# Dănuț Lupu

Dănuț Lupu (born 27 February 1967) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

## Club career

Dănuț Lupu was born on 27 February 1967 in Galați, Romania, starting as a child to play football and ice hockey simultaneously until the age of 14, when he decided to concentrate exclusively on his football career. He started to play professional football in 1985 at Dunărea Galați in the Romanian second league. In 1987 he was transferred at Dinamo București where he was wanted by coach Mircea Lucescu, playing his first Divizia A match on 8 March 1987 which ended with a 2–0 win against FC Brașov. In his first two seasons at Dinamo, the club finished runner-up in the championship but succeeded to win in the 1989–90 season the Divizia A title, with Lupu contributing with six goals scored in the 22 league matches that Lucescu used him, also winning the cup in which he scored one goal in the 6–4 victory from the final against Steaua București. He also made some performances in European competitions, helping The Red Dogs reach the quarter-finals in the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup where they were eliminated on the away goals rule after 1–1 on aggregate by Sampdoria and in the following edition of the same competition Dinamo reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated after 2–0 on aggregate by Anderlecht with Lupu playing seven games in the campaign.
After the fall of communism in December 1989, Lupu moved to Greece and signed with Panathinaikos who paid Dinamo a transfer fee estimated between 1.2 and 2 million $, winning with The Greens the championship, although he played there only 10 league games in which he scored one goal. During his time in Greece, he also had spells at Korinthos and OFI Crete, gaining a total of 66 appearances with 5 goals scored in the Alpha Ethniki competition. With OFI he also reached the eight-finals of the 1993–94 UEFA Cup edition, eliminating Atlético Madrid in the process.
In 1994, he came back in Romania at Rapid București, but after only two Divizia A games played he went to play for Lucescu's "Brescia Romena" as during around that period his fellow Romanians Gheorghe Hagi, Florin Răducioiu, Ioan Sabău and Dorin Mateuț also played for the club, making 15 Serie A appearances in which he scored one goal in a 1–0 home victory in front of Reggiana. Then Lupu returned to play for a short while at Rapid, afterwards spending the next two seasons with Dinamo. In 1997, when his former coach from Dinamo and Brescia, Mircea Lucescu became Rapid's coach, Lupu returned for a third spell and after finishing runner-up in the first season, he won the championship in the following one, contributing with five goals scored in 28 matches. In 2000 he returned for a third spell at Dinamo just for a short time in which he made his last Divizia A appearance on 27 August in a 2–1 loss in front of Oțelul Galați, having a total of 228 matches with 44 goals scored in the competition. Afterwards he played for Laminorul Roman in the Romanian second league and ended his career in Israel at Hapoel Tzafririm.
In the European Cups, Lupu played for Dinamo București, Panathinaikos, OFI and Rapid a total of 39 matches in which he scored three goals (including seven appearances in the Intertoto Cup).

## International career

Dănuț Lupu played 14 matches without scoring for Romania, making his debut on 11 October 1989 when coach Emerich Jenei sent him on the field in the 64th minute in order to replace Ioan Sabău in a 1990 World Cup qualifiers match which ended with a 3–0 loss against Denmark, also appearing in the second leg which ended with a 3–1 victory. He appeared in two games at the 1990 World Cup final tournament, a 1–1 in the group stage against Argentina and a 0–0 (5–4, after penalty kicks) loss against Ireland in the eight-finals. Lupu played four games at the successful Euro 1996 qualifiers, but was not part of the team's squad at the final tournament, making his last appearance for the national team on 18 March 1998 in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 loss against Israel.

### International stats

Appearances and goals by national team and year. :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Romania | 1989 | 2 | 0 |
| Romania | 1990 | 7 | 0 |
| Romania | 1995 | 4 | 0 |
| Romania | 1998 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 14 | 0 |

## Style of play

Dănuț Lupu was a player known for his dribbling and passing abilities. When his former coach, Mircea Lucescu was asked "What did Lupu lack to be at Hagi's level?", Lucescu answered:"He didn't lack talent, especially since he also played hockey and had very strong legs, which enabled him to balance well on the field. I did not see him fall on the field. I remember a match at Brescia against Desailly (n.a. Marcel Desailly, ex-Milan defender and world champion with France), he crushed him in a one-on-one contest. He was lacking Gică Hagi's ambition. Perhaps, if he had been more ambitious, he would have taken football more seriously. He didn't take it very seriously. He loved football, but he did not respect it. I would tell him what to do and he would understand immediately, very intelligently. I remember that cube appeared (the Rubik's Cube)... no one could do it. He did it immediately. He had an extraordinary memory. He lacked that basic education."

## Controversies

During Dinamo's stay in Dundee for a game against Dundee United in the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup, Dănuț Lupu was arrested for shoplifting, but was released after coach Mircea Lucescu went to the police station and convinced the prosecutor to not make him a criminal record.
While playing for Panathinaikos, Lupu was arrested in Athens and spent two months and a half in jail, being accused of being the leader of a gang of Romanian thieves who had stolen cars in Greece. Lupu claims he was arrested because Panathinaikos's president Yiorgos Vardinogiannis wanted him to sign the termination of the contract and to give up insisting to receive his unpaid salaries.
In 2005 he was caught at an airport from București with 79,000 undeclared euros stashed in shoe boxes; also, in the same year he was caught driving an unregistered car.
In early October 2023, the Bucharest Court of Appeal sentenced Lupu to seven months and 10 days in jail for driving repeatedly without a driver's license, being released after six months in early April 2024.

## Personal life

His nephew, Valentin Balint is also a footballer who started his career at Dinamo București.

## Honours

Dinamo București
* Divizia A: 1989–90
* Cupa României: 1989–90
Panathinaikos
* Alpha Ethniki: 1990–91
* Greek Cup: 1990–91
Rapid București
* Divizia A: 1998–99
* Cupa României: 1997–98
* Supercupa României: 1999