Doru Nicolae

Doru Nicolae (born 22 March 1952) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was one of few Romanian footballers who was transferred in a foreign country during the communist regime. Nicolae played seven games at international level for Romania. In 1971 he joined Petrolul Ploiești where on 19 December, coach Ilie Oană gave him his Divizia A debut in a 2–0 home loss to UTA Arad. Two years later, Nicolae arrived at Steaua București, but after playing only one league game, he went to Divizia C side, Șoimii TAROM București. In the following round they met Valencia led by Mario Kempes, earning a 2–1 win in the first leg, but they lost the second one with 5–2, thus the campaign ended. In the same season he formed a successful offensive trio with Nicolae Dobrin and Marin Radu, scoring four goals in the 33 appearances given to him by coach Florin Halagian. One of these goals was netted in the final game of the season against Dinamo București which ended with a 4–3 victory that helped Argeș win the title. In the following season he scored two goals in the 3–2 aggregate victory against AEK Athens in the first round of the 1979–80 European Cup, the team being eliminated in the following one by title holders and eventual winners, Nottingham Forest. In the same season he also netted a personal record of 11 goals in first league football. He also played in a 4–2 home victory over Juventus in the first round of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, but they did not manage to qualify further as the first leg was lost with 4–0.

Late career After the spell in Greece, Nicolae returned to Romania at Gloria Bistrița in Divizia B. He played in a win over Yugoslavia and a draw against Cyprus in the Euro 1980 qualifiers. Nicolae made his last appearance for the national team on 6 June 1980 in a friendly against Belgium that ended with a 2–1 loss.

Honours Gloria Bistrița Divizia C: 1974–75 Argeș Pitești Divizia A: 1978–79 Panathinaikos Greek Cup: 1981–82