Aurel Guga

Aurel Guga (10 August 1898 – 7 November 1936) was a Romanian football player. Regarded as one of the most talented and versatile players of the early 1920s, Guga was the first captain of the Romania football team.

Early life Born in Temeskubin (Cuvin) in what is now Serbia on 10 August 1898,

Career After his arrival in Cluj, he joined U Cluj, a club formed one year earlier by the "Sports Society of University Students". At the time, he only played with his team in local competitions since there was not any football championship at a national level. In January 1922, a Viennese newspaper dedicated a full-page article to him, calling him "an exceptional forward player". However, there are no official documents to confirm that he actually played for Timișoara. Instead, in November, he started playing for Gloria CFR Arad, helping his team finishing second in the Regional Championship. Sometime in March 1926, he joined UCAS Petroşani, the vice-champion team at the time, but retired from all the competitions that season. From 1927 he had a two-year spell in Lupeni, playing for local Jiul, and in 1929, he returned in Cluj, to play for the last time for the club that made him famous.

As Ioan Chirilă recalls in his book: Guga was one of the finest players our land ever gave. And maybe the most complete. And the most modern.

International career Aurel Guga captained the first official match of the Romania national team in the 1922 King Alexander's Cup, against Yugoslavia, a match won by the Romanian team with Guga scoring the winning goal. He played six years for Romania, managing twelve caps and four goals. He also captained nine out of twelve matches.

Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first: International appearances and goals App Date Venue Opponent Result Goal Competition 1. 8 June 1922 Belgrade, Yugoslavia 2–1 1 Friendly 2. 3 September 1922 Chernivtsi, Romania 1–1 0 Friendly 3. 1 July 1923 Cluj, Romania 0–6 0 Friendly 4. 2 September 1923 Lviv, Poland 1–1 1 Friendly 5. 20 May 1924 Vienna, Austria 1–4 0 Friendly 6. 27 May 1924 Paris, France 0–6 0 1924 Summer Olympics 7. 31 May 1925 Sofia, Bulgaria 4–2 0 Friendly 8. 25 April 1926 Bucharest, Romania 6–1 1 Friendly 9. 3 October 1926 Zagreb, Yugoslavia 3–2 1 King Alexandru's Cup 10. 10 May 1927 Bucharest, Romania 0–3 0 King Alexandru's Cup 11. 19 June 1927 Bucharest, Romania 3–3 0 Friendly 12. 15 April 1928 Arad, Romania 4–2 0 Friendly

Death He died on 7 November 1936 at age 38, while driving his car in Timișoara and falling in the Bega river, where he drowned.