Titus Ozon

Titus Ozon (13 May 1927 – 24 November 1996) was a Romanian international football striker and manager. He was considered one of the greatest talents of the postwar in the Romanian football, famous for his extraordinary ability to dribble.[4]

Titus Ozon
Personal information
Date of birth (1927-05-13)13 May 1927
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania[1]
Date of death 24 November 1996(1996-11-24) (aged 69)
Place of death Bucharest, Romania
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1937–1947 Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1948 Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti[lower-alpha 1] 22 (21)
1948–1954 Dinamo Bucureşti 94 (55)
1951 → Dinamo Braşov (loan) 17 (8)
1955–1958 Progresul Bucureşti[lower-alpha 2] 58 (41)
1958–1964 Rapid Bucureşti 79 (33)
Total 270 (158)
National team
1952–1962[3] Romania 22 (7)
Teams managed
1964–1966 Progresul Bucureşti
1968–1970 Jiul Petroşani
1971 Argeş Piteşti
1972–1974 Libya
1974–1975 Jiul Petroşani
1975–1976 FC Brăila
1976–1977 Pandurii Târgu Jiu
1977–1978 Azotul Slobozia
1978–1979 Șoimii Sibiu
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

He was born in Bucharest, in the Obor neighborhood. He started football at Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti at the age of 10, under the guidance of coach Ștefan Cârjan.[5] In 1948 he came to Dinamo, from which he was loaned disciplinary to Dinamo Braşov in 1951.[6] After returning he was the top-goalsocorer of the Divizia A for two years in a row, in 1952 with 17 goals and in 1953 with 12 goals.[7] His other performances include securing the second place three times and the four finals of the Cupa României he played in 1954 (for Dinamo), 1958 (Progresul), 1961 and 1962 (Rapid).[8]

In 1952, Titus Ozon was part of the Divizia A team that played two matches in the Soviet Union, with CSKA and Dynamo Moscow. Following the tournament, the members of this team received poor quality Pobeda watches, which they threw away, this being the first incident that aroused dissatisfaction with the communist regime.[9]

In 1953, during a match with Dinamo Tblisi played in Bucharest, Titus Ozon manages to pass the ball between the legs of Georgian star Avtandil Gogoberidze. After this game he was named "enemy of the people" by the communist regime, which accused him of making fun of the Soviet people, being sanctioned with ten percent of his salary and arrested at the garrison for one day.[6]

In 1955 he wants to leave Dinamo, because of the "soldierly atmosphere there", and secretly signs with Progresul Bucureşti, but he was caught by the Securitate, who wanted to prevent him from submitting a report by accusing him that he had legionnaire sympathies, because he played at Unirea Tricolor.[8][9] According to an interview given by Ozon in 1995, he was deported to the Delta to cut reeds, where he was seized in a cabin, guarded by a security guard.[9] He manages to escape the arrest and arrives at the federation headquarters, hidden in a car, in time to submit his memory.[6][5] The coach from Progresul, Cornel Drăgușin, considered him a "conflicting, independent and brilliant player on the field".[9]

In 1958, after returning to the country from a Progresul tournament in Albania, he was caught in the customs with about 3,000 ivory buttons for which he was charged with smuggling and suspended from sports.[5] After six months, according to the writer George Mihalache, Titus Ozon met with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej on Calea Victoriei and asked for his suspension to be lifted, Gheorghiu-Dej agreed with the condition that Ozon would play for the team that he liked, Rapid.[8][9]

In 1955 he plays in the comedy film Și Ilie face sport (Ilie also does sport), directed by Andrei Călărașu, in which the lives and morals of the athletes and fans were related. Ozon also played theater, being the star of the satire show "Bujor 12", which was played at the "Constantin Tănase" theater from Bucharest in 1957.[10]

He retired from football activity in 1964 and became the head coach of several teams in Romania, managing to train once outside the country at the national side of Libya, due to the good relations between presidents Nicolae Ceaușescu and Muammar Gaddafi.[10]

A park in Sector 2 of Bucharest bears his name.[5]

International career

Titus Ozon played 22 games and scored 7 goals for Romania. He scored in his debut when he came as a substitute and replaced Gheorghe Bodo in the 73rd minute of a friendly against Czechoslovakia which ended with a 3–1 victory.[11][12] He also played matches at the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers and at the 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[11] He was also part of Romania's 1952 Summer Olympics squad in which he played in the 2–1 loss against Hungary.[11][13]

Honours

Club

Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti

Dinamo București

Progresul Bucureşti

Rapid București

Individual

Notes
  1. The Divizia A 1940–41 was the last season before World War II and the Divizia A 1946–47 was the first one after, so the appearances and goals scored during this period for Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti are not official, also the statistics for the 1946–47 Divizia B season are unavailable.[2]
  2. The 1957 championship called Cupa Primăverii is unofficial, so the appearances and goals scored at that competition for Progresul București are not official.[2]

References
  1. Titus Ozon. sports-reference.com
  2. Titus Ozon at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian) and StatisticsFootball.com
  3. "Titus Ozon – International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. "Regele fentei, rebelul din Obor!". FreeJournalist.EU. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. "16 ani de la moartea lui Ozon. Povestea celui care i-a sfidat pe comunişti şi a fost trimis la tăiat stuf în Deltă" [16 years since the death of Ozon. The story of the one who defied the communists and was sent to cut reeds in the Delta] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. "Titus Ozon, maestrul driblingului, se răzbună! Nasturi pentru… găină!" [Titus Ozon, the master of dribbling, takes revenge! Buttons for… chicken!] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. "Topscorers of Liga 1 1932-2017". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  8. "Aşa s-a scris istoria. După ce a fost deportat în Deltă, marele fotbalist Titus Ozon s-a aşezat în genunchi în faţa lui Gheorghiu-Dej: "Iartă-mă, te implor!"" [That's how history was written. After being deported to the Delta, the great footballer Titus Ozon sat on his knees in front of Gheorghiu-Dej: "Forgive me, I beg you!"] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  9. "Drama unui mare fotbalist! A fost terorizat de Securitate pentru că a driblat un rus!" [The drama of a great footballer! He was terrorized by the Security for dribbling a Russian!] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  10. ""Nas", vrăjitorul din Obor" ["Nose", the wizard of Obor] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  11. "Titus Ozon". European Football. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  12. "Romania - Czechoslovakia 3:1". European Football. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  13. "Hungary - Romania 2:1". European Football. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  14. "Romanian Cup - Season 1954". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  15. "Romanian Cup - Season 1957 - 1958". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  16. "Romanian Cup - Season 1960 - 1961". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  17. "Romanian Cup - Season 1961 - 1962". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 8 April 2020.

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