Marius Lăcătuș

Marius Lăcătuș
Personal information
Full nameMarius Mihai Lăcătuș
Date of birth5 April 1964
Place of birthBrașov, Romania
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 12 in)
Playing positionInside-forward
Youth career
1977–1981Brașov
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1981–1983Brașov45(5)
1983–1990Steaua București200(59)
1990–1991Fiorentina21(3)
1991–1993Real Oviedo51(7)
1993–2000Steaua București157(39)
2000Național București12(0)
Total486(113)
National team
Romania U-21
1984–1998Romania84(13)
Teams managed
2000–2001Naţional București
2001–2002Oțelul Galați
2002–2003Brașov
2004Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț
2005Inter Gaz București
2006–2007UTA Arad
2007–2008Steaua București
2009Steaua București
2009–2010Vaslui
2010–2011Steaua București
2012Târgu Mureș
2013–2014CSMS Iași
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Marius Mihai Lăcătuș (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈmari.us miˈhaj ləkəˈtuʃ]; born 5 April 1964 in Brașov, Brașov, Romania) is a Romanian retired football player and football coach. He is so far the most successful football player ever to play for Steaua București. He is all time top scorer for Steaua with 16 goals in European competitions.

Club career

He played as a deep lying striker or inside forward for Steaua București most of his career, being the team's captain between 1994 and 1999. He also played for AC Fiorentina of Italy and Real Oviedo of Spain. Since 21 October 2008, he was the team coach of Steaua București, the team that made him who he is. However, after a home game against Lyon for the 2008-2009 UEFA Champions League group stage, which his team lost with a disappointing 5-3, he resigned from the position of Steaua's manager, as he stated that that defeat was his fault.

Lăcătuș was an iconic player for Steaua București's supporters. Even now, many years after leaving the club as a player, the supporters shout his name at home games. The supporters loved him for his spectacular way of playing football, as well as for his commitment during the games. He was nicknamed Fiara (The Beast).

He was the first player to score in the penalty shoot-out of the 1986 European Cup final against FC Barcelona, won by Steaua. After 1990 World Cup in Italy, where he scored two goals against USSR, Lăcătuș was signed by the Italian team ACF Fiorentina and then moved to Real Oviedo in Spain. In 1994 he returned to Steaua and played for the team until 1999, when he finally signed for FC National București, where he played only for half a season before retiring. However, in October 2006 he decided to enroll himself as part of UT Arad team where he was also coach until 2007 before he joined Steaua.

His sister is a renowned piano cafe concert player in Romania.

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II for his part in winning the of 1986 European Cup Final.

Lăcătuș played a total of 414 games in the Romanian Divizia A (now Liga I), scoring 103 goals; 21 games in the Italian Serie A where he scored three times and also 51 games in the Spanish La Liga, scoring 7 goals. He also made appearances 72 games in the European Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup, scoring 16 goals.

As a player he won the Romanian football championship ten times and the Romanian Cup seven times, as well as the European Cup in 1986 and the European Supercup in 1987, all with Steaua București.

International

Lăcătuș was capped 84 times, scoring 13 goals for the Romanian national team, and played for his country in the 1990 World Cup, Euro 1996 and 1998 World Cup. He scored the 700th goal for the national team of Romania.

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 November 1984 Bloomfield Stadium, Jaffa, Israel  Israel 1–1 1–1 Friendly
2 30 January 1985 Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal  Portugal 1–2 3–2 Friendly
3 30 January 1985 Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal  Portugal 2–2 3–2 Friendly
4 10 September 1986 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania  Austria 2–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 1988 Qualifying
5 26 May 1990 Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 2–2 2–2 Friendly
6 9 June 1990 Stadio San Nicola, Bari, Italy  Soviet Union 1–0 2–0 World Cup 1990 Group B
7 9 June 1990 Stadio San Nicola, Bari, Italy  Soviet Union 2–0 2–0 World Cup 1990 Group B
8 29 August 1990 Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, USSR  Soviet Union 1–0 2–1 Friendly
9 6 May 1992 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania  Faroe Islands 3–0 7–0 FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualifying
10 14 December 1994 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel  Israel 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying
11 7 June 1995 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania  Israel 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying
12 11 October 1995 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania  France 1–2 1–3 UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying
13 24 April 1996 Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania  Georgia 4–0 5–0 Friendly

Honours

Romania Steaua București

References

    External links

    Sporting positions
    Preceded by
    Ilie Dumitrescu
    Steaua captain
    1994–1999
    Succeeded by
    Miodrag Belodedici
    Preceded by
    Septimiu Câmpeanu
    Steaua Top Scorer
    1983–1984
    Succeeded by
    Victor Pițurcă