There was no fuss in the sports media, but there should have been. Football lost one of its most significant names on Tuesday (7). Born in Bucharest (Romania), Mircea Lucescu died at the age of 80, from heart problems.
Among those who have become famous, no one in the most popular sport on the planet has built such a long career, including that of a professional player and coach, as Lucescu: 63 years, without interruption.
From 1963, when he began playing for Dinamo in his hometown, until this 2026, at the head of his country’s national team, he was, year in and year out, involved in football on a daily basis, whether kicking a ball or handing it over to his teammates to kick.
I believe that most of those who read these lines have never heard of him. There is an explanation. Lucescu, whether as an athlete or as a coach, did not shine in the most famous European championships.
A quality right-winger at a time when East and West of Europe were not at odds politically and the exchange of labor was rare, he was unable to play in the main centers of the continent.
He never left Romania, wearing the national team’s yellow shirt for 14 years and captaining it in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. He played in the 3-2 defeat to Pelé and company’s Brazil, which would defeat Jules Rimet days later.
With the clipboard, which he started to hold in 1979 even though he had not yet put down his boots (he stopped in 1982), he had opportunities in Italian football in the 1990s. His greatest chance to showcase himself in a glittering showcase was at Inter Milan, with stars such as Ronaldo Fenômeno and Roberto Baggio.
The inconsistent performance prevented him from completing the 1998/1999 season. He left and from then on established himself, with great success, on the European periphery: Türkiye, Russia and, primarily, Ukraine. He reigned there and put Shakhtar Donetsk on the map, almost always with many Brazilians in the squad.
He said he was passionate about Brazilian football, learned to speak Portuguese and maintained friendships with former players, such as Luiz Adriano (striker) and Fernandinho (midfielder).
In Shakhtar’s 13 years, there were 22 titles: 21 national and one international, the UEFA Cup in 2009, the most important achievement for a Ukrainian club.
Lucescu also accumulated other titles in Ukraine (Dynamo Kiev), Turkey (Galatasaray and Besiktas), Russia (Zenit) and Romania (Dynamo and Rapid). In total as a coach, there are 38 (average of 0.8 per year). Adding the winnings as a player, the number of trophies reaches 47.
The level of respect achieved by Lucescu places him on the same level as his compatriot Valeriy Lobanovskyi (1939-2002), creator of “scientific football” and famous for his achievements with Dynamo Kiev for three decades (1970, 1980 and 1990).
But it is his more than 60-year career on or around the field that makes Lucescu as senior as he is legendary. Just compare.
Among the names mentioned, the closest abroad (56 years) are Alex Ferguson (Scottish), 84, and Giovanni Trapattoni (Italian), 87. In Brazil, the longest sequence (58 years, from 1966 to 2024) belongs to Luiz Felipe Scolari, 77. All retired.
Active, Carlo Ancelotti, 66, coach of the Brazilian national team, is 50 years old. Will he have the health and stamina to surpass Lucescu?
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