Mircea Sandu

Mircea "Traian" Sandu (born 22 October 1952) is a Romanian sports administrator and former professional footballer who played as a striker. After retiring as a player, he served as president of the Romanian Football Federation from 1990 to 2014.

Sandu spent his entire playing career in Romania, most notably with Sportul Studențesc București, becoming one of the club's most prolific goal scorers. He was capped 18 times for the Romania national team, scoring six goals from 1972 to 1982.

Club career Sandu, nicknamed "Nașul" (The Godfather), was born on 22 October 1952 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football at Școala Sportivă 2 București and Progresul București. He made his Divizia A debut on 30 August 1970 under coach Victor Stănculescu in Progresul's 1–0 victory against CFR Cluj.

In the next season, Sandu joined Sportul Studențesc București in Divizia B where he scored 15 goals in 28 matches, helping them earn promotion to the first league. Sandu represented Sportul in six UEFA Cup matches in which he scored two goals. He also helped the team win the 1979–80 Balkans Cup and reach the final in the 1976 edition.

After his period spent at Sportul Studențesc, Sandu went to play for Gloria Buzău for one season.

International career Sandu made 16 appearances and scored four goals for Romania, making his debut on 8 April 1972 under coach Angelo Niculescu in a 2–0 friendly victory against France. His following game was Romania's biggest ever victory, a 9–0 win against Finland in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers in which he netted two goals. Sandu also played in a 2–2 draw against Spain in the Euro 1976 qualifiers and played both legs of the successful 1977–80 Balkan Cup final, a 4–3 victory on aggregate against Yugoslavia.

International goals Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sandu goal. On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu for Romania's successful Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Personal life Sandu's former wife who died in 1995, Simona Arghir, was a handball player and their daughter, Raluca, was a professional tennis player. They also had a son named Dan Mircea. In 1997, he married Lisa Alban.

Honours Sportul Studențesc Balkans Cup: 1979–80, runner-up: 1976