Aurel Beldeanu

Aurel "Aurică" Beldeanu (born 5 March 1951) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career Beldeanu, nicknamed "Vulpea" (The Fox), was born on 5 March 1951 in Dobroești, Romania, but grew up in the Colentina neighborhood of Bucharest. He began playing junior-level football in 1965, aged 14, at his childhood favorite team Progresul București under coaches Ioan Kluge and Nicolae Gorgorin. However, the team was relegated at the end of the season, but Beldeanu stayed with the club, helping it gain promotion back to the first league after one year. At the first one he contributed with four goals netted in the 30 appearances given to him by coach Valentin Stănescu and in the second he scored one goal in the 17 matches that coach Ion Oblemenco used him.

Beldeanu played 28 games and scored five goals for "U" Craiova in European competitions. Afterwards, they reached the quarter-finals in the 1981–82 European Cup by eliminating Olympiacos and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, with Beldeanu scoring once against the latter, being eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. He made eight appearances in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign, as they reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated by Benfica on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate. Subsequently, Beldeanu contributed five matches to the 1984–85 UEFA Cup run, helping "U" navigate past Real Betis and Olympiacos before they ultimately fell to Željezničar, against whom he scored once in the round of 16.

In 1984, Beldeanu went to play for a short while at Divizia B club Constructorul Craiova, returning afterwards to Universitatea.

International career From 1969 to 1981, Beldeanu was consistently featured for Romania's under-23, Olympic and B teams.

Beldeanu made 18 appearances and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 18 April 1973 when coach Valentin Stănescu sent him in the 82nd minute to replace Ion Dumitru in a 2–0 friendly loss to the Soviet Union. Subsequently, he played in a 2–0 home win over Cyprus in the Euro 1980 qualifiers. Beldeanu scored his only goal for The Tricoulours in a 2–1 friendly win over Bulgaria. He also played five games during the Euro 1980 qualifiers.

Honours Progresul București Divizia B: 1969–70 Universitatea Craiova Divizia A: 1979–80, 1980–81 Cupa României: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1982–83 Romania Balkan Cup: 1977–80