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Emil Petru

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Emil Petru
Emil Petru in the 60's.
Personal information
Date of birth (1939-09-28)28 September 1939
Place of birth Târnăveni, Romania
Date of death 1 March 1995(1995-03-01) (aged 55)
Place of death Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1949–1955 Știința Cluj
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1956–1963 Știința Cluj 129 (30)
1963–1966 Dinamo București 47 (4)
1966–1967 Universitatea Cluj 15 (1)
1967–1969 CFR Cluj 36 (0)
Total 227 (35)
International career‡
1961–1963 Romania U-23 2 (0)
1961–1963 Romania B 2 (0)
1962–1969 Romania[a] 16 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 September 2017
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 September 2017

Emil Petru (28 September 1939 – 1 March 1995) was a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.[3] In his career, he played mainly for Universitatea Cluj and represented Romania at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Club career

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Emil Petru was born on 28 September 1939 in Târnăveni, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1949 at Știința Cluj.[4][5] He made his Divizia A debut under coach Nicolae Munteanu on 7 October 1956 in a 3–1 away loss in front of Dianmo Brașov, by the end of the season also appearing as a starter in a 8–0 loss with Dinamo București.[4][5][6] The team relegated by the end of his first season but Petru stayed with the club, helping it promote after one season with 12 goals scored in 16 appearances, including a hat-trick with Locomotiva Arad, four goals in a away game against Tractorul Brașov and a brace in a Cluj derby with CFR Cluj.[4][5][7] In the following five seasons, Petru was a constant appearance for the team in the first league, the highlights of this period being two 4th positions in the 1960–61 and 1962–63 seasons, also eight goals scored in the 1961–62 season.[4][5]

In 1963, Petru went to play for Dinamo București where in his first season he helped the club win The Double, coaches Traian Ionescu and Nicolae Dumitru using him in 23 league games in which he scored eight goals, also he played all the minutes in the 5–3 win over rivals Steaua București from the Cupa României final.[4][8][9] In the same season he started to play in European competitions, making four appearances in the European Cup, scoring one goal in a 2–0 victory against East Germany champion, Motor Jena which helped the club advance to the next phase where they were eliminated by Real Madrid.[4][10] In the following season, Petru helped The Red Dogs win another title, contributing with four goals scored in the 19 matches he was used by coach Angelo Niculescu, including finding the net in a 2–1 win in the derby with Steaua, also he played four games in the 1964–65 European Cup, scoring one goal which helped them pass Sliema Wanderers, the campaign ending in the following round as they were defeated by Inter Milan.[4][11][12]

After three seasons spent at Dinamo, Petru returned at Universitatea Cluj where on 11 June 1967 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 4–2 away victory over Dinamo Pitești, having a total of 175 games with 31 goals scored in the competition.[4][5] Afterwards, he went for the last two seasons of his career at CFR Cluj, helping the club earn promotion to the first league in his second season.[4][5]

International career

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Emil Petru played seven games and scored two goals at international level for Romania, making his debut on 30 September 1962 under coach Constantin Teașcă in a friendly against Morocco which ended with a 4–0 victory.[1][13] In his following game, also a friendly, he scored a brace in the eventual 3–2 loss in front of East Germany.[1][14] He then played in both legs of the 7–3 loss on aggregate in front of Spain at the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying preliminary round.[1] His last appearance for the national team took part on 9 October 1963, a 0–0 in a friendly with Turkey.[1]

Petru also played for Romania's Olympic team, scoring a brace in a 3–2 loss in front of Denmark at the successful 1964 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[15][16] At the final tournament in Tokyo, he appeared in a 3–1 victory against Mexico in the group stage, a 2–0 loss in front of Hungary in the quarter-finals and in a 3–0 win with Yugoslavia which helped the team finish on the 5th place.[5][15][17]

International goals

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Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Petru goal.[1][14][16]
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 14 October 1962 Heinz-Steyer-Stadion, Dresden, East Germany  East Germany 1–2 2–3 Friendly
2 2–2
3 3 November 1963 Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania  Denmark 1–3 2–3 1964 Summer Olympics qualifiers
4 2–3

Style of play

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Dr. Constantin Rădulescu described Emil Petru as:"Raised at "U", one of the biggest players of Cluj and the country. He played in the junior, youth and senior national teams in numerous matches. Tall with a princely outfit, head held high, peripheral view (for which the coaches of the little ones strive enormously) which he had natively, exceptional technique, as well as the tactical timing of the execution. Relentless right-footed kicks (he scored goals from long distances 25-30 meters), excellent header by lobbing the ball from a diving jump, with perfect mental and moral balance (he played against Real Madrid as well as against Sticla Turda). He had a tendency to gain weight which is why he had a short career."[5]

Marius Bretan said about him:"Attacking midfielder similar to Dobrin, complete, with extraordinary qualities."[3]

Personal life

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Emil Petru was a graduate of the Faculty of Law from Cluj.[5] After retiring from his playing career, he worked as a coach, eventually becoming the coordinator of the Universitatea Cluj's Children and Junior Center.[5] Petru died on 1 March 1995 at age 55.[1][4][5]

Honours

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Știința Cluj

Dinamo București

CFR Cluj

Notes

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  1. ^ Including 9 appearances and two goals for Romania's Olympic team.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Emil Petru". European Football. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  2. ^ Emil Petru at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ a b "Ei sunt copiii Clujului! Vezi cum arată 11-le ideal din toate timpurile format din jucătorii crescuţi de U şi CFR". prosport.ro.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Emil Petru at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Emil Petru profile" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  6. ^ "Universitatea Cluj 1956 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  7. ^ "Universitatea Cluj 1957–58 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
  8. ^ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1963–1964". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
    "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1963–64". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
    "Asta e prima finala Steaua - Dinamo din istorie! Omul care i-a inventat pe Lucescu si Dinu a umilit-o pe Steaua in fata a 70.000 de fani!" [This is the first Steaua - Dinamo final in history! The man who invented Lucescu and Dinu humiliated Steaua in front of 70,000 fans!] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Emil Petru. Champions League 1963/1964". WorldFootball. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1964–65". Romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Emil Petru. Champions League 1964/1965". WorldFootball. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Romania 4-0 Morocco". European Football. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  14. ^ a b "East Germany 3-2 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Emil Petru profile". 11v11. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Romania v Denmark, 03 November 1963". 11v11. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Emil Petru. Olympic Games 1964". WorldFootball. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
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