# Mircea Sandu

Mircea Traian Sandu (born 22 October 1952) is a Romanian sports administrator and retired footballer who played as a striker. Following his retirement from football, Sandu served as the president of the Romanian Football Federation.
Sandu spent his entire playing career in Romania, most notably with the FC Sportul Studențesc București, becoming one of the club's most prolific goal scorers. He was capped 18 times for the Romania national team, scoring 6 goals from 1972 to 1982.

## Club career

Mircea Sandu, nicknamed "Nașul" (The Godfather) was born on 22 October 1952 in Bucharest and started playing football at junior level at Școala Sportivă 2 București and Progresul București. He made his Divizia A debut on 30 August 1970 playing for Progresul București in a 1–0 victory against CFR Cluj. The following season he went to play for Sportul Studențesc București in Divizia B where he scored 15 goals in 28 matches, helping the team earn the promotion to the first league. In the following 14 seasons, Sandu played for The Students in Divizia A, the highlights of this period being 21 goals scored in the 1975–76 season, helping the team earn a second position in the 1985–86 season, being introduced at halftime to replace Ion Munteanu by coach Mircea Rădulescu in the 3–0 loss in front of Steaua București from the 1979 Cupa României final and representing the club in 6 UEFA Cup matches in which he scored two goals, including one against goalkeeper Walter Zenga in a 1–0 victory against Inter Milan, also helping the team win the 1979–80 Balkans Cup and reach the final in the 1976 edition. After his period spent at Sportul Studențesc, Sandu went to play for Gloria Buzău for one season, making his last Divizia A appearance on 21 September 1987 in a 1–0 victory against Universitatea Cluj in which he scored the goal. With 167 goals scored in 408 Divizia A matches, he is ranked seventh in the all-time scoring table. After he ended his playing career, Sandu was the president of the Romanian Football Federation between 1990 and 2014.
On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu for Romania's successful Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

## International career

Mircea Sandu made 16 appearances and scored 4 goals at international level for Romania, making his debut on 8 April 1972 when coach Angelo Niculescu used him in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 victory against France. His following game was Romania's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 against Finland at the 1974 World Cup qualifiers in which he scored two goals. Sandu also played in a 2–2 against Spain at the Euro 1976 qualifiers and played both legs of the successful 1977–80 Balkan Cup final, a 4–3 victory on aggregate against Yugoslavia. His following goals for the national team were in friendlies, a 2–2 against East Germany and a 2–1 loss against Israel. He played two games at the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, making his last appearance for the national team in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 victory against Denmark. Sandu also played two games for Romania's Olympic team at the 1976 Summer Olympics qualifiers scoring two goals in a 2–1 away victory against Denmark.

### International goals

    Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sandu goal.
List of international goals scored by Mircea Sandu :
| # | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 14 October 1973 | Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania | 2 | Finland | 3–0 | 9–0 | 1974 World Cup qualifiers |
| 2 | 14 October 1973 | Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania | 2 | Finland | 8–0 | 9–0 | 1974 World Cup qualifiers |
| 3 | 2 April 1980 | Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania | 9 | East Germany | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 8 April 1981 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | 13 | Israel | 1–1 | 1–2 | Friendly |

## Personal life

Mircea Sandu's former wife who died in 1995, Simona Arghir was a handball player and their daughter Raluca was a professional tennis player. They also had a son named Dan Mircea. In 1997 he married Lisa Alban.

## Honours

Sportul Studențesc
* Balkans Cup: 1979–80, runner-up: 1976
* Divizia A runner-up: 1985–86
* Cupa României runner-up: 1978–79
* Divizia B: 1971–72
Romania
* Balkan Cup: 1977–80