Nelu Stănescu

Club career

Stănescu was born on 1 January 1956 in Babadag, Romania. In 1979 he was transferred to Dinamo București where on 2 September he made his Divizia A debut under coach Angelo Niculescu in a 2–0 victory against Olimpia Satu Mare. Stănescu won three consecutive Divizia A titles from 1982 until 1984. In the first one, coach Valentin Stănescu used him in 28 matches. In the 1984 final, coach Dumitru used him as a starter, then replaced him after 24 minutes with Ioan Mărginean in the 2–1 win over rivals Steaua București. In the 1986 final, under coach Mircea Lucescu he played the entire match in the 1–0 victory against Steaua which had recently won the European Cup. Stănescu appeared in 18 matches for Dinamo in European competitions, making some notable performances as helping it eliminate Inter Milan in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup. Subsequently, he played six matches in the 1983–84 European Cup edition, as the club eliminated title holders Hamburg in the campaign, reaching the semi-finals where they were defeated by Liverpool. After eight seasons spent at Dinamo, he was transferred to Flacăra Moreni where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 3 December 1988 in a 2–0 victory against ASA Târgu Mureș, totaling 189 matches with four goals in the competition. His following games played for the national team were friendlies, his last appearance taking place on 30 March 1988 in a 3–3 draw against East Germany.