“”Get married early!”, that's what he told us” » The lesser-known stories of the “tricolor” debuted by Mircea Lucescu directly at the EURO: “Psychically marked”

Being in the national team at EURO '84 – starter in the first two matches – and promoted under the tricolor by Lucescu himself, Marin Dragnea did not remain indifferent to the loss of the great technician.

A key player at Dinamo in the 80s, the former midfielder, who also recently suffered a tragedy, the premature death of his daughter, Marin Dragnea took out from the box of memories various anecdotes and examples from his interactions with Mircea Lucescu.

Reverence of Marin Dragnea, the footballer “invented” by Mircea Lucescu and selected for EURO '84: “He liked to have strong characters next to him”

“God rest him in peace! He was a coach who he promoted a lot of players, not just me, and helped them all his life. I had all the respect for him.

Apart from the fact that he summoned me to the national team and thanks to him I reached the final tournament in 1984, his he liked to have strong characters around him. He always looked at the way you worked in training, if you had a healthy character. He always relied on these things.

He knew what qualities we have and he helped us individually, he knew what it was based on. He was interested, he didn't take players whose character he didn't know. He wanted to train players, and he always liked success. He was very hard on us when we lost a game.

And when he came to Dinamo, he always had meals with the families, we went to the theater, to the restaurant. He was also trying to unite us from a family point of view.

He told us at one point: “Get married early! As long as you have a family, don't think elsewhere, have a child too…!». That way, we could be thinking more about what he wanted us to do”, recalled Marin Dragnea, in dialogue with Gazeta Sporturilor.

“The defeat against Turkey took a toll on him mentally”

Despite the health problems that Mircea Lucescu was facing for some time, the three-time champion with Dinamo did not anticipate that the end of “Il Luce” would be consumed so quickly:

“I didn't expect it! We used to meet a lot at Dinamo matches, we used to see each other in the “Loja Legendelor”, on the Arc de Triumf, at the National Arena. He didn't look like a sick man, he always came and discussed football, for him there was no other topic. And we liked it, we still remember the time spent at the national team.

Mircea Lucescu, together with the former great footballers of the “dogs”, in the Loja of Dynamo legends / Photo source: Facebook @ Dinamo

Probably this defeat with Turkey marked him mentally.

I knew how he prepared the games, he did it very well, he gave us a sheet each, he told us what qualities and what flaws our opponents have. He prepared the matches down to the smallest details, he knew what to tell us and how to convey to us what we had to do, he had some very good methods of preparing training and games”, said Dragnea.

I spoke with Augustin, with Orac, with Movilă, with Mateuț, we will go to the National Arena on Thursday to pay him a final tribute.

– Marin Dragnea

5 matchesaccumulated Marin Dragnea in the national team, between 1984 and 1986

Romania's team at EURO '84

• Goalkeepers: S. Lung (U Craiova), D. Moraru (Dinamo), V. Iordache (Steaua)
• defense: M. Rednic (Dinamo), Ştefănescu (U Craiova), Ungureanu (U Craiova), G. Iorgulescu (Sportul), I. Andone (Dinamo), Negrilă (U Craiova), Zare (FC Bihor)
• midfielders: Bölöni (ASA Tg. Mureş), M. Klein (Corvinul), M. Dragnea (Dinamo)Hagi (Sportul), Ţicleanu (U Craiova), M. Irimescu (U Craiova)
• Strikers: Cămătaru (U Craiova), Coraş (Sportul), Gabor (Corvinul), Augustin (Dinamo)

Mircea Lucescu, unparalleled career in football

The career of the player Mircea Lucescu. GSP.RO infographic

• 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.
• As a player, he won 7 championship titles and a Romanian Cup, all with Dinamo.
• Throughout his coaching career, he trained Corvinul, the Romanian national team, Dinamo, Pisa, Brescia, Reggiana, Rapid, Inter, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, Shakhtior, Zenit, the Turkish national team and Dinamo Kiev.
• 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.

VIDEO. Il Luce. The Master – Documentary GSP