dobrin's skills that he wanted to transfer him to the Spanish team for 2 million $, much more than the all time record at the time. Because of the communist regime in Romania in that period, Bernabéu had to hold talks with Nicolae Ceaușescu himself, but could not persuade him, because Dobrin was regarded as a "national good" and such values could not be "estranged".
1.Gheorghe Hagi
Gheorghe Hagi was considered by many the best attacking midfielder in Europe during the late 1980s and 1990s being renowned for his technique, vision, passing , finishing , free-kick and one of the greatest long-range shooters in football history.
He already became a great player while at Sportul Studențesc scoring 34 goals in only 33 games(1985–86 season) despite being a playmaker.
He then moved to Steaua wining 3 Romanian leagues , 2 Romanian Cups and finished runner-up for the European Cup in 89 being also the top scorer in the 88 edition.
He later played a few season for Real Madrid , Brescia and Barcelona and finaly ended up at Galatasaray where he became arguably the club's best player of all time. He played his final 5 years at Galata wining 4 Turkish Super Leagues , 2 Turkish Cups and 1 UEFA Cup.Also they beaten Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.
Hagi's best moment came tough at international stage where he is Romania's all time top scorer with 35 goals.He was the undiputed star of the best Romania that qualified for 3 consecutive World Cup final tournaments and also the 2000 EURO. In the 94 World Cup , hagi scored a folha secca that was the goal of the tournament and was named in the all-star team.
He was ranked by World Soccer as the 25th best football player of the century.
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