# Ștefan Sameș

Ștefan Sameș (14 October 1951 – 17 July 2011) was a Romanian professional football player and manager.

## Club career

   "Ștefan was a special man and a devoted and strong footballer. When he shot at the goal, he would make the ball go oval, like the one at rugby."
Ștefan Sameș was born on 14 October 1951 in Dobroești, Romania and started playing football in 1965 at age 14 for the youth side of Steaua București. In 1971, he was loaned to Universitatea Craiova where he started his senior career, making his Divizia A debut on 28 November in a 1–1 with Petrolul Ploiești.
After two seasons spent at "U" Craiova, Sameș returned to Steaua where in the 1975–76 season he helped the club win The Double, being used by coach Emerich Jenei in 31 league games in which he scored once, also appearing the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 win over CSU Galați from the Cupa României final. In the following season he reached another Cupa României final, Jenei using him the whole match in the eventual 2–1 loss in front of his former club, Universitatea Craiova. In the 1977–78 season, Sameș scored one goal in the 21 league games that Jenei used him, helping the club win another title. In the next two seasons, he reached two more Cupa României finals, coach Gheorghe Constantin using him all the minutes in both, the first one being a 3–0 win over Sportul Studențesc București and in the one from 1980, the team lost with 2–1 in front of Politehnica Timișoara. In his ten seasons spell spent with The Military Men he also played 12 matches in European competitions, scoring two goals in a 6–0 win over Young Boys from the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup. For the way he played in 1979, Sameș was placed first in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award.
In the middle of the 1982–83 season, Sameș went to play for FC Constanța where he was teammate with a young Gheorghe Hagi, however the spell was unsuccessful as the team relegated to Divizia B at the end of the season. He switched teams again, going to play for Rapid București where on 27 October 1985 in a 1–0 away loss with Sportul Studențesc he made his last appearance in Divizia A, having a total of 388 games with 21 goals scored in the competition. Sameș ended his career in 1989 after playing several seasons in Divizia B at ROVA Roșiori and Siretul Pașcani.

## International career

Sameș played 46 matches and scored three goals at international level for Romania, making his debut on 18 April 1973 under coach Valentin Stănescu in a friendly with Soviet Union which ended with a 2–0 loss. His following game was Romania's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 against Finland at the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. He played in all four games at the 1978 World Cup qualifiers which consist of two wins over Spain and Yugoslavia and two losses in front of the same teams. Sameș then played in five games at the Euro 1980 qualifiers in which he scored a double in a 3–2 win with Yugoslavia and also captained The Tricolours for the first time in a 2–0 over Cyprus. He also captained Romania in both legs of the 4–3 aggregate victory with Yugoslavia from the 1977–80 Balkan Cup final. In the following years he played six games at the 1982 World Cup qualifiers which include a 2–1 victory and a 0–0 with England, making his last appearance for the national team in an away friendly with East Germany which took place on 17 November 1982 that was lost with 4–1.
He also played for the Romania's Olympic team.

### International goals

    Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sameș goal.
List of international goals scored by Ștefan Sameș :
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 4 December 1974 | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | Israel | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 25 October 1978 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania | Yugoslavia | 1–1 | 3–2 | Euro 1980 qualifiers |
| 3 | 25 October 1978 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania | Yugoslavia | 2–1 | 3–2 | Euro 1980 qualifiers |

## Coaching career

After he ended his career, Sameș had a spell as head coach at Universitatea Cluj for the final rounds of the 1989–90 Divizia A season, helping the team finish on the 13th place.
Afterwards he coached at Steaua's youth academy from 1992 until 2011.

## Personal life and death

Sameș had two siblings, Petruța and Gheorghiță. Two times Champions League winner, Miodrag Belodedici claimed that Sameș was his childhood idol, the two being teammates for a short while at Steaua. In the early 1980s, his wife, son and father-in-law fled illegally from Romania's communist regime to West Germany for which he was kicked out from Steaua, even do he was the team's captain.
On 17 July 2011, Sameș died in a Bucharest hospital at the age of 59 after suffering from cancer.

## Honours
### Player

Steaua București
* Divizia A: 1975–76, 1977–78
* Cupa României: 1975–76, 1978–79, runner-up 1976–77, 1979–80
Romania
* Balkan Cup: 1977–80

### Individual

* Romanian Footballer of the Year: 1979