The message of David Popovici, after the disappearance of Mircea Lucescu » 5 months ago he stopped his training to meet him
Article by Maria Olteanu – Published on Tuesday, 07 April 2026, 23:29 / Updated on Tuesday, 07 April 2026 23:29
Olympic champion David Popovici, a swimmer at CS Dinamo, a club where Mircea Lucescu wrote history over the years, reacted shortly after the death of the renowned technician, who passed away on Tuesday evening, April 7, at the age of 80, at the Bucharest University Hospital.
David Popovici published a short message, of only three words, along with a picture taken recently, about 5 months ago, when Mircea Lucescu happened to arrive at one of his training sessions, at which point David, when he saw him at the window, stopped to greet him and have a memory together.
“A huge void…”was the message posted by the gold medalist in the 200 meters freestyle at the Paris Olympics.
David Popovici and Mircea Lucescu
David Popovici interrupted his training for Mircea Lucescu in November 2025
At the end of November 2025, David Popovici met Mircea Lucescu by chance and he definitely wanted to meet the titular technician, despite the fact that he deviated, for a few minutes, from the training program.
Being at a training session at KinetoFit in Băneasa, a clinic located inside the sports base of Dan Șucu from Coresi, David Popovici saw Mircea Lucescu through the window.
The swimmer really wanted to meet Mircea Lucescu and asked those he was training with to take a break to talk to the great coach.
Popovici also requested a picture, and Lucescu gladly accepted. The two then talked for 15 minutes.
Mircea Lucescu, unparalleled career in football
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Mircea Lucescu took his first steps in football at Dinamo Bucharest, the team with which he has spent most of his career. He also performed at Știința Bucharest and Corvinul Hunedoara.
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As a player, he won 6 championship titles and a Romanian Cup, all with Dinamo.
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Throughout his coaching career, he trained Corvinul, the Romanian national team, Dinamo, Pisca, Brescia, Reggiana, Rapid, Inter, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, Shakhtior, Zenit, the Turkish national team and Dinamo Kiev.
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He won 36 trophies in his career as a technician: 9 times the championship of Ukraine, 8 times the Ukrainian Cup, 7 times the Ukrainian Supercup, 3 times the Romanian Cup, 2 times the Romanian championship, 2 times the Turkish championship, as well as the UEFA Cup, the European Super Cup, the Russian Super Cup and the Anglo-Italian Cup.
