Dan Coe

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Daniel Coe (8 September 1941 – 19 October 1981) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He was part of the Romanian team that reached the quarter-finals at the 1964 Summer Olympics, and later participated in the 1970 World Cup. He began playing football in 1956 at the junior squads of Rapid București, winning the 1959–60 national junior championship after defeating UTA Arad in the final. He started his senior career at Rapid, making his Divizia A debut on 18 March 1962 under coach Ion Mihăilescu in a 1–1 draw against Minerul Lupeni.

Coe remained with Rapid for ten seasons, serving for a while as the team's captain, winning the league title in the 1966–67 season when coach Valentin Stănescu used him in 26 matches. In the following season, he played four games in the 1967–68 European Cup, helping The Railwaymen eliminate Trakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by Juventus. Coe reached two Cupa României finals with Rapid. The first was in 1962 under coach Mihăilescu who did not use him in the loss to Steaua București and the second took place in 1968 when Stănescu used him for the entire match in the 3–1 loss to Dinamo București. During these years, Rapid's fans would have a special chant during the games dedicated to him:"A cry from ancient Troy, Ahoy! To Dan Coe's fame, Ahoy! And once again, because it's allowed, Ahoy!" After two years in which he played 38 games and scored eight goals in the Belgian First Division, he came back to Romania, playing for Divizia B club FC Galați. He played six games in which he scored one goal in a 3–1 away loss to Czechoslovakia during the 1966 World Cup qualifiers and made three appearances in the Euro 1968 qualifiers. After that match, Eusébio said:"If in 1966 I had a defender to mark me like Dan Coe did today, Portugal would have never reached the semi-finals".

International goals Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each Dan Coe goal.

After he ended his playing career, Coe obtained permission from the communist regime to go on a trip in Belgium, but after he arrived there he settled in Cologne, West Germany as a political refugee. Shortly after an interview on Radio Free Europe in which he criticized Romania's communist regime, Coe was found dead in his apartment on 19 October 1981. His wife and his daughter found him hanged by the door handle with a rope around his neck and with his knees close to his mouth. The criminologist that investigated the case told them that he had never seen someone hang himself in such a way, therefore he recorded it as a suspicious death. It was subsequently believed that he was killed at the behest of the Romanian Securitate, but this has never been proven. His friend and fellow Romanian political refugee, Nora Nagy said years later to the press:"I don't remember what Dan said at Free Europe. Anyway, once I got here I didn't pay that much attention to the station's broadcasts, but Dan was outspoken and always spoke his mind. However, I noticed one thing. After the collaboration with Free Europe began, all sorts of dubious characters began to appear around him. I suspected many of them to have connections with the Securitate".

Honours Rapid București Divizia A: 1966–67 Cupa României runner-up: 1961–62, 1967–68 Balkans Cup: 1963–64, 1964–66

FC Galați Divizia B: 1973–74