Marcel Răducanu (original) (raw)

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Romanian footballer (born 1954)

Marcel Răducanu

Răducanu in 2014
Personal information
Date of birth (1954-10-21) 21 October 1954 (age 71)
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1962–1964 Progresul București
1964–1972 Steaua București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1981 Steaua București 229 (94)
1982–1988 Borussia Dortmund 163 (31)
1988–1990 FC Zürich 47 (12)
Total 439 (137)
International career
1976–1981 Romania[a] 21 (3)
Managerial career
1992–1993 Türkgücü München
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marcel Răducanu (born 21 October 1954) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

"Răducanu had an exceptional left foot, practically a feast for the viewer's eye. Making a comparison over time, we can put him on the same value scale as Hagi."

Răducanu was born on 21 October 1954 in Bucharest, Romania.[4] He grew up in the Pantelimon neighborhood and started to play football at the age of seven at Progresul București.[3][5] Subsequently, at the age of nine and a half, he moved to Steaua București's youth center where he was coached by Francisc Fabian.[3][5][6]

Răducanu made his Divizia A debut on 22 April 1973, playing under coach Gheorghe Constantin in Steaua's 2–0 loss to CSM Reșița.[4][6] He helped The Military Men win The Double in the 1975–76 season, contributing with 17 goals in the 31 league matches he was used by coach Emerich Jenei.[4][6][7] The coach also used him until the 63rd minute when he replaced him with Viorel Năstase in the 1–0 victory against CSU Galați in the Cupa României final.[4][6][8] Răducanu won another title under coach Jenei in the 1977–78 season for which he contributed with 18 goals in 31 matches.[4][6][7] Subsequently, he won the 1978–79 Cupa României in which he was used by coach Gheorghe Constantin the entire match in the final, scoring two goals in the 3–0 win over Sportul Studențesc București.[4][9] In the 1979–80 season, he netted a personal record of 23 goals, being the league second top-scorer, having one fewer than Universitatea Cluj's Septimiu Câmpeanu.[4][10][11]

Răducanu also played 11 matches in which he scored five goals in European competitions for Steaua.[4] In the 6–0 victory against Young Boys in the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup, Răducanu netted one of his most beautiful goals after showing his dribbling abilities against Young Boys' defense, the Swiss goalkeeper, Walter Eichenberger saying in an interview years later after that match:"He humiliated us and laughed at us".[12] In 1980 he was named the Romanian Footballer of the Year and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.[4][5][13] During these years he scored three league goals in the derby against Dinamo, as his side earned two victories and one loss, also netting once in a Cupa României victory.[14] He made his last Divizia A appearance on 21 June 1981 in a 2–1 away win over FCM Galați, having a total of 229 appearances with 94 goals in the competition.[4][5]

In the summer of 1981, Răducanu defected following a match in Dortmund, West Germany.[15][16][17] In his native Romania this act was considered a desertion, as he was a captain in the Army, therefore he was sentenced to nearly six years in prison in his absence.[10][15][16][17][18] Once in West Germany he signed with both Hannover 96 and Borussia Dortmund, and as a result was suspended by UEFA for one year.[5][16][17][19] In order to have his services, Borussia paid half a million deutschmarks to Hannover, and Răducanu made his debut in Bundesliga on 17 August 1982 under coach Karl-Heinz Feldkamp in a 1–1 draw against VfB Stuttgart.[5][10][17] In his first season, Răducanu scored nine goals in 26 matches, including two goals in a 4–4 draw against Bayern Munich of which one was from a free kick and the other after a series of dribbles.[4][17][18] These performances made sports magazine Kicker include him in the team of the 1982–83 season.[5][10][16][17] Between 1982 and 1988, he played a total of 163 Bundesliga matches with 31 goals and made five appearances in European competitions.[17][20] In 2022, the German newspaper Bild included Răducanu in Borussia Dortmund's best 50 players of all time, placing him in 50th place.[17][21]

In 1988 Răducanu signed a contract in Switzerland with FC Zürich.[5][6][17][22] There, he played 47 league matches, scoring 12 goals and winning the promotion to the top league Nationalliga A in his second season.[17][22]

International career

[edit]

Răducanu (bottom row, second from right) with Romania at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples, Italy, February 1980.

Răducanu played 18 games and scored three goals for Romania, making his debut on 13 May 1979 when coach Florin Halagian sent him in the 65th minute to replace Constantin Stan in a 1–1 draw against Cyprus in the Euro 1980 qualifiers.[1][23][24] He played another two games during those qualifiers, scoring a goal in each of them, a 2–1 loss to Yugoslavia and a 2–0 win in the second leg against Cyprus.[1] In the 1977–80 Balkan Cup final, he played in both legs of the 4–3 aggregate victory against Yugoslavia.[1] Răducanu played four games in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, including a 2–1 win over England in which he opened the score.[1]

International goals

[edit]

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Răducanu goal.[1]

List of international goals scored by Marcel Răducanu

# Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 31 October 1979 Stadion Trepča, Mitrovica, Kosovo, Yugoslavia 4 Yugoslavia 1–2 1–2 Euro 1980 qualifiers
2 18 November 1979 Stadionul Dinamo, Bucharest, Romania 5 Cyprus 2–0 2–0 Euro 1980 qualifiers
3 15 October 1980 Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania 13 England 1–0 2–1 1982 World Cup qualifiers

Răducanu coached Türkgücü München in the 1992–93 Landesliga Bayern-Süd season.[25] In 1994 he opened a football school in Dortmund and Mario Götze trained at his academy when he was 10 years old.[26]

His uncle, Marin Voinea, was also a footballer.[3][5]

A book about him was written by George Coca Lob, titled Marcel Răducanu. Talent, fenomen și legendă (Marcel Răducanu. Talent, phenomenon and legend).[3]

Steaua București

FC Zürich

Romania

  1. ^ Including three appearances for Romania's Olympic team.[1][2]

  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Marcel Răducanu". European Football. Retrieved 28 January 2021.

  3. ^ Marcel Răducanu at National-Football-Teams.com

  4. ^ a b c d e "10 pasaje tari din noua carte a lui "Iosefini" Marcel Răducanu. Turnători, mașina de fițe nemaivăzută în București și marea lui plăcere: "Să îi dau gol lui Dinamo după ce îl driblez pe Dinu"" [10 great passages from the new book by "Iosefini" Marcel Răducanu. Turnători, the face machine never seen in Bucharest and his great pleasure: "To score a goal for Dinamo after I dribble Dinu"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.

  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Marcel Răducanu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)

  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Marcel Răducanu, artistul-fotbalist fugit în Germania pe timpul lui Ceaușescu: dribla tot ce-i ieșea în cale!" [Marcel Răducanu, the footballing artist who fled to Germany during Ceausescu's time: he dribbled everything that came his way!] (in Romanian). Elitaromaniei.ro. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2020.

  7. ^ a b c d e f "Povești neștiute din cariera lui Marcel Răducanu: farsa care i-a pus cariera în pericol, profesoara de astrologie care l-a salvat de la arest și cum s-a integrat la Steaua" [Unknown stories from Marcel Răducanu's career: the farce that endangered his career, the astrology teacher who saved him from arrest and how he integrated into Steaua] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

  8. ^ a b "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

  9. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1975–1976". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

  10. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1978–1979". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 August 2022.

  11. ^ a b c d "Marcel Raducanu. Copilul sufletului de stelist" [Marcel Raducanu. The child of the Steaua soul] (in Romanian). Fcsteaua.ro. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2025.

  12. ^ "Top Scorers" (in Romanian). RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 October 2025.

  13. ^ "Povestea savuroasă a unui dribling care nu se uită nici după 32 de ani! "Ne-a umilit şi a rîs de noi!"" [The delicious story of a dribble that is not forgotten even after 32 years! "He humiliated us and laughed at us!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
    "Romanul care i-a facut old-boys pe cei de la Young Boys: "Am ras inainte sa marchez in poarta goala"" [The Romanian that made the Young Boys old-boys:"I laughed before I scored in the empty net"] (in Romanian). Ultimafaza.ro. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

  14. ^ a b Pierrend, José Luis (1 February 2006). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1980". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
    "Dumitru Macri, primul fotbalist român nominalizat la Balonul de Aur! Gică Hagi, aproape de succes în 1994" [Dumitru Macri, the first Romanian footballer nominated for the Golden Ball! Gica Hagi, almost successful in 1994] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2020.

  15. ^ "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1976–77". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
    "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1978–79". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
    "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1980–81". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
    "Dinamo – FCSB, în Cupa României! Bilanțul all-time, cele mai clare victorii, cei mai buni marcatori și meciul cu cele mai multe goluri" [Dinamo – FCSB, in the Romanian Cup! The all-time record, the clearest victories, the best scorers and the match with the most goals]. Prosport.ro. 30 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2025.

  16. ^ a b "Marcel Raducanu – Die Flucht zum BVB" (in German). Der Westen. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

  17. ^ a b c d "Marcel Răducanu își spune oful în premieră: "Hagi și alți jucători nu m-au vrut la Mondialul din 1990!"" [Marcel Răducanu tells his story for the first time: "Hagi and other players didn't want me at the 1990 World Cup!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Furia Zidului Galben, cea mai celebră peluză din lume, care dă putere Borussiei Dortmund. Marcel Răducanu a fost inclus de Bild în topul celor mai mari jucători din istoria clubului" [The fury of the Yellow Wall, the world's most famous stand, which powers Borussia Dortmund. Marcel Răducanu was included by Bild in the list of the greatest players in the history of the club] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

  19. ^ a b ""Der Klassiker" din '83 decis de dubla lui Răducanu" ["Der Klassiker" from '83 decided by Răducanu's double] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

  20. ^ "Marcel Raducan" (in German). bvb-freunde.de. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

  21. ^ "Marcel Raducanu" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 12 February 2010.

  22. ^ "Bild nu l-a uitat pe Marcel Răducanu: "Maradona din Balcani!"" [Bild did not forget Marcel Răducanu: "Maradona from the Balkans!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

  23. ^ a b "Marcel Raducanu" (in German). dbFCZ. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

  24. ^ "Cyprus 1-1 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

  25. ^ Siminiceanu, Radu (6 April 2003). "Romania National Team 1980–1989 – Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

  26. ^ "Marcel Răducanu". Fupa.net. Retrieved 2 July 2022.

  27. ^ Schuth, Joachim (8 October 2013). "Die Dortmund-Legende über seine Entdeckung". Bild (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2013.

  28. ^ "Bundesliga Historie 1982/83" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.