Angelo Niculescu facts for kids
Niculescu in 1970
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Angelo Niculescu | ||
| Date of birth | 1 October 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Craiova, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 20 June 2015 (aged 93) | ||
| Place of death | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1937–1939 | Rovine Grivița Craiova | ||
| 1939–1944 | FC Craiova | ||
| 1945–1947 | Carmen București | ||
| 1947–1948 | Ciocanul București | 29 | (1) |
| 1948–1950 | Dinamo București | 17 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1952 | Dinamo București (juniors) | ||
| 1953–1957 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1958 | Steaua București | ||
| 1958–1959 | Tractorul Brașov | ||
| 1964–1966 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1967–1972 | Romania | ||
| 1973–1977 | Sportul Studențesc București | ||
| 1977–1979 | Politehnica Timișoara | ||
| 1979–1980 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1980–1981 | SC Bacău | ||
| 1981–1983 | Universitatea Cluj | ||
| 1983–1984 | Oțelul Galați | ||
| 1991–1992 | Club Africain (technical director) | ||
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Angelo Niculescu (born October 1, 1921 – died June 20, 2015) was a famous Romanian football player and coach. He is best known for leading the Romanian national team at the 1970 World Cup. Niculescu also invented a special football strategy called "temporizare," which means "delaying." This tactic involved keeping the ball and making many short passes to tire out opponents. It's seen as an early version of the modern tiki-taka style of play. Thanks to his smart tactics, Romania qualified for a World Cup after more than 30 years. They even won a match against Czechoslovakia at the tournament.
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Playing Football
Angelo Niculescu was born in Craiova, Romania. He started playing football when he was 15 years old. His first team was Rovine Grivița in 1937. In 1939, he joined FC Craiova. With this team, he won a championship in 1942–43. However, this title was not officially recognized because of World War II.
During the war, his football career was paused because he served in the Romanian Army. After the war, in 1945, Niculescu played for Carmen București. Later, he moved to Ciocanul București. This team then joined with Carmen to form Dinamo București. He played for Dinamo for two years. Angelo Niculescu ended his playing career at age 29. He had played in 93 top-league matches and scored 3 goals.
Coaching Teams
Angelo Niculescu began his coaching journey in 1952. He started with the junior teams at Dinamo București. After one year, he became the head coach for Dinamo's main team. He helped them win their first-ever top-league title in 1955. His team also reached the final of the Romanian Cup in 1954.
Niculescu led Dinamo in the first European match ever played by a Romanian team. They won 3–1 against Galatasaray in the 1956–57 European Cup. Dinamo moved to the next round but was then eliminated. He left Dinamo in 1957. After short periods coaching Steaua București and Tractorul Brașov, he returned to Dinamo in 1964. He helped them win another top-league title in the 1964–65 season. Overall, he coached Dinamo in 16 European matches. They won 10 of these games and lost 6.
Coaching the National Team
In 1967, Angelo Niculescu became the coach of the Romanian national team. His first match was a 1–0 loss to Italy. He successfully guided Romania through the qualifiers for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. They finished first in their group, beating teams like Greece and Portugal. This meant Romania qualified for the World Cup after 32 years!
At the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Romania won 2–1 against Czechoslovakia. They lost 1–0 to England, who were the World Cup champions at the time. They also lost 3–2 to Brazil, who went on to win the tournament. A famous player, Nicolae Dobrin, did not play in any games at the 1970 World Cup, which was a much-discussed decision.
Niculescu also led the national team in the qualifiers for the 1972 European Championship. Romania finished first in their group again. They reached the quarter-finals but were defeated by Hungary. His last game as Romania's manager was a 2–0 win against Albania in October 1972. In total, he coached Romania in 38 games. They won 12, drew 17, and lost 9.
Later Coaching Years
After leaving the national team, Angelo Niculescu coached several other clubs. From 1973 to 1977, he was with Sportul Studențesc București. Then he coached Politehnica Timișoara for two years. In the 1977–78 season, his team was very close to winning the championship. They were leading with three games left, but a loss to Dinamo meant they finished third.
He had a third time coaching Dinamo București from 1979 to 1980. After that, he coached SC Bacău for one season. He then moved to Universitatea Cluj for two seasons. In his first season there, the team moved down to a lower league. Angelo Niculescu ended his coaching career in 1984 after one season at Oțelul Galați. He coached in a total of 445 top-league matches. He won 196 games, drew 101, and lost 148.
After the Romanian Revolution in 1989, Niculescu worked as a technical director in Tunisia for Club Africain. He brought Ilie Balaci as the head coach. In just one season, they won the African Champions League, the Tunisian League, and the Tunisian Cup. For his contributions to Romanian football, especially at the 1970 World Cup, President Traian Băsescu honored Niculescu in 2008 with a special medal called "The Sportive Merit."
The "Temporizare" Tactic
Angelo Niculescu is famous for inventing the "temporizare" tactic. This word means "delaying." With this strategy, his team would keep the ball in their own half of the field. Players would make many short passes from one side to the other. The goal was to make the opposing team impatient and draw them out of their defensive positions. This allowed Niculescu's team to find spaces and attack. Many people see this tactic as an early version of the modern tiki-taka style of play. Both FIFA (in 2011) and UEFA (in 2014) have recognized Niculescu as the inventor of the tiki-taka style.
Writing About Football
Besides playing and coaching, Angelo Niculescu also wrote about football. He started writing articles and match analyses in 1958 for the "Sportul popular" newspaper. He also wrote two books about football:
- Fotbal. Metode si mijloace de antrenament (Football. Training methods and means) - written with Ion V. Ionescu (1972)
- Corabia cu 11 pasageri (The ship with 11 passengers) (1974)
Personal Life
Angelo Niculescu had four brothers. One of his brothers, Jean Niculescu, was also a footballer. Angelo Niculescu passed away on June 20, 2015, in his home in Bucharest. Joseph Blatter, who was the president of FIFA at the time, sent his condolences. He said Niculescu would be remembered for his contributions to Romanian football, especially for inventing the tiki-taka style of play.
Honours
Manager
Dinamo București
- Divizia A: 1955, 1964–65
- Cupa României runner-up: 1954
