“He secretly gave us extra Puma equipment” + “Lui Lupescu and Răducioiu fixed their leg with his hand!”

Florin Prunea grew up at Dinamo under the baton of Mircea Lucescu, the man who offered him the launch pad in Ștefan cel Mare from an early age.

Along with Lupescu or Răducioiu, the ex-keeper of the “dogs” was one of the young people promoted by Lucescu towards big football in the early 80s. Now, Prunea mourns the passing of one of the greatest coaches in the history of Romanian football.

Florin Prunea: “I felt from the first day that Lucescu is a revolutionary”

“I hoped until the last moment that he would not leave us. I am very sorry! I am one of his children from Dinamo. Before nea Mircea came, I had worked before, when I was a kid, with Cernăianu, with nea Nae Nicușor, with Dinu, but at Lucescu I felt like a revolution from the first day!”, says Florin Prunea, for GSP.

And he adds: “I was constantly looking into his mouth and absorbing his words with my eyes. He had a phenomenal work capacity. He would stay for hours with us, the young ones, after training, to help us grow. I remember that he would actually take Răducioiu and Lupescu's foot in his hand and show them how to hit the ball.”

“I was leaving with Răzvan, and nea Mircea always had a piece of advice”

Florin Prunea and Răzvan Lucescu have been friends since childhood

Prunea recalled an unusual episode from Dinamo's training camps: “When the equipment from Puma arrived, he secretly called us young people to Săftica and gave us an extra tracksuit, without the veterans knowing. He told us: make sure these old people don't see you, because later they will say they love you too much”.

And moments related to the Lucescu family: “I've known Răzvan since I was 10 years old. We were leaving together from his house near Cișmigiu, and Mrs. Neli would make us a cup of cocoa with milk and give us a sandwich to have on the way. Mircea would also appear and tell me – Florine, take care of Răzvan! I'll never forget these!”.

Mircea Lucescu, an unmatched career

• 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 6 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.