# Titus Ozon

Titus Ozon (13 May 1927 – 24 November 1996) was a Romanian international football striker and manager. He was considered one of the greatest talents in postwar Romanian football, famous for his extraordinary ability to dribble.

## Career

Ozon was born in Bucharest, in the Obor neighborhood. He started football at Unirea Tricolor București at the age of 10, under the guidance of coach Ștefan Cârjan. In 1948 he came to Dinamo, from which he was loaned disciplinary to Dinamo Braşov in 1951. After returning he was the top goalscorer in Divizia A for two consecutive seasons (1952 with 17 goals and in 1953 with 12 goals). His other performances include securing the second place three successive times and the four successive finals of the Cupa României he played in 1954 (for Dinamo), 1958 (Progresul), 1961 and 1962 (Rapid).
Controversy followed him. Ozon was part of a Divizia A selection of players that in 1952 played two away matches with CSKA and Dynamo Moscow. They received Pobeda brand watches that they threw away as he considered them "unsightly". The Soviets got upset.
In 1953, during a match with Dinamo Tbilisi played in Bucharest, Ozon managed a pass between the legs of Georgian star Avtandil Gogoberidze. After this game he was named an "enemy of the people" by the communist regime, which accused him of mocking the Soviets, being sanctioned with ten percent of his salary and arrested at the garrison for a day.
In 1955 he wanted to leave Dinamo, because of the "soldierly atmosphere there", and secretly signed with Progresul București, but he was caught by the Securitate, who wanted to prevent him from submitting a report by accusing him that he had legionnaire sympathies, because he played at Unirea Tricolor. According to an interview given by Ozon in 1995, he was deported to the Delta to cut reeds, where he was detained in a cabin, guarded by security. He managed to escape and arrived at the federation headquarters, hidden in a car to report his experience. The coach from Progresul, Cornel Drăgușin, considered him a "conflicting, independent and brilliant player on the field".
In 1958, after returning to the country from a Progresul tournament in Albania, he was caught by customs with about 3,000 ivory buttons for which he was charged with smuggling and suspended from sports. After six months, according to the writer George Mihalache, Titus Ozon met with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej on Calea Victoriei and asked for his suspension to be lifted, Gheorghiu-Dej agreed with the condition that Ozon would play for the team that he liked, Rapid.
In 1955 he acted in the comedy film Și Ilie face sport (Ilie also does sport), directed by Andrei Călărașu, in which the lives and morals of the athletes and fans were the subject. Ozon also acted as a theater artist, being the star of the 1957 satire show "Bujor 12", which was performed at the "Constantin Tănase" theater in Bucharest.
He retired from football activity in 1964 and became the head coach of several teams in Romania, managing to train once outside the country at the national side of Libya, due to the good relations between presidents Nicolae Ceaușescu and Muammar Gaddafi.
A park in Sector 2 of Bucharest memorializes him.

## International career

Ozon played 22 games and scored 7 goals for Romania. He scored in his debut when coach Emerich Vogl sent him on the field in order to replace Gheorghe Bodo in the 73rd minute of a friendly against Czechoslovakia which ended with a 3–1 victory. He also played matches at the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers and at the 1954 and 1958 World Cup qualifiers.
He was also selected by coach Gheorghe Popescu to be part of Romania's 1952 Summer Olympics squad in which he played in the 2–1 loss against eventual champions Hungary.

### International goals

    Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ozon goal.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 11 May 1952 | Stadionul Republicii, București, Romania | Czechoslovakia | 3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 8 May 1954 | Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion, Berlin, East Germany | East Germany | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 19 September 1954 | Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary | Hungary | 1–1 | 1–5 | Friendly |
| 4 | 29 May 1955 | 23 August Stadium, București, Romania | Poland | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 5 | 12 June 1955 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway | Norway | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 6 | 16 June 1957 | Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens, Greece | Greece | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1958 World Cup qualifiers |
| 7 | 30 September 1962 | 23 August Stadium, București, Romania | Morocco | 2–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |

## Honours
### Player

Unirea Tricolor București
* Divizia B: 1946–47
Dinamo București
* Cupa României runner-up: 1954
Progresul București
* Cupa României runner-up: 1957–58
Rapid București
* Cupa României runner-up: 1960–61, 1961–62

### Individual

* Divizia A top scorer: 1952, 1953

### Manager

Argeş Pitești
* Divizia A: 1971–72