RRI Sports Club: 28 years ago in Seville

Few of todays Romanian football players still remember the greatest achievement in Romanian football, which took place 28 years ago, more precisely on the 7th of May 1986.

România Internațional, 07.05.2014, 13:00

Few of today’s Romanian football players still remember the greatest achievement in Romanian football, which took place 28 years ago, more precisely on the 7th of May 1986. Many of them were in the cradle or not even born when Steaua Bucharest won the European Champions Cup after a dramatic final against Barcelona. Helmut Duckadam, Stefan Iovan, Adrian Bumbescu, Miodrag Belodedic, Ilie Barbulescu, Victor Piturca, Ladislau Boloni, Stefan Majearu, Lucian Balan, Marius Lacatus, Marin Radu and Aghel Iordanescu were part of Steaua’s winning team, which had Emerich Jenei as manager, assisted by Anghel Iordanescu.

Unfortunately, the team captain, Tudorel Stoica, the man who had a major contribution to the qualification campaign, missed the final. For those who don’t remember this game in 1986, the clash in Seville against Barcelona, who was cheered by 50,000 fans, was a difficult challenge for Steaua, who had, however, a very tactical game.

Steaua defended for most of the time, while Barcelona missed a lot of goal scoring opportunities. The game went in extra time, but still no goal was scored on either side. The miracle occurred during the penalty shootouts, when Steaua’s goal keeper, Helmut Duckadam defended all four of Barcelona’s kicks. Few people still remember that Barcelona’s goal keeper, the late Javier Urruticoechea, also defended two kicks, a rare achievement at this level.

Many of the players who contributed to Steaua’s success in Seville are sadly no longer with us today, such as Ion Alexandrescu, the head of the football department of the Steaua Army Football Club. The members of Steaua’s golden generation are today coaches and managers themselves, some even having notable results. Perhaps the most successful of them is Victor Piturca, the current manager of Romania’s national team. During his tenure, Romania qualified to two European Football Championships.