“We discussed” + Decision made today

• Mircea Lucescu started his prestigious coaching career at Corvinul Hunedoara in 1978. For a while he was also a player-coach at Hunedoara. Under his leadership, Corvinul recorded the most notable performances in history, achieving 3rd place in the championship and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

Boboutanu was in a meeting when he answered Gazeta's call.

“A very sad news. I received it as a shock! We were waiting for him in Hunedoara, he had called me after the match in Zenica, with Bosnia, he wanted to come to launch his book, a whole chapter is dedicated to his activity at Corvinul. He asked me to take care of the event, we were supposed to meet this spring. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible. That was the last time we spoke.

We used to call each other on name days, he was often in Hunedoara in recent years. Before the pandemic, in 2019, on my birthday, he came to Hunedoara and stayed here for two days. He made me promise him that I would take Corvinul back to League 1. He had a saying: «I left you a team for 10 years, which then disappeared from the top-flight football scene». Two years later, in 2021, we started the project. We didn't get to enjoy Corvinul together in the first league…“, is the regret of the mayor of Hunedoara.

Friday, day of local mourning in Hunedoara. Second time in history

Just today, the leaders of Hunedoara decided to “we decree Friday a day of local mourning. I have done this as well when Mihai Leu diedit is the second time, in the history of Hunedoara, that a day of local mourning is decreed.

Mircea Lucescu is also an honorary citizen, he also has a star on the Walk of Fame. He was a very strong personality. It's a big loss. To the family, I want to send my condolences through you. In fact, it is a great loss for Romanian sports, but also for the local community.

There is almost no citizen from us, regardless of age, who does not have a memory related to Lucescu: maybe they were neighbors in Hunedoara when he played and coached here, maybe he sat talking about stories on I don't know what terrace, maybe they were classmates at school. His memories are everywhere in Hunedoara“.

Last night, when I found out, I was thinking – keeping the proportions and without being judged -, that Mircea Lucescu can be compared with a personality like Iancu de Hunedoara. Iancu dedicated his whole life to fighting for Christianity, nee Mircea – a whole life dedicated to football, spent on the green field, and ended up in Mogoșoaia. It is sad, very sad, that everything happened at a galloping pace

– Dan Boboutanuthe mayor of Hunedoara municipality

The new stadium of Corvinu could be called “Mircea Lucescu”

Corvinul Hunedoara, the current leader in the 2nd League, will be promoted to the Superleague. It will also have a new stadium, ready in 2029. The arena could be named after Mircea Lucescu!

“I discussed this with Andone before, and with her Mircea, when he was at a match with CFR in the Cup. The dispute with the Michael Klein family had just appeared and I said to Andone: “What if…”. “It would be honored”.

We are taking this into account, we have also discussed it. This man was not just a sportsman, he was a man who built other people. I have never met anyone who has invested as much in young people. He trained young people, gave them confidence, that was also the case at Corvinul. If we talk about Andone, Rednic, Klein, Văetuş, Gabor, and there are only a few… Many people who became people thanks to him. They not only excelled in sports thanks to him, but also humanly, professionally, they went to school at his will.

Mircea Lucescu is a personality I could talk about for days. It is a tragedy. These are the dramas, not when you lose a match, a qualification. The tragedy is when you lose a man like Mircea Lucescu“, added Dan Boboutanu.

• Above, what the 10,900-seat stadium would look like, which will cost around 64 million euros.

• The local sports complex was called “Michael Klein”, after the former Corvin player. However, his family did not agree to thisand the town hall was forced to change the name of the complex to “Corvinul 1921 Hunedoara”.

PHOTO GALLERY | Mircea Lucescu, images from the Gazeta Sporturilor archive

• 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 Ukrainian championship, 8 times the Ukrainian Cup, 7 times the Ukrainian Supercup, 3 times the Romanian Cup, twice the Romanian championship, twice the Turkish championship, as well as the UEFA Cup, the European Supercup, the Russian Supercup and the Anglo-Italian Cup.