Augustin Deleanu

Augustin Pax "Coco" Deleanu (23 August 1944 – 27 March 2014) was a Romanian footballer, who played as a left back.

Club career

Deleanu, nicknamed "Coco", was born on 23 August 1944 in Măgurele, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1960 at Steaua București. Three years later he joined Politehnica Iași where on 24 November 1963 he made his Divizia A debut under coach Constantin Teașcă in a 1–0 victory against Petrolul Ploiești. He spent six seasons at Politehnica, a period in which the club was relegated to Divizia B, but he stayed with the team, helping it gain promotion back to the first league after one season. He won three league titles with The Red Dogs in 1971, 1973 and 1975. In the first he contributed with three goals scored in the 27 matches he was used by coaches Nicolae Dumitru and Traian Ionescu. His second appearance for the national team also occurred there in a 5–1 victory against Cyprus. Deleanu was selected by coach Angelo Niculescu to be part of the squad that went to the final tournament, but he did not play a single match there.

For representing his country at the 1970 World Cup, Deleanu was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

After retirement After he ended his playing career, Deleanu became a referee, officiating matches in Romania's top-league Divizia A. He also had different administration positions at Dinamo București, between 1990 and 1994 being the club's vice-president.

Death Deleanu died on 27 March 2014, at the age of 69 at Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest.

Honours Politehnica Iași Divizia B: 1967–68 Dinamo București Divizia A: 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–75 Cupa României: runner-up 1969–70, 1970–71