Ilie Balaci
Ilie Balaci (; 13 September 1956 – 21 October 2018) was a Romanian football midfielder and manager. He spent 12 of his 15 years as a professional with Universitatea Craiova, appearing in more than 300 official games with the club and winning seven major titles. Nicknamed "Minunea blondă" ("the Blonde Wonder"), Balaci is considered one of the greatest Romanian footballers of all time. Playing career. Club career. Balaci was a product of Universitatea Craiova's youth system. He made his first team debut in 1973, at the age of 16, and won the league title in his first season. He  soon managed to become one of the youngest players ever to score in the Romanian League. Balaci went on to play twelve seasons with Craiova, helping them to win two consecutive league titles in 1980 and 1981. He also won the Romanian Cup four times, in the years 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1983. He became an integral part of the team helping them reach the 1982–83 UEFA Cup semi-finals, before moving to Olt Scorniceşti in the winter of 1984. In December 1982, he signed a pre-contract with Italian side AC Milan, but the transfer did not materialize because  of the communist regime in Romania. In the 1986–87 season, he jointed Bucharest rivals Dinamo București together with Craiova teammate Rodion Cămătaru. He spent two seasons at the club, under the leadership of Mircea Lucescu. However, Balaci did not win any major trophies whilst he was playing for them and following a knee injury he went as a player-coach for two years in the second league, after which he ended his playing career. International career. Balaci made his full international debut on 23 March 1974 in a friendly match against France at the age of 17. He earned 65  caps and scored 8 goals for the Romanian national team between 1974 and 1986. He also became captain of the national team during the UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying campaign, but he was unable to play for Romania at UEFA Euro 84 due to an injury. Managerial career. After retiring as a footballer, Balaci went on to coach lower league sides Pandurii Târgu Jiu and Drobeta-Turnu Severin. In 1991, he coached clubs in North Africa and the Arab world, he became one of the most successful managers there having won over 22 major trophies domestic and international. He took charge  of Tunisia's Club Africain and Moroccan club Olympique Casablanca in the early 1990s guiding them to their first African Champions League, the league title and the Tunis Cup. He then managed UAE, Qatari and Saudi Arabian clubs Al Shabab, Al Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al Ain and Al Sadd winning the championship and domestic cup with each side. In June 2003, he was appointed manager of Al Ahli until January 2005, where he won the UAE President's Cup. He then went on to join Qatari side Al-Arabi in the 2005–06 season, before moving to the United Arab Emirates  club Al Shabab for a second spell, but without success. In August 2007, Balaci was hired as general manager of Universitatea Craiova whom he also coached in two periods, and remained there for two seasons. On 22 July 2009, Balaci was named head coach of Kuwait club Kazma. He had an impressive start with the Kuwaiti side at the 2010 AFC Cup. On 11 July 2011, he returned to Morocco signing for Raja Casablanca but was sacked following a financial dispute with the club in September after just two months. Raja appointed Bertrand Marchand as his replacement. On 4 June  2013, Balaci signed a contract with newly promoted Saudi Premier League side Al-Nahda saving the club from relegation. In September 2013, he was sacked as coach due to a poor start to the season with only one point from the first four matches. In April 2016, he took over the head coach position at Omdurman-based club Al-Hilal. Balaci was sacked in September 2016 after the team clinched the title with three games left to play. Balaci thought that the club's owners did not want the title win associated with his name. In July 2017, Balaci was  unveiled as the new manager of Omani side Al-Suwaiq. Although the team was assured of top of the championship with 38 points from 15 games Balaci decided to terminate his contract in March 2018 with 12 games left on the season. Personal life. Balaci said that he was born on 8 September 1956 but his birth date was declared by his relatives to the People's Council only on 13 September 1956. He had two daughters; the older one Lorena was married to footballer Eugen Trică and is divorced since 2015, and the younger one, Liana Ungur is a  professional tennis player and she is married to Adrian Ungur. Death. Balaci died on 21 October 2018, aged 62, while at home in Craiova with his mother. The cause of death was myocardial infarction. Honours. Player. Universitatea Craiova Romania