Nicolae Pantea

Nicolae Pantea
Pantea with UTA Arad in 1966
Personal information
Date of birth (1946-02-12) 12 February 1946
Place of birth Beliu, Arad County, Romania
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Midfielder
Youth career
1961–1964 Rapid Arad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1964–1966 UTA Arad 49 (6)
1966–1975 Steaua București 196 (24)
1975–1977 Petrolul Ploiești 1 (0)
Total 246 (30)
International career
1971 Romania Olympic 1 (0)
1972–1973 Romania 2 (1)
Managerial career
1981–1983 Steaua București (assistant)
1984 UTA Arad
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicolae Pantea (born 12 February 1946) is a Romanian former footballer and manager.

Club career

Pantea was born on 12 February 1946 in Beliu, Arad County, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1961 at Rapid Arad for three years.[1] Subsequently, he went to UTA Arad and made his Divizia A debut on 30 August 1964 under coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan in a 3–0 away loss to Steagul Roșu Brașov.[1][2] He reached with UTA the 1966 Cupa României final where coach Nicolae Dumitrescu used him the entire match in the 4–0 loss to Steaua București.[3] Shortly afterwards, Pantea joined Steaua, a team with whom he won the 1967–68 title in which coach Ștefan Kovács used him in six matches.[1][4] He also won the Cupa României four times, in the years 1967, 1969, 1970 and 1971, but played only in the second and the latter of the finals.[1][5] During his time with The Military Men he also made 14 appearances in European competitions.[1] Pantea played six games in 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, as the team reached the quarter-finals by eliminating Hibernians and Barcelona, being eliminated on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich.[1][6] Over the years, he also netted two goals in a loss and a victory in the derby against Dinamo București.[7] After nine seasons spent at Steaua, Pantea alongside Florian Dumitrescu and six other players were sent to Divizia B club Petrolul Ploiești in exchange for Constantin Zamfir.[1][8] However, he retired shortly afterwards.[1] Pantea accumulated a total of 249 appearances with 30 goals scored in Divizia A and 35 matches in which he netted seven times in Cupa României.[1]

International career

Pantea played two games for Romania, making his debut on 23 April 1972 under coach Gheorghe Ola in a 2–2 friendly draw against Peru.[1][9][10] In his second match for the national team, he scored his first and only goal for The Tricolours, which was the fifth goal in the team's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 against Finland in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers.[9][11] In 1971, Pantea also made an appearance for Romania's Olympic team in a 2–1 away victory against Albania.[1]

International goals

Nicolae Pantea: International Goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 14 October 1973 August 23 Stadium, Bucharest, Romania  Finland 5–0 9–0 1974 World Cup qualifiers

Managerial career

Pantea first worked as a coach at Steaua's Center for Children and Juniors, in various age categories, and in parallel, in certain periods he was an assistant at Romania's national youth team.[1] In 1984, he was for a short time head coach at UTA Arad while the team was in Divizia B.[1] From 1985 until 1990, he was the head of Steaua's Center for Children and Juniors, then he worked for the Romanian Football Federation as a deputy general secretary, being responsible for the youth sector.[1] In 2000, he was the head of the Central Commission of Referees for a few months.[1] In 2016, the stadium from Pantea's native commune, Beliu, was renamed after him in his honor.[1]

Honours

UTA Arad

Steaua București

Petrolul Ploiești

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Gest de suflet pentru un fost mare jucător al Stelei. A câștigat un titlu și patru cupe cu gruparea din Ghencea" [Gesture of the soul for a former great player of Steaua. He won a title and four cups with the group from Ghencea] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  2. ^ "FC Brasov vs UTA Arad - Liga1 1964-1965". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Romanian Cup - Season 1965-1966". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1966–1967". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1968–1969". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1969–1970". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1970–1971". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  6. ^ "În 1972, Steaua a fost la un pas să o elimine pe Bayern" [In 1972, Steaua was one step away from eliminating Bayern] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
    "Cupa Cupelor, sezonul 1971/72, sferturi: Steaua 1-1 Bayern, 8 martie 1972" [Cup Winners' Cup, season 1971/72, quarter-finals: Steaua 1-1 Bayern, 8 March 1972]. Tikitaka.ro. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
    "Nicolae Pantea. UEFA Cup Winners Cup 1971/1972". WorldFootball. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1968–69". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
    "Dinamo Bucuresti in 1973–74". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  8. ^ "Vedeta uitată! ProSport prezintă povestea celui supranumit "Papucul zburător"! Spanioli i-au zis 'noul Gento" [Forgotten star! ProSport presents the story of the one nicknamed "The flying shoe"! The Spaniards called him the new Gento] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Nicolae Pantea". eu-football.info. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  10. ^ "Romania – Peru 2:2". European Football. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Romania – Finland 9:0". European Football. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
    "Sandu și ceilalți "eroi" din 1973, despre culisele victoriei istorice cu 9-0 cu Finlanda" [Sandu and the other "heroes" from 1973, about the backstage of the historic 9-0 victory over Finland] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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