Victor Pițurcă Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Victor Pițurcă
Personal information
Pițurcă in June 2018.
Date of birth	(1956-05-08) 8 May 1956 (age 69)
Place of birth	Orodel, Romania
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1964–1974	Universitatea Craiova
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1977	Universitatea Craiova	8	(0)
1974–1975	→ Dinamo Slatina (loan)
1977–1979	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
1979–1983	Olt Scornicești	118	(28)
1983–1989	Steaua București	175	(137)
1989–1990	Lens	28	(4)
Total		329	(169)
International career
1985–1987	Romania	13	(6)
Managerial career
1991–1992	Steaua București (assistant)
1992	Steaua București
1994–1995	FC Universitatea Craiova
1996–1998	Romania U21
1998–1999	Romania
2000–2002	Steaua București
2002–2004	Steaua București
2004–2009	Romania
2010	Steaua București
2010	FC Universitatea Craiova
2011–2014	Romania
2014–2015	Al-Ittihad
2015–2016	Al-Ittihad
2019–2020	Universitatea Craiova
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Victor Pițurcă is a famous Romanian football manager and former player. He was born on May 8, 1956. He is well-known for his time as a striker and later as a coach for various teams, including the Romanian national team.

Playing Career Highlights

Victor Pițurcă started playing football in 1964. He joined the youth team of Universitatea Craiova. In 1974, he played for Dinamo Slatina for a year. He made his top-league debut in 1975 for Universitatea Craiova.

Early Club Years

Pițurcă played for Pandurii Târgu Jiu in a lower league. He scored many goals for them. In one season, he scored 46 goals. This helped his team get promoted back to a higher league. In 1979, he moved to Olt Scornicești. He played there regularly for four years.

Success with Steaua București

In 1983, Pițurcă joined Steaua București. This was a big move for his career. He helped Steaua win five league titles in a row. In the 1984–85 season, he was the second-highest scorer in the league. He also scored the winning goal in the Romanian Cup final that year.

European Cup Victory

The 1985–86 season was very special. Pițurcă was the top scorer for Steaua in the European Cup. He scored five goals in home matches. Steaua reached the final and won against Barcelona. This was a huge achievement for the team. Pițurcă played a key role in this historic win.

More Trophies and Goals

After the European Cup, Steaua continued to win. They won the European Super Cup in 1986. Pițurcă helped them win another league title and Romanian Cup. In the 1987–88 season, he was the top scorer in the league. He scored 34 goals that year. He also helped Steaua reach the European Cup semi-finals.

In his last season with Steaua, 1988–89, they won another league title and Romanian Cup. They also reached the European Cup final again. However, they lost to AC Milan. Pițurcă played his last top-league game in June 1989. He scored a goal in that match.

Move to France

After his success in Romania, Pițurcă moved to France. He joined Lens in 1989. He played there for one season. After that, he ended his playing career.

In 2008, he received an award from the President of Romania. It was for winning the European Cup in 1986.

International Playing Career

Victor Pițurcă played 13 games for the Romanian national team. He scored 6 goals for his country. His first game was in March 1985. He scored his first two goals against Norway in a friendly match. He also scored two goals against Israel. Pițurcă played in qualifiers for the Euro 1988 tournament. He scored two goals in those games. His last game for Romania was in November 1987.

International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 June 1986	Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania	Norway	1–0	3–1	Friendly
2	4 June 1986	Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania	Norway	2–0	3–1	Friendly
3	8 October 1986	Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel	Israel	1–0	4–2	Friendly
4	8 October 1986	Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel	Israel	4–1	4–2	Friendly
5	25 March 1987	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania	Albania	1–0	5–1	Euro 1988 qualifiers
6	29 April 1987	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania	Spain	1–0	3–1	Euro 1988 qualifiers

Managerial Career

Victor Pițurcă started his coaching career as an assistant. He worked at Steaua București in 1991. Soon after, in March 1992, he became the head coach. He won the Romanian Cup in his first season as head coach.

Coaching Club Teams

In 1994, Pițurcă coached Universitatea Craiova. His team finished second in the league. He returned to Steaua in 2000. He led them to win the league title in 2001. They also won the Romanian Supercup that year. He had a few more coaching periods at Steaua. He also coached Universitatea Craiova again in 2010. In 2019, he joined Universitatea Craiova once more. He left in 2020 because he disagreed with the club about new players.

Leading the National Teams

In 1996, Pițurcă became the coach of Romania's under-21 team. He helped them qualify for their first European Championship in 1998. They won all 8 matches in their qualification group. Many players from that team later played for the senior national team.

First Spell with Senior Team

In 1998, Pițurcă became the manager of the senior Romanian team. He successfully led them to qualify for Euro 2000. They won their qualification group without losing a single game. However, he was removed from his position in late 1999. This happened after a disagreement with some of Romania's top players.

Second and Third Spells

Pițurcă was appointed manager of Romania for a second time in December 2004. He helped the team qualify for Euro 2008. They won their qualification group, even beating the Netherlands. This earned him the "Romania Coach of the Year" award in 2007. At Euro 2008, Romania was in a tough group. They drew with France and Italy. They were eliminated after losing to the Netherlands.

He returned for a third time to coach the Romanian national team in June 2011. He aimed to build a strong team for future tournaments. He came close to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Romania reached the play-offs but lost to Greece. He left the team in October 2014. Romania later qualified for Euro 2016 using many young players he had promoted.

Coaching in Saudi Arabia

In October 2014, Pițurcă signed a two-year deal with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. He faced some challenges there. He was criticized for leaving out some star players. He left the club in June 2015. He returned in December of the same year but left again in July 2016.

Personal Life

Victor Pițurcă's son, Alexandru, also became a striker. Victor coached him at Steaua București and Universitatea Craiova. Victor Pițurcă is also related to Eugen Neagoe, who was a footballer and coach. Another cousin, Florin Pițurcă, was a footballer who passed away at a young age.

The press sometimes called Victor Pițurcă Satana (which means "Satan"). He found this nickname "remarkable."

Achievements

Player

Pandurii Târgu Jiu

Divizia C: 1978–79

Steaua București

Divizia A: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
Cupa României: 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
European Cup: 1985–86
European Supercup: 1986

Individual Playing Awards

Divizia A top scorer: 1987–88
European Bronze Boot: 1987–88

Coach