Football: Mircea Lucescu dies aged 80

Bucharest (Romania), 7 April (LaPresse/AP) – The football world is in mourning: Mircea Lucescu, one of the greatest Romanian managers of all time with a long career in Italy, where he managed Pisa, Brescia, Reggiana and Inter, has died at the age of 80. Twice manager of Romania, Lucescu reached the peak of his career at Shakhtar Donetsk, where between 2004 and 2016 he won 21 Ukrainian domestic trophies, as well as the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. He also managed Turkey. Last Friday, Lucescu was admitted to the University Hospital in Bucharest following a heart attack. It was the hospital in the Romanian capital that announced his death, remembering Lucescu as one of “the most successful Romanian football coaches and players, the first to qualify the Romanian national team for a European Championship, in 1984. Entire generations of Romanians grew up with his image in their hearts, as a national symbol.”