Marcel Răducanu

Marcel Răducanu (born 21 October 1954, in Bucharest) is a Romanian former footballer who played for Steaua Bucureşti, Borussia Dortmund, FC Zürich and the Romanian national team. His uncle, Marin Voinea was also a footballer.[3]

Marcel Răducanu

Răducanu in 2014
Personal information
Date of birth	(1954-10-21) 21 October 1954
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
	Steaua Bucureşti
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1972–1981	Steaua Bucureşti	229	(94)
1982–1988	Borussia Dortmund	163	(31)
1988–1990	FC Zürich	47	(12)
Total		439	(137)
National team
1976–1981	Romania[lower-alpha 1]	21	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Between 1976 and 1981, he played 18 games for the Romanian national team, during which he scored three goals.[1][4] He played nearly 80 matches scoring many goals for Romania's Under-16, U-18, national youth sides, respectively for the U-21 and U-23, also made two appearances for the Olympic team.

Răducanu was honoured as Romanian Footballer of the Year in 1980, also in the same year he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.[5][6]

After playing for Steaua Bucureşti in the 1970s, where he won just two championships (in nine seasons) and also two Romanian Cups, Răducanu defected following a match in Dortmund, West Germany in 1981.[7] In his native Romania this act was considered a desertion, as he was a Captain in the Army. Therefore he was sentenced to nearly six years in prison in his absence.[7]

Once in West Germany he signed with both Hannover 96 and Borussia Dortmund clubs, and as a result was suspended by UEFA for one year.[8] In order to have his services, Borussia Dortmund paid half a million deutschmarks to the Hannover club, and Răducanu made his debut in Bundesliga in 1982. Between 1982 and 1988, he played a total of 163 games in the German Bundesliga and scored 31 goals. [9] In 1988 Raducanu signed a contract in Switzerland at FC Zürich where he played 47 matches, scoring 12 goals and winning promotion to the top league Nationaliga A (renamed Swiss Super League since 2003/04) via the playoffs with FC Zürich.[10]

Răducanu retired from football in 1990. Since 1994, he has run a football school in Dortmund. Mario Götze trained at his academy when he was 10 years old.[11]