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Mircea Dridea

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Mircea Dridea
Dridea in 1966
Personal information
Date of birth (1937-04-07) 7 April 1937 (age 87)
Place of birth Ploiești, Romania
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Petrolul Ploiești (honorary president)
Youth career
1952–1956 Petrolul Ploiești
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1956–1971 Petrolul Ploiești 273 (142)
International career
1959–1967 Romania[a] 18 (8)
Managerial career
1972–1973 Petrolul Ploiești (juniors)
1973 Petrolul Ploiești (assistant)
1974 Petrolul Ploiești
1974–1976 Petrolul Teleajen
1981–1982 Petrolul Ploiești
1982–1983 FAR Rabat
1984–1985 Prahova Ploiești
1985–1987 Petrolul Ploiești
1987–1988 Kénitra
1988 Progresul Brăila
1988 Sportul Studențesc București
1989 Oțelul Galați
1990–1991 Flacăra Moreni
1991–1993 Metalul Plopeni
1993–1994 Olympic Alexandria
1995–1996 Metalul Filipeștii de Pădure
1996–1997 Olympique de Médenine
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mircea Dridea (born 7 April 1937) is a Romanian former football player and manager, who is the current honorary president of Liga I club Petrolul Ploiești.

Club career

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"I worked enormously to be very good at headers and free kicks. If we were to go by talent, I wouldn't be in the top 20 players in the history of Petrolul. But in terms of utility, I'm sure on the podium"

–Mircea Dridea talking about himself[3]

Mircea Dridea was born on 7 April 1937 in Ploiești and at age 15 he was a category one chess player, being brought by his brother Virgil to play football in 1952 at the junior squads of Petrolul Ploiești where his first coach was Emil Avasilichioaie, in 1954 he worked with Manole Rădulescu and in 1955 Traian Ionescu came to the club and formed a generation of juniors which included Dridea, Constantin Tabarcea and Vasile Sfetcu which reached the national junior championship final which was lost in front of Universitatea Cluj.[3][4][5][6][7] He made his debut for the senior team under coach Ilie Oană in October 1956 in a 2–1 away victory against Rapid București.[5][6] He won two consecutive Divizia A titles in the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons, being used by Oană in 11 matches in which he scored 4 goals in the first one and in the second appearing in 18 games in which he scored 14 goals, being the top-goalscorer of the team.[3][4][5][6][2][8] Dridea scored a hat-trick in the 6–1 victory against Siderurgistul Galați from the 1963 Cupa României Final and won another championship in the 1965–66 season, being used by coach Constantin Cernăianu in 25 games in which he scored 11 goals.[2][3][4][5][6][8][9] He also did some notable performances in European competitions, scoring Petrolul's first two goals in the European Cup in a 4–2 loss against Wismut Karl Marx Stadt, first goal in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in a 4–1 loss against Fenerbahçe and first goal in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup against Spartak Brno, but his most important goal scored was in the first round of the 1966–67 European Cup against Liverpool from a free kick in a 3–1 victory, however the team did not manage to qualify to the next round.[3][4][5][6][10][11] Mircea Dridea made his last Divizia A appearance on 20 June 1971 in a 1–1 against CFR Timișoara, having a total of 273 matches with 142 goals scored in the competition, also having a total of 21 games with 10 goals scored in European competitions (including 10 appearances and 5 goals scored in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).[3][7][12]

International career

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Mircea Dridea played 15 games in which he scored 8 goals at international level for Romania, making his debut under coach Augustin Botescu on 30 August 1959 in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 away victory against Poland in which he scored a hat-trick.[1][13] He played in a 2–0 home victory against Portugal at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers after which opponent Eusébio said that he considered Dridea the man of the match.[1][5] He also played four games at the Euro 1968 qualifiers with one goal scored in a 4–2 home victory against Switzerland and a double scored in a 5–1 victory against Cyprus.[1]

International goals

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Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each Mircea Dridea goal.[1]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 30 August 1959 Stadion Dziesięciolecia, Warsaw, Poland  Poland 1–0 3–2 Euro 1968 qualifiers
2. 2–1
3. 3–2
4. 14 May 1961 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey  Turkey 1–0 1–0 Friendly
5. 2 November 1966 Stadionul Republicii, București, Romania   Switzerland 1–0 4–2 Euro 1968 qualifiers
6. 3 December 1966 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus 1–1 5–1 Euro 1968 qualifiers
7. 5–1
8. 22 March 1967 Parc des Princes, Paris, France  France 2–0 2–1 Friendly

Managerial career

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Mircea Dridea started his career as coach at a junior squad of Petrolul Ploiești, winning a national junior title.[7] He started the 1973–74 Divizia A season as an assistant of Gheorghe Dumitrescu at Petrolul, but after finishing the first half of the season on the 16th position, Dumitrescu left the club and Dridea became the head coach of the team in the second half, however he could not save the team from relegating to Divizia B.[3][7] He coached Petrolul Teleajen in Divizia C for almost two years, being close to promote it to Divizia B.[7] He returned at Petrolul to lead them in the 1981–82 Divizia B season, helping the club promote to Divizia A.[7] In the winter of 1983 the Moroccan Football Federation asked the Romanian Football Federation to send them four coaches, one of them being Dridea who went to coach FAR Rabat, leaving the club at 1983.[5][7] He came back to Romania, working at Divizia B club, Prahova Ploiești which he helped avoid relegation.[7] He returned for a third spell as coach at Petrolul after Petre Dragomir left the team after the first six games of the 1985–86 Divizia A, leading the team for two seasons.[3][7][14] Dridea went to coach for a second spell in Morocco at Kénitra, afterwards returning to Romania at Progresul Brăila.[3][5] He coached in the first half of the 1988–89 Divizia A season at Sportul Studențesc București, coaching in the second half at Oțelul Galați.[3][5][14] In the following years he coached in the Romanian lower leagues at Flacăra Moreni, Metalul Plopeni which he helped promote to Divizia B and Metalul Filipeștii de Pădure with whom he earned a promotion to Divizia C after winning a play-off against Foresta Nehoiu, also having a spell in Egypt at Olympic Alexandria and ended his coaching career in Tunisia at Olympique de Médenine in 1997.[3][5][7] Mircea Dridea has a total of 121 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A consisting of 37 victories, 33 draws and 51 losses, also he worked as Petrolul's president on three occasions.[3][7][14]

Personal life

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Mircea Dridea's brother, Virgil was also a footballer and a manager, they played together at Petrolul Ploiești, winning two Divizia A titles together and were opponents as managers in the 1981–82 Divizia B season when Mircea coached Petrolul and Virgil coached Metalul Plopeni.[5][7][8][15]

Honours

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Player

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Petrolul Ploiești

Manager

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Petrolul Ploiești

Metalul Plopeni

Notes

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  1. ^ Including three appearances for Romania's Olympic team.[1][2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Mircea Dridea". European Football. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Mircea Dridea at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Cel mai faimos jucător din istoria "lupilor" împlinește 80 de ani » Mircea Dridea: "Te iubesc, dragul meu Petrolul!"" [The most famous player in the history of the "Wolves" turns 80 » Mircea Dridea: "I love you, my dear Petrolul!"] (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "Mircea Dridea, "lupul" care a învins Liverpool şi naţionala Franţei" [Mircea Dridea, the "wolf" who defeated Liverpool and the France national team] (in Romanian). Adevărul. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Fostul internațional Mircea Dridea împlinește vineri 80 de ani. Dialog memorabil cu seniorul fotbalului ploieștean, "Mister Petrolul"" [Former international Mircea Dridea celebrates 80 years on Friday. Memorable dialogue with Ploiesti football star, "Mr. Petrolul"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Mircea Dridea, omul care a rapus marele Liverpool al lui Bill Shankly: "Era campioana campioanei mondiale!" Amintiri dintr-o eră apusă și cum vede echipa de astăzi a Petrolului" [Mircea Dridea, the man who stole Bill Shankly's great Liverpool: "She was the champion of the world champion!" Memories of a bygone era and how he sees today's Petrol team] (in Romanian). Primasport.ro. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Mircea Dridea" (in Romanian). Doarpetrolul.ro. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1962–1963". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Petrolul 66, 53 de ani de la victoria cu Liverpool. Supraviețuitorii succesului, sărbătoriți la Ploiești" [Petrolul 66, 53 years since the victory with Liverpool. The survivors of success, celebrated in Ploiesti] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  11. ^ "55 de ani de la istorica victorie a Petrolului cu Liverpooli" [55 years since the historic victory of Petrolul with Liverpool] (in Romanian). Wesport.ro. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  12. ^ Mircea Dridea at WorldFootball.net
  13. ^ "Poland 2-3 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  14. ^ a b c "Mircea Dridea managerial statistics". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Fratii Dridea - cei mai mari executanti de lovituri libere si cornere din Romania" [Dridea Brothers - the best free kick and corner performers in Romania]. Doarpetrolul.ro. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
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