Nelu Stănescu

Nelu Stănescu

Personal information
Date of birth	(1957-08-04)4 August 1957
Place of birth	Babadag, Romania
Date of death	11 March 2004(2004-03-11) (aged 46)
Place of death	Babadag, Romania
Position(s)	Left defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1973–1975	Granitul Babadag
1975–1979	Delta Tulcea
1979–1987	Dinamo București	163	(4)
1987–1988	Flacăra Moreni	26	(0)
1989	Delta Tulcea
1989–1990	Olimpia Râmnicu Sărat
Total		189	(4)
International career
1981–1988	Romania	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nelu Stănescu (4 August 1957 – 11 March 2004) was a Romanian football left defender.

Club career

Nelu Stănescu was born on 1 January 1956 in Babadag, Romania. He was a left defender and started playing football in the lower leagues at Granitul Babadag and Delta Tulcea. In 1979 he was transferred to Dinamo București where on 2 September he made his Divizia A debut in a 2–0 victory against Olimpia Satu Mare. He won three consecutive Divizia A titles from 1982 until 1984, at the first coach Valentin Stănescu used him in 28 matches, in the following two he worked with Nicolae Dumitru who gave him 14 appearances in the first and 26 in which he scored two goals in the second. Stănescu also won three Cupa României with The Red Dogs, in the first one he did not play in the final with FC Baia Mare, at the second, coach Dumitru used him as a starter, replacing him after 24 minutes with Ioan Mărginean in the 2–1 over rivals Steaua București and at the one from 1986, under the guidance of coach Mircea Lucescu he played all the minutes in the 1–0 victory with Steaua who had recently just won the European Cup. He appeared in 18 matches for Dinamo in European competitions, making some notable performances as helping it eliminate Inter Milan in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup and playing six matches in the 1983–84 European Cup season, as the club eliminated title holders Hamburg in the campaign, reaching the semi-finals where the campaign ended in front of Liverpool. After eight seasons spent at Dinamo, he was transferred at Flacăra Moreni where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 3 December 1988 in a 2–0 victory against ASA Târgu Mureș, having a total of 189 matches with four goals scored in the competition. Nelu Stănescu ended his career in 1990 after playing for Delta Tulcea and Olimpia Râmnicu Sărat in Divizia B.

International career

Nelu Stănescu played six games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 11 November 1981 under coach Mircea Lucescu in a qualification match for the 1982 World Cup against Switzerland which ended 0–0. His following games played for the national team were friendlies, his last appearance taking place on 30 March 1988 in a 3–3 with East Germany.

Style of play

His former Dinamo teammate, Marin Dragnea talked about Stănescu's style of play in a 2022 Gazeta Sporturilor interview:"I think the word tenacity would best characterize him. He had positive malice in the game, total dedication to the colors of the club, never abandoning the fight. Excellent defender, who often went up offensively. His partnership with Orac on the left wing resulted in plenty of ideal crosses for the forwards. Even I scored quite a few goals due to their actions."

Death

On 11 March 2004, Stănescu died at age 46 in his native Babadag. Shortly after his death, Marius Lăcătuș said:"Too bad for him, he was one of the best opponents I had in my career!"

Honours

Dinamo București

• Divizia A: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84
• Cupa României: 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86