Carol Creiniceanu

Carol Creiniceanu (1 February 1939 – 14 January 2012) was a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder. He was part of Romania's team that reached the quarter-finals in the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Club career Creiniceanu was born on 1 February 1939 in Lupeni, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1959 at local club Minerul. In 1957 he started to play for the seniors, helping them gain first league promotion at the end of the 1958–59 Divizia B season.

In 1961, Creiniceanu joined Steaua București where he won six Cupa României, but played in only two of the finals, which were both 2–1 victories against rivals Dinamo București. During these years, he also scored two goals in the derby against Dinamo, of which the first was in the 5–3 defeat in the 1964 Cupa României final and the second was in a 3–2 league loss. The team also won the 1967–68 title under coach Ștefan Kovács, but Creiniceanu did not make a single league appearance during that season. During his spell with The Military Men, Creiniceanu made his only eight appearances in European competitions. He also scored a goal in the 5–3 aggregate loss to Spartak Trnava in the first round of the 1968–69 European Cup. On 22 July 1970, he made his last Divizia A appearance in Steaua's 1–1 draw against Bihor Oradea, totaling 207 matches with 65 goals in the competition.

International career Creiniceanu played one game for each of Romania's under-23 and B teams in 1959 and 1963 respectively.

Creiniceanu played three games and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 9 October 1963 when coach Silviu Ploeșteanu sent him to replace Ion Haidu in the 32nd minute of 0–0 friendly draw against Turkey. His following match was also against Turkey, a 3–0 victory during the 1966 World Cup qualifiers in which he scored the final goal. His last appearance for the national team was a friendly which ended 1–1 against Yugoslavia.

Creiniceanu also played 11 games and scored three goals for Romania's Olympic team.

International goals Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Creiniceanu goal. In the last years of his life, he worked for Minerul Lupeni's youth center.

Personal life and death His father, Francisc, was also a footballer who played for Minerul Lupeni.

Creiniceanu died on 14 January 2012 at age 72.

Honours Minerul Lupeni Divizia B: 1958–59 Steaua București Divizia A: 1967–68 Cupa României: 1961–62, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71