# Marin Radu

Marin Radu (born 15 March 1956) is a retired Romanian football striker and manager, best known for his playing stints with Argeș Pitești and Steaua București.

## Club career

Marin Radu was born on 15 March 1956 in Mareș, Argeș County, Romania. He started playing junior level football at Argeș Pitești in 1968, making his Divizia A debut on 11 August 1974 for the team under coach Florin Halagian. In that match, a 3–1 away loss in front of FC Constanța he scored his side's goal. He made his debut in European competitions in the 1978–79 UEFA Cup edition when he helped the team eliminate Panathinaikos in the first round, scoring a goal in the 5–1 aggregate victory. In the following round they met Valencia led by Mario Kempes, earning a 2–1 win in the first leg, however they lost the second one with 5–2, thus the campaign ending. In the same season, Radu formed a successful trio in the offence with Nicolae Dobrin and Doru Nicolae, being used by coach Halagian in 29 games in which he scored 22 goals, including a brace in the final game of the season against Dinamo București which ended with a 4–3 victory that helped Argeș win the title and him to become the top-goalscorer of the season. In the following season he scored a goal in the 3–2 victory on aggregate against AEK Athens in the first round of the 1979–80 European Cup, the team being eliminated in the following round by title holders and eventual winners, Nottingham Forest. He scored a personal record of 28 goals in the 1980–81 season with which he won his second top-goalscorer title.
After nine seasons spent at Argeș, Radu went to play for one season at Olt Scornicești where he worked once again with Halagian. Afterwards, transferring at Steaua București, reuniting for a while with Halagian, where in the first season spent there he helped the team win The Double, being used by coaches Halagian and Emerich Jenei in 23 league games in which he scored seven goals, also being used in the Cupa României final when he was sent on the field in the 73rd minute of the game to replace Mihail Majearu in the 2–1 victory against Universitatea Craiova. In his second season spent with The Military Men he won another title, contributing with four goals in 21 appearances, also helping the team win the 1985–86 European Cup by scoring one goal in the first round against Vejle, playing eight games in the campaign, including appearing in the final when Jenei introduced him in the 111th minute in order to replace Victor Pițurcă in the 2–0 victory after the penalty shoot-out against Barcelona.
Afterwards, Radu returned to play for Argeș Pitești for one season and a half when he switched teams again, this time going to Divizia B club, Inter Sibiu which he helped promote to Divizia A. He made his last Divizia A appearance, playing for Inter Sibiu on 22 October 1989 in a 3–0 away loss in front of Jiul Petroșani, having a total of 385 matches and 191 goals scored in the competition, also during his career he amassed a total of 23 appearances and four goals scored in European competitions. Marin Radu retired after spending the 1990–91 Divizia B season at Șoimii IPA Sibiu. His career was affected by injuries, as he suffered three major injuries which kept him off the field for about one year and a half, one of them happened while he was playing for Argeș and the other two while being at Steaua, all of them happening in games against Dinamo București and produced after contacts with Alexandru Nicolae. In the 1981–82 UEFA Cup season after scoring a goal for Argeș in a 2–2 against Aberdeen he was wanted by the opponents coach, Alex Ferguson but during that time the communist regime did not allow players to transfer outside the country.
On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for the winning of the 1985–86 European Cup with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II.

## International career

Marin Radu played seven games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 12 May 1976 when coach Ștefan Kovács sent him on the field in the 60th minute to replace Stelian Anghel in a 1–0 away loss against Bulgaria at the 1973–76 Balkan Cup first leg final, also appearing in the 3–2 home victory in the second leg of the final. His third game was also against Bulgaria, a 2–0 home victory at the successful 1977–80 Balkan Cup. Radu also played in a 1–1 against Cyprus at the Euro 1980 qualifiers. His last appearance for the national team was in a 1982 friendly against East Germany which ended with a 4–1 loss.

## Personal life

His brother, Nicolae was also a footballer who played at Argeș Pitești, they managed to win the 1978–79 Divizia A championship together.

## Honours
### Club

Argeș Pitești
* Divizia A: 1978–79
Steaua București
* Divizia A: 1984–85, 1985–86
* Cupa României: 1984–85
* European Cup: 1985–86
Inter Sibiu
* Divizia B: 1987–88

### International

Romania
* Balkan Cup: 1977–80, runner-up 1973–76

### Individual

* Divizia A top-goalscorer: 1978–79, 1980–81