Gheorghe Viscreanu

Gheorghe Viscreanu (born 19 August 1961) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a right defender.[1][4][5][6][7]

Gheorghe Viscreanu
Personal information
Date of birth (1961-08-19) 19 August 1961[1]
Place of birth Sărata, Bacău, Romania[1]
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s) Right defender[1]
Youth career
LPEF Bacău
SC Bacău
Luceafărul București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1987 SC Bacău
1981 → Steaua Bucureşti (loan) 0 (0)
1987–1988 Flacăra Moreni
1988–1989 Dinamo București
1990–1991 Rayo Vallecano 12 (0)
National team
1981 Romania U20[3] 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Runaways from Communist Romania

Viscreanu is the only footballer who managed to runaway twice from Romania's communist regime, at that time running away from the country being illegal.[1][4][5][6]

His first runaway was in Australia during the 1981 World Youth Championship.[1][4][5][6] He played in the first two games from the group stage against Brazil and South Korea and after the end of the second one, a Romanian of Hungarian origin who was settled in Australia asked him if he wants to stay in Australia.[6] In one night, he managed to escape from the hotel and got into a car parked in front of the hotel door.[6] The ones who helped him escape brought him in their home and took care of him by buying him food and clothes.[6] The next day all the Australian newspapers headlined his escape and he was invited every day at a reality show from a TV station which belonged to Rupert Murdoch.[1][6] However, after ten days he was called with his lawyer at the police station, where he found out that he was deported back to Romania.[4][6] In 2019, in Barcelona he met with the lawyer that represented him in 1981 and he found out that he was deported because the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu had a secret agreement with Australia in which he allowed Romania to participate at the tournament but in case someone from the team ran away, Australia had to extradite him back to Romania.[6] After he came back to the country, for about seven years he was constantly harassed by Securitate officers who literally followed him everywhere he would go and would sometimes enter his house when he was away.[6] They also threatened him that if they catch him planning to runaway they would throw him in jail, he was not even allowed to leave Bacău.[6]

His second runaway was in 1989 while he was playing for Dinamo București in a friendly tournament held in Madrid, Spain.[6] Together with teammate Marcel Sabou, he snuck out of the hotel and went to the airport.[6] They bought tickets to Frankfurt where Sabou said he had a friend who would help them, but when they arrived they didn't have an entrance visa so they were sent back to Madrid.[6] When they got back at the airport from Madrid, they found out that their visa for Spain was no longer available.[6] A police commissioner from the airport understood their situation and allowed them to stay in the airport for two days and introduced them to some people he knew from Rayo Vallecano.[6] They signed three-year contracts with Rayo, but did not play in the first one because in those times there was a rule that every footballer who ran away from the communist bloc would be suspended for one year before being allowed to play again.[4][6] Viscreanu and Sabou made an agreement that they would not sign a contract one without the other, but Sabou did not respect this pact as he signed with Real Madrid Castilla without thinking of Viscreanu's situation, a fact that ruined their friendship.[7] When Viscreanu's one year suspension was over, Rayo Vallecano relegated from Primera División, so he played in 12 matches from the 1990–91 Segunda División season, after which he retired at age 29 because of medical problems.[4][6][8]

References
  1. "Fostul fundaș Gheorghe Viscreanu rememorează relația specială pe care a avut-o cu "Regele": "Hagi mi-a spus că trebuia să joc la Real Madrid"" [Former defender Gheorghe Viscreanu recalls the special relationship he had with the "King": "Hagi told me I had to play for Real Madrid"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  2. Gheorghe Viscreanu at WorldFootball.net
  3. "Gheorghe Viscreanu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. "Gheorghe Viscreanu, singurul fotbalist roman care a fugit de doua ori din tara, in comunism: "Vorbeam de doua ori pe saptamana cu Hagi, dupa ce a venit la Madrid"" [Gheorghe Viscreanu, the only Romanian footballer who fled the country twice, during communism: "I used to talk twice a week with Hagi, after he came to Madrid"] (in Romanian). Sptfm.ro. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  5. "Povestea tulburătoare a lui Gheorghe Viscreanu. Fotbalist român care fugea de comunism, "recuperat" de securistul Constantin Anghelache" [The disturbing story of Gheorghe Viscreanu. Romanian footballer fleeing communism," recovered "by the Securitate officer Constantin Anghelache] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  6. "Gheorghe Viscreanu, fost jucător la Steaua și Dinamo, face o incursiune răscolitoare prin viața sa: "Australia m-a extrădat în baza unui pact secret cu Ceaușescu"" [Gheorghe Viscreanu, former player at Steaua and Dinamo, makes a tumultuous foray through his life: "Australia extradited me on the basis of a secret pact with Ceausescu"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  7. "A doua parte a confesiunilor lui Gheorghe Viscreanu: "Chef de pomină cu colegi de la Dinamo, Steaua și 22 de balerine" + "Am spart banii la cazinou ca să nu-i împart cu soția la divorț"" [The second part of Gheorghe Viscreanu's confessions: "Party with colleagues from Dinamo, Steaua and 22 ballerinas" + "I broke the money at the casino so as not to share it with my wife at divorce"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  8. Gheorghe Viscreanu at BDFutbol
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