Aurel Rădulescu (13 October 1953 – 4 July 1979) was a Romanian football forward.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1953-10-13)13 October 1953[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Adamclisi, Romania[1] | ||
| Date of death | 4 July 1979(1979-07-04) (aged 25)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Hanover, Germany[1] | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward / Attacking midfielder[1][2] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1967–1971 | Farul Constanța | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1973 | Farul Constanța | 25 | (2) |
| 1973–1979 | Sportul Studențesc București | 146 | (26) |
| 1974 | → FC Galați (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 175 | (28) | |
| National team | |||
| 1973–1977 | Romania U21[3] | 4 | (0) |
| 1974–1979 | Romania Olympic[3] | 7 | (0) |
| 1978 | Romania | 6 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 January 2020 | |||
"Aurel Rădulescu was incredibly talented. In terms of talent, he could be compared to any great Romanian footballer, Dobrin, Iordănescu or Hagi"
–Mircea Rădulescu, former Sportul Studențesc București manager[4]
Aurel Rădulescu was born in on 13 October 1953 in Adamclisi into a large family where he was the youngest of five boys and later his family settled in Constanța.[5][6] He started playing football on a field from the Brătianu neighborhood, afterwards playing on his school's field where he was seen by Farul Constanța's junior coach, Adam Munteanu who brought him to the club.[5][6] Rădulescu made his Divizia A debut on 2 April 1972, playing for Farul in a 3–0 away loss against Steagul Roșu Brașov.[1] After two seasons spent at Farul, he went to play for Sportul Studențesc București, a team where he spent 6 seasons, with a short interruption in 1974 when he was loaned at FC Galați.[1] He played 146 Divizia A games in which he scored 26 goals, helped the team reach the 1979 Cupa României final which was lost with 3–0 in front of Steaua București, also appearing in 3 games in the 1976–77 UEFA Cup.[1][7] He made his last Divizia A appearance on 24 June 1979, playing for Sportul Studențesc in a 1–0 away loss against Olimpia Satu Mare, having a total of 171 games and 28 goals scored in Divizia A.[1] He died at age 25 while jumping out of a moving train in Hanover.[4][5][6][8][9]
Aurel Rădulescu played six games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 5 April 1978 under coach Ștefan Kovacs in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 loss against Argentina played on Estadio La Bombonera from Buenos Aires.[10][11] He made a good impression in the game, being praised by journalist, Marius Popescu in the Sportul newspaper:"The first player that is a win for the national team - Rădulescu, from Sportul Studentesc. He leads the ball excellently, he is combative, he is technical, he is passionate, he wants to become a footballer of international level. If he will keep his seriousness, modesty, conscience to the games, he will get there!".[4] He also played two matches at the Euro 1980 qualifiers.[10] On 19 December 1978, Rădulescu made his last appearance at international level in a friendly which ended 1–1 against Israel.[10]
FC Galați
Sportul Studențesc București