Florea Dumitrache

Romanian professional footballer

Florea Dumitrache (22 May 1948 – 26 April 2007) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a striker. Dumitrache spent most of his senior career at Dinamo București, appearing in over 200 league matches and winning three national titles and one national cup. Internationally, he earned 31 caps for the Romania national team and scored 15 goals. Dumitrache was considered one of the best forwards in Europe during his time, and was well known for his technique and aerial ability.

Florea Dumitrache was born in Bucharest on 22 May 1948, having been nicknamed since his childhood "Mopsul" (The pug) because of his nose that looked like one of a pug. While playing for TUG București at junior level, he was seen by Dinamo București's coach Traian Ionescu who convinced him to come and play for his team. He made his Divizia A debut on 2 May 1966, playing for Dinamo București in a 1–1 against Dinamo Pitești. He became the Divizia A top goalscorer twice, first in 1969 with 22 goals and the second in 1971, alongside Constantin Moldoveanu and Gheorghe Tătaru with 15 goals. Italian club Juventus wanted to sign the 24 year old Dumitrache after his performance at the 1970 World Cup, making an estimated $1.5 million offer for him, but Nicolae Ceauşescu's communist regime refused. After scoring 103 goals in 288 Divizia A appearances for Dinamo, Dumitrache played for Jiul Petroșani and Corvinul Hunedoara obtaining a total of 170 goals scored in 357 Divizia A games. He ended his career in 1984 after playing for Minerul Știința Vulcan. The Victoria Ground was named "Stadionul Florea Dumitrache" after he died in April 2007 of a digestive hemorrhage.

Dumitrache played 31 games and scored 15 goals for Romania, making his debut under coach Angelo Niculescu in a friendly which ended 0–0 against Netherlands. He played five games in which he scored three goals at the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers, also making a good performance at the final tournament, being used by coach Angelo Niculescu in all three games from the group stage in which he scored two goals, one against Czechoslovakia and one against Brazil and impressing with his dribbling abilities, especially in front of England's defenders Bobby Moore and Terry Cooper, however Romania did not manage to advance to the next stage. He also played in a 3–1 victory against Greece at the 1973–76 Balkan Cup, making his last appearance for the national team on 23 July 1974 in a friendly which ended with a 4–1 victory against Japan in which he scored two goals.

Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first:
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 23 November 1968 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Switzerland 1–0 2–0 1970 FIFA World Cup Qual. 2 15 January 1969 Wembley Stadium, London, England England 1–1 1–1 Friendly match 3 16 April 1969 Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece Greece 1–1 2–2 1970 FIFA World Cup Qual. 4 16 April 1969 Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece Greece 2–2 2–2 1970 FIFA World Cup Qual. 5 6 June 1970 Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico Czechoslovakia 2–1 2–1 1970 FIFA World Cup 6 10 June 1970 Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico Brazil 1–2 2–3 1970 FIFA World Cup 7 11 October 1970 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Finland 1–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1972 Qual. 8 11 October 1970 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Finland 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1972 Qual. 9 6 May 1973 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Albania 2–0 4–1 1974 FIFA World Cup Qual. 10 6 May 1973 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Albania 3–0 4–1 1974 FIFA World Cup Qual. 11 27 May 1973 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania East Germany 1–0 1–0 1974 FIFA World Cup Qual. 12 14 October 1973 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Finland 5–0 9–0 1974 FIFA World Cup Qual. 13 14 October 1973 23 August Stadium, Bucharest, Romania Finland 7–0 9–0 1974 FIFA World Cup Qual. 14 23 July 1974 Stadion 1 Mai, Constanța, Romania Japan 1–0 4–1 Friendly match 15 23 July 1974 Stadion 1 Mai, Constanța, Romania Japan 2–0 4–1 Friendly match