“This is how football can still help”

Romulus Gabor, 64 years old, former international and student of Mircea Lucescu at Corvinul, wanted to convey, through Gazeta Sporturilor, a message of encouragement to his former coach and mentor, upon hearing of the delicate medical problems the selector faced this morning.

The former great footballer of Corvinu, with a career marked by the influence of Mircea Lucescu, sympathized with “Il Luce” and spoke about the mental consumption that came with the confrontation with the Turks. It seems that the technician would have been very affected, in the last 48 hours, by the way his players interpreted some moments of the game in Istanbul.

Romulus Gabor, Mircea Lucescu's “child” from Corvinul: “Of course stress is to blame, he was very upset”

“I also saw the news, I read it online. It's good that he recovered, it's very good! Of course the stress he is going through is to blame, I am convinced that he was very upset that he did not manage to pass Turkeybecause he really wanted to get this qualification, he wanted to give something to the national team.

It's the age… Plus this setback that has affected him quite a bit. Probably one prepared in training, and during the game the footballers didn't really respect what was discussed, I think.

At 80, you can no longer be perfectly healthy, especially in sports and football, which consume so much. You want to do everything to be good for the team, for the country. When it doesn't work out, you're naturally affected, no matter who you are.

I'm glad for Mircea that she recovered, now I don't know if she will continue… I don't know if it would be advisable to continue. Of course, football can help with advice, he knows how. It can help the national team, it can help the clubs. But also, football is very consuming, especially from a certain age. I hope we will also reach Mircea's age.

No matter how strong you are, it's normal for such a failure to affect you.

Through you, I want to send him good health, I'm going to call him. Probably a lot of people are calling him and I didn't want to bother him anymore. Let it be good, first of all, that others also come to football!”, said Romulus Gabor.

The Hunedorian Romulus Gabor, a name with weight in the history of Corvinu, has 35 appearances in the first representative team.

Buy for Mircea Lucescu: the timeline of an emotional day for Romanian football

• Mircea Lucescu fainted this morning during the technical meeting preceding the last training before the team's departure to Slovakia, scheduled at 18:00;
• The selector, who received a severe diagnosis at the beginning of the year, “was talking to the players and felt sick. He stopped his speech, sat on a chair and stopped reacting, he seemed to be unable to breathe,” say witnesses;
• Lucescu seemed to be unable to breathe, which is why the emergency intervention of the doctor from the first team, Claudiu Stamatescu, was requested. The medical staff of the national team gave him first aid, after which two SMURD ambulances were called, which took him to the University Hospital;
• The diagnosis offered by the doctors at the University: heart rhythm disorders, and the patient will remain hospitalized;
• GSP sources say that Lucescu would have consumed heavily after the defeat with Turkey, which ended Romania's road to the World Football Championship, and would not have slept at all that night;
• Tonight, the Romanian national team leaves for Slovakia, where the two seconds, Jerry Gane and Florin Constantinovici, will sit on the bench.
• In a first reaction, in a dialogue with Ovidiu Ioanițoaia, Mircea Lucescu said: “I feel good now, I've fully recovered, but I'm going to undergo some more investigations, so I'm still in the hospital”;
• Răzvan Burleanu, the president of the Romanian Football Federation, claims that the suspension of the match Slovakia – Romania (Tuesday, 21:45) was taken into account, following the scare with the coach.