Răducanu Necula

Răducan Necula (born 10 May 1946), widely known as Rică Răducanu, is a retired Romanian football goalkeeper.

Club career Early career Răducanu, nicknamed "Tamango" after the character played by Alex Cressan from the 1958 movie Tamango, was born on 18 May 1946 in Vlădeni, Ialomița, Romania, but grew up in the Giulești neighborhood of Bucharest. He started to play football in 1958 in the offence at Victoria MIBC București. He later moved to Divizia C club Flacăra Roșie București where coach Sandu Frățilă started using him as a goalkeeper. Frățilă gave him his senior debut in a 1–0 victory in the 1963–64 Cupa României against Divizia A club Progresul București in which he saved a penalty from Nicolae Oaidă. In the following season, Stănescu used Răducanu in 24 league games, as the club won its first title. Afterwards he played four games in the 1967–68 European Cup, helping The Railwaymen eliminate Trakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by Juventus. In the following years, he won two Cupa României in the 1971–72 and 1974–75 editions, but played only in the 1972 final when under coach Bazil Marian he kept a clean sheet in the 2–0 win over Jiul Petroșani. He participated in all six matches of Rapid's 1971–72 UEFA Cup campaign as the team reached the round of 16 by eliminating Napoli and Legia Warsaw before falling to the eventual tournament winners, Tottenham. He also played in all six games during the 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup, helping the team reach the quarter-finals by defeating Landskrona BoIS and Rapid Wien prior to their elimination by the eventual finalists, Leeds United. The following day after the 5–0 away loss to Leeds, the team had a meeting with the club's officials at which writer Eugen "Jean" Barbu, who was also at the game, participated. Barbu criticized the team for not having the devotion and the spirit of sacrifice as the English players, at one point talking directly to Răducanu who replied with a rhetorical question:"Well come on, Mr. Jean, do you write like Shakespeare?". Răducanu was also a goalscoring goalkeeper, scoring three goals from penalty kicks in the 1973–74 Divizia A season against CFR Cluj, Politehnica Iași and Politehnica Timișoara. In the same season he became the first goalkeeper from Romanian football that was caught in offside in a game against Farul Constanța. However, the team was relegated at the end of that season, but he stayed with the club, scoring another four penalty goals in 30 appearances to help it get promoted back to the first division after one year. In 1978, his friend Nicu Ceaușescu, who was the son of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, brought him to Steaua București. He helped the team win the 1978–79 Cupa României, being used by coach Gheorghe Constantin in the final as a starter until the 84th minute when he was replaced with Vasile Iordache in the 3–0 win over his former side, Sportul Studențesc.

Late career

Afterwards he spent a short period at Divizia B team, FCM Reșița. However, he didn't adapt there, playing only 10 league games, including his last appearance in the competition which took place on 18 October 1980 in a 3–1 away loss to Politehnica Timișoara. He came out of retirement in 2001 at Senaco Novaci where he completely ended his career in 2003 at age 57. Răducanu was a goalkeeper known for his great saves, but also for his big mistakes and for his joy of entertaining the public with his juggling abilities. Years later after he retired, Răducanu described his style of play:"As a coach, I wouldn't really like to have someone like Rică. But I was encouraged by the stands from behind to do all kinds of tricks! The 'offside' thing happened in 1974, in a match I played with Rapid against Farul, on "23 August". We were fighting to avoid relegation and I had to do everything possible in order to not lose the match". He played four games during the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers. Coach Niculescu used him in the 3–2 loss against Brazil in the final tournament when he replaced Stere Adamache in the 29th minute and conceded a goal from Pelé. That was the first goalkeeper substitution in World Cup history. However, The Tricolours failed to progress from their group.

Personal life

His son, Cătălin Necula, was also a footballer. Răducanu was well known for his charisma, being invited in numerous Romanian TV shows. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, he briefly owned a grocery store named Merci Rică in Bucharest's Drumul Taberei neighborhood and a luxury terrace called Sirena (The mermaid) in the Neptun summer resort. Folk singer Victor Socaciu composed a song dedicated to him called Portar sub Podul Grant (Goalkeeper under the Grant Bridge).

Honours Rapid București Divizia A: 1966–67 Divizia B: 1974–75 Cupa României: 1971–72, 1974–75 Steaua București Cupa României: 1978–79 Individual Romanian Footballer of the Year runner-up: 1970