Mircea Petescu

Mircea Petescu (15 May 1942 – 16 December 2018) was a Romanian professional footballer and coach.

Club career
Mircea Petescu was born on 15 May 1942 in Pecica. He made his Divizia A debut on 6 September 1959 for UTA Arad in a 2–2 draw against Steagul Roșu Brașov. After only one season, he left for Știința Timișoara, UTA's rivals, where he spent three years, including half a season on loan at Viitorul București. In 1963, Petescu moved to Steaua București, whom he helped win two Cupa României in his four seasons at the club. In 1967, he returned to UTA, where he would play for six seasons, helping the team win two consecutive Divizia A titles under the guidance of coach Nicolae Dumitrescu. He contributed 8 goals in 27 appearances in the first season and one goal in 30 games in the second. He also played European football with The Old Lady, captaining the team as they managed to eliminate defending European Cup champions Feyenoord in the 1970–71 European Cup season. The following year, Petescu played 8 games in the 1971–72 UEFA Cup campaign as UTA reached the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by eventual champions Tottenham Hotspur. Petescu ended his playing career at FC Dordrecht in Netherlands. He made a total of 326 appearances in Divizia A, scoring 24 goals, and 22 appearances in European competitions.

International career
Mircea Petescu played two games for Romania, making his debut on 27 October 1968 under coach Angelo Niculescu in a 3–0 loss against Portugal in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers. His second game was a friendly which ended 0–0 against England. He also played three games for Romania's Olympic team at the 1964 Summer Olympics, helping the team finish in 5th place.

Managerial career
After years of preparation, Petescu and his wife defected while on a state-approved vacation to the Netherlands. There he started a coaching career and became known for promoting youngsters in the teams he coached. He coached Louis van Gaal at Telstar and Sparta and discovered Danny Blind amongst many other players.

Sports agent career
Petescu became a sports agent following the end of his career as a football player and manager. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, he oversaw the first important transfer in Romanian football, Gheorghe Hagi's move from Steaua București to Real Madrid for $4 million. He also worked on the transfers of Gheorghe Popescu to PSV Eindhoven, Ioan Sabău to Feyenoord and Dorinel Munteanu to Cercle Brugge.

Club
UTA Arad Steaua București
 * Divizia A: 1968–69, 1969–70
 * Cupa României: 1965–66, 1966–67

International
Romania U18
 * Under-18 European Championship: 1962