Mircea Petescu

Mircea Viorel Petescu (15 May 1942 – 16 December 2018) was a Romanian professional footballer, coach and sports agent.

Club career Petescu was born on 15 May 1942 in Pecica, Romania. He made his Divizia A debut on 6 September 1959, playing for UTA Arad under coach Coloman Braun-Bogdan in a 2–2 draw against Steagul Roșu Brașov. After only one season, he joined Știința Timișoara, UTA's rivals, where he spent three years, including half a season on loan at Viitorul București.

In 1967, Petescu returned to UTA, where he played for six seasons. He contributed with eight goals in 27 appearances in the first season and one goal in 30 games in the second. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 20 June 1973 in UTA's 0–0 draw against Universitatea Cluj, totaling 326 matches with 24 goals in the competition and 22 appearances in European competitions.

Petescu played two games for Romania, making his debut on 27 October 1968 under coach Angelo Niculescu in a 3–0 loss to Portugal in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers. His second game was a 0–0 friendly draw against England.

For winning the 1962 European Under-18 Championship, Petescu was decorated by President of Romania, Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008, with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal of "Sportive Merit") Class III.

Managerial career After years of preparation, Petescu and his wife defected while on a state-approved vacation to the Netherlands. There, he started a coaching career and became known for promoting youngsters in the teams he coached.

Sports agent career Petescu became a sports agent following the end of his career as a football player and manager. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, he oversaw the first important transfer in Romanian football, Gheorghe Hagi's move from Steaua București to Real Madrid for $4 million. He also worked on the transfers of Gheorghe Popescu to PSV Eindhoven, Ioan Sabău to Feyenoord and Dorinel Munteanu to Cercle Brugge.

Death Petescu died on 16 December 2018, at the age of 76.

Honours Club UTA Arad Divizia A: 1968–69, 1969–70 Steaua București Cupa României: 1965–66, 1966–67

International Romania U18 Under-18 European Championship: 1962