Dumitru Marcu

Dumitru Marcu (9 April 1950 – 13 August 2026), nicknamed "Mitică" (a hypocorism) and "Motoreta" , was a Romanian professional football player and manager.

Marcu spent his whole playing career in Romania, where in the 1970s he won two national titles and two national cups with Universitatea Craiova and another national cup with Steaua Bucharest. He also had two stints at lower league Mecanică Fină Bucharest, and he finished his playing career at Gloria Buzău, a club he became a sporting director at later on in his life. At the international level after having played in the under–23 and Olympic squads, he was capped 16 times by the senior national team and scored three goals, most notably two of them in Romania's biggest ever win, 9–0 against Finland in a 1974 World Cup qualifier.

After retirement he went on to manage several teams, mostly Romanian clubs.

Club career Marcu, nicknamed "Motoreta" (The Motorbike), was born on 9 April 1950 in Drăghiceni, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1965 at CFR Caracal. In 1970, he joined Steaua București, making his Divizia A debut on 29 November when coach Ștefan Kovács sent him in the 72nd minute to replace Nicolae Pantea in a 1–1 draw against Progresul București. At the end of the season, the team won the Cupa României, but Kovács did not use him in the final. Subsequently, he played in a 2–1 win over Barcelona which helped his side advance past the Catalans during the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign.

In the middle of the 1971–72 season, Marcu left Steaua and joined Universitatea Craiova. This outcome led poet Adrian Păunescu to nickname Craiova as "Campioana unei mari iubiri" (The Champion of a great love). In the same season, Marcu was part of Craiova's team that won the league title, which was the club's first trophy, being used by coach Constantin Cernăianu in 24 matches in which he scored seven goals. Subsequently, Marcu also won the 1976–77 Cupa României, when he played as a starter in the final, being replaced by coach Constantin Deliu with Rodion Cămătaru in the 2–1 win over his former side Steaua. Furthermore, in the 1979–80 edition of the same competition, he was used the entire match by coach Ilie Oană in the final, scoring a goal in the 3–1 victory against Olimpia Satu Mare. During the 1979–80 season, he played only one game under coach Valentin Stănescu as "U" Craiova won another league title.

International career From 1971 to 1975, Marcu made several appearances for Romania's under-23 and Olympic squads.

Marcu played 16 matches and scored three goals for Romania. He made his debut on 23 April 1972 when coach Gheorghe Ola sent him on at halftime to replace Radu Jercan in a 2–2 friendly draw against Peru in which he scored the final goal. Subsequently, he made four appearances during the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, netting a brace in Romania's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 win against Finland. He also played in a 2–0 home win over Bulgaria in the 1977–80 Balkan Cup. However, Marcu continued to coach Jiul until 1993. In 2002, Marcu was caretaker coach at Universitatea Craiova. Between 2012 and 2016, he was the sporting director of Gloria Buzău. Marcu has a total of 48 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A, consisting of 13 victories, 8 draws and 27 losses.

Marcu died at Fundeni Hospital in Bucharest, on 13 August 2026, at the age of 76.

Career statistics Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Marcu goal.

Honours Player Steaua București Cupa României: 1970–71 Universitatea Craiova Divizia A: 1973–74, 1979–80 Cupa României: 1976–77, 1977–78 Mecanică Fină București Divizia C: 1983–84