Alexandru Boc

Alexandru "Sandu" Boc (born 3 June 1946) is a retired Romanian footballer, who played as a defender.

Club career

"The spectators stood up and applauded for five minutes after each intervention with the Oxford procedure that I had" — Alexandru Boc, talking about himself He was known for often using the "Oxford procedure" for the public's delight which was letting the ball pass over or past him, and when the forward was about to gain possession of it, he would reach back and take it with the exterior side of the foot. In the following season he helped Petrolul win the 1965–66 Divizia A title, as coach Constantin Cernăianu used him in 26 matches in which he scored one goal. According to the Sportul newspaper, he was the player with the highest grade point average in the entire championship.

Dinamo, Sportul and Rapid

In 1967, he joined Dinamo București, helping the club win the 1967–68 Cupa României in his first season, but coach Bazil Marian did not use him in the 3–1 victory over Rapid București in the final. In the following season he scored once in a 4–2 win in a derby against Steaua București in the league. Afterwards he had one season in which he didn't play because he was in jail and another one spent in Divizia B at Sportul Studențesc București. Boc also made some European performances while playing for The Railwaymen. Subsequently, he participated in the 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup, playing four games, as they got past Landskrona BoIS and Rapid Wien—scoring once against the latter— to help the team reach the quarter-finals, though they were ultimately knocked out by the eventual finalists, Leeds United. For the way he played in 1972, Boc was placed second in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award, being only behind Cornel Dinu.

Universitatea Craiova He reunited with coach Cernăianu at Universitatea Craiova, their first performance was getting past Fiorentina in the first round of the 1973–74 UEFA Cup edition, being eliminated in the following one by Standard Liège. In the same season he helped "U" win the first championship title in its history, as Cernăianu gave him 32 appearances in which he scored one goal. Boc made his last Divizia A appearance on 10 December 1975 in a 3–0 away loss to FCM Reșița, totaling 224 matches with 12 goals in the competition and 22 games with two goals in European competitions.

International career Boc played five matches for Romania, making his debut under coach Bazil Marian in a 1–1 friendly draw against Uruguay, which took place on 4 January 1967 in Montevideo at Estadio Gran Parque Central. He played in two victories against Switzerland and a 2–2 draw against Greece in the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers.

Conviction In 1969, during an evening spent at the Athenee Palace where he was staying with actor Cornel Patrichi, among others at a table, a man threw an empty cigarette pack in Patrichi's glass. A verbal confrontation between them started and Boc intervened and punched the man. The Committee decided that he would not be granted the pardon, as member Vasile Patilineț who found out that his wife had an affair with Boc, insisted for this outcome. He had relationships among others, with actresses Corina Chiriac and Aimée Iacobescu, and volleyball player Elena Butnaru. He was also engaged to Salomeea Djanhanghir, who was the granddaughter of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the richest man on the planet at that time. The VIP magazine ranked Boc among the top five best Romanian men, a list that included Florin Piersic, Petre Roman, Ion Dichiseanu and Sergiu Nicolaescu.

In 2023, Boc received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.

Honours Petrolul Ploiești Divizia A: 1965–66 Dinamo București Cupa României: 1967–68 Rapid București Cupa României: 1971–72 Universitatea Craiova Divizia A: 1973–74

Individual Romanian Footballer of the Year (runner-up): 1972, (fifth place): 1974