Ilie Năstase's ranking where Mircea Lucescu is “the best that ever existed in our country!” » Make a discretionary call

Within a year and a half, Romania lost three important legends of Romanian sport, Helmut Duckadam, Emeric Ienei and, now, Mircea Lucescu. A titan of Romanian tennis, “Nasty” sent a short message to the disappearance of the former selector, in a dialogue with GSP.ro.

Năstase, who appeals for decency in these hard trying days for the family, considers Mircea Lucescu “the best coach that ever existed in our country”.

Ilie Năstase, tribute to the incomparable Mircea Lucescu: “The best coach that ever existed in our country!”

“I'm sorry! He was the best coach that existed here and the third in the world, we have to respect him for these things.

It's his decision, it was his pleasure to train, to continue with the national team being ill. That means passion, so we have to respect his decision. We have no way to comment on something like that,” said the former ATP #1.

He had gotten to know Mircea Lucescu closely, and the former great player remembered the special moments he had with the coach:

“I know that at one point I was at Rică Răducanu's birthday, I was with Mircea, with Aurică Munteanu, with Gino Iorgulescu, I celebrated Rică's birthday at his home… Beautiful times!”.

Being abroad, Năstase says that he will do his best to reach the country to say goodbye to Mircea Lucescu. “Il Luce” will be buried on Friday in a small ceremony attended by his family and close friends.

“I'm not in the country now, but I'll be back tomorrow. I'm trying to stop by the stadium,” said Ilie Năstase, who will turn 80 this summer.

The former great athlete believes that the family needs discretion at the same time: “We can do shows about him, but I don't think now is the time. Let's leave them alone for a day or two… I think the world is more discreet abroad”.

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 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.

VIDEO. Il Luce. The Master – Documentary GSP