Anton Munteanu (3 July 1932 – 22 May 2007) was a Romanian footballer.[1]

Anton Munteanu
Personal information
Date of birth (1932-07-03)3 July 1932[1]
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania[1]
Date of death 22 May 2007(2007-05-22) (aged 73)[2][3]
Place of death Romania
Position(s) Forward / Midfielder[1][2]
Youth career
AS Dămăroaia
1950–1951 Laromet București
1952 CCA Cluj
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1952–1954 Gloria Bistrița
1955 CCA București 7 (1)
1956–1965 Petrolul Ploiești 112 (35)
Total 119 (36)
International career
1956 Romania 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

edit

"The Munteanu brothers were true magicians of the balloon. I would compare them with the unmistakable Dobrin"

–Ovidiu Ioanițoaia, journalist[4]

Anton Munteanu was born on 3 July 1932 in Bucharest and spent his entire career from junior to senior level playing alongside his twin brother Dumitru Munteanu, both of them being known for their dribbling abilities and spectacular play.[1][4][5][6] He grew up in Dămăroaia and started to play junior level football at the local club, afterwards going at Laromet București, before moving at CCA Cluj where he spent only two weeks, then he joined Gloria Bistrița, a team he helped reach in 1954 a promotion play-off to Divizia B which was eventually lost.[1][4][5][7] He made his Divizia A debut on 10 April 1955, playing for CCA București in a 9–1 away victory against Avântul Reghin in which he scored a goal.[1][4][5] In 1956 he went to play for Petrolul Ploiești where he spent 7 seasons in which he helped the club win the 1962–63 Cupa României, scoring a goal in the 6–1 victory from the final against Siderurgistul Galați.[1][8] In 1958, he and his brother were banned for life from playing football because they were considered "rebels" and "bourgeois elements" by the Communist regime, but after one year they were allowed to play again.[1][4][5] In 1961 after Petrolul played a friendly against Brazilian team, Grêmio Porto Alegre which ended with a 4–3 victory in which he and his brother were appreciated for their play, they were nicknamed "The Brazilians".[4][5] Munteanu made his last Divizia A appearance playing for The Yellow Wolves on 1 November 1964 in a 1–0 away loss against Steaua București.[1] He has a total of 119 matches played and 36 goals scored in Divizia A, 14 matches and five goals scored in Cupa României and 9 games in European competitions in which he scored one goal (including 6 appearances and one goal in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup).[1] Anton Dumitru died on 22 May 2007 at age 73.[1][2][3]

International career

edit

Anton Munteanu made one appearance for Romania's national team being used by coach Gheorghe Popescu I as a starter, playing until the 80th minute when he was replaced by Alexandru Ene in a friendly against Bulgaria which ended with a 2–0 loss.[9][10]

Honours

edit

CCA București

Petrolul Ploiești

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Anton Munteanu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ a b c Anton Munteanu at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ a b Anton Munteanu at WorldFootball.net
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Am găsit la 78 de ani o legendă uitată a fotbalului românesc, Dumitru Munteanu! Picioarele unui fotbalist unic!" [I found at 78 years old a forgotten legend of Romanian football, Dumitru Munteanu! The legs of a unique footballer!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Interviu cu cel mai vârstnic supraviețuitor al Petrolului din vremurile de aur: "Am avut cea mai artistică echipă din istoria fotbalului românesc"" [Interview with the oldest survivor of Petrolul in the golden age: "We had the most artistic team in the history of Romanian football"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Gemenii "găzarilor"" ["The gasmen" twins] (in Romanian). Welovesport.ro. 26 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Echipa Gloria Bistrița" [The Gloria Bistrița team] (in Romanian). Util21.ro. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1962–1963". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Anton Munteanu". European Football. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Bulgaria – Romania 2:0". European Football. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
edit