He led his team to a sensational victory
Legendary club coach dies
November 5, 2025 – 6:08 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Under the later national coach Emerich Jenei, Bucharest sensationally won the European Cup in 1986. Now the coach has died.
Romania’s coaching icon Emerich Jenei has died at the age of 88. The Romanian Football Association announced this on Wednesday. Jenei was the coach of the legendary Steaua Bucharest team, which sensationally won the European Cup final against FC Barcelona in Seville in 1986.
The coach, who belonged to the Hungarian minority in Romania, played twelve international matches for his home country and was Romanian national coach twice. His first engagement ended after four years with the 1990 World Cup, where the team led by the young top star Gheorghe Hagi lost to Ireland on penalties in the round of 16.
In 2000 he took over the “Tricolorii” for a second time. He and his team achieved a 1-1 draw in the group game against Germany at the European Championships before being eliminated in Hagi’s last international match in the quarter-finals against Italy.
In the memorable European Cup final in 1986, Steaua held Bernd Schuster’s FC Barcelona 0-0 for 120 minutes before triumphing 2-0 on penalties. Goalkeeper Helmut Duckadam became a hero, saving four penalties. Duckadam, who belonged to the German-speaking Banat Swabians minority in Romania, died in December 2024 at the age of 65.