Ion Pârcălab

Ion Pârcălab (born 5 November 1941) is a Romanian former professional football player and manager.

Club career Early career Pârcălab, nicknamed "The Carpathian Arrow", was born on 5 November 1941 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club Dinamo, working with coach Petre Steinbach. He was brought to UTA Arad by his stepbrother, Nicolae Dumitrescu, who was a junior coach there, and they won together the 1958–59 national junior championship after defeating Farul Constanța in the final. In his last season spent with The Old Lady, Pârcălab scored 10 goals in the league. In the first one he worked with three coaches, Traian Ionescu, Constantin Teașcă and Nicolae Dumitru, who gave him 24 appearances in which he scored seven goals. He would score two more goals against Steaua, including one in a 2–0 victory.

In 1965, Pârcălab was awarded the title "Best Football Player" in Romania, and in 1966 he was ranked third for the first Romanian Footballer of the Year award. In the 1963–64 European Cup campaign, he played all four games as Dinamo got past East Germany champion, Motor Jena, being eliminated in the next phase by Real Madrid against whom he scored a goal in a 5–3 loss. In the 1965–66 European Cup edition he scored a goal that helped them eliminate Denmark's champion, Boldklubben 1909. Subsequently, they were eliminated by the winners of the previous two seasons of the competition, Inter Milan, but earned a historical 2–1 victory in the first leg, after which he said:"I am happy, very happy! This victory is primarily a lesson for us. We proved to ourselves that we can do much more".

Pârcălab's last Divizia A appearance took place on 19 July 1970, playing for Dinamo in a 1–1 draw against Politehnica Iași, totaling 232 matches with 66 goals in the competition. During Romania's communist era, transfers of Romanian footballers outside the country were rarely allowed. However, in June 1970, dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu visited France, where he was invited by president Georges Pompidou. He scored his first goal on 31 October in a 2–1 loss to Red Star and by the end of the season he netted a brace in a 5–3 win over Saint-Étienne. Pârcălab and compatriot Voinea finished the 1971–72 season with each scoring 11 goals, which helped the team finish second in the championship. He made his last French Division 1 appearance on 11 February 1973 in a 1–1 draw against Red Star, totaling 80 matches with 20 goals in the competition. Pârcălab also played for Nîmes in four UEFA Cup matches, having a total of 20 games with five goals in European competitions. His following game was a 3–1 win over Spain in the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers. Pârcălab scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 victory against East Germany. He played six matches and scored one goal in a 2–0 victory against Eusébio's Portugal during the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. Pârcălab scored his last goal for The Tricolours in a 2–1 friendly success over Israel. He made four appearances in the Euro 1968 qualifiers and one in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers.

International goals Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pârcălab goal. After a victory in the championship, he took his players to celebrate in a restaurant, but after a few drinks, a conflict between him and the goalkeeper Nicolae Stancu started because of a waitress.

Honours Dinamo București Divizia A: 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65 Cupa României: 1963–64, 1967–68 Nîmes French Division 1 runner-up: 1971–72 Coppa delle Alpi: 1972

Individual Romanian Best Football Player: 1965 Romanian Footballer of the Year third place: 1966