Should remain active in the association
©IMAGO
Mircea Lucescu has resigned as Romania coach after collapsing before a friendly. The 80-year-old has ended his term as coach of the Romanian national team, the national association announced on its homepage.
Lucescu collapsed during training last Sunday. The former offensive player was then treated at the Bucharest University Hospital for a serious cardiac arrhythmia. This was preceded by feeling unwell during the last training session before leaving for the international match against Slovakia the previous Tuesday (0:2). Ambulance teams provided first aid and ensured a stable transport to hospital.
With his resignation, Lucescu’s second term as Romania’s selection coach ends. He had already coached the Romanian team from 1981 to 1986 and led them to the European Championships in 1984. This was followed by positions as a coach at Inter Milan, Galatasaray, Shakhtar Donetsk, Besiktas, Zenit St. Petersburg and Dynamo Kiev. In the summer of 2024 he took over the national team again. Under his leadership, there were eleven wins and one draw and six defeats.
The former selection player should remain in the association in another role. Mr. Lucescu is expected to take on a new role at the level of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) in the coming months, “so that Romanian football can benefit from all the knowledge that Mr. Lucescu has gained in his career and so that we can prepare our coaches and players even better,” said association president Răzvan Burleanu.
