| Carol Haidu | |
| Birth Date: | 3 June 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Râșnov, Romania |
| Death Place: | Craiova, România |
| Height: | 1.90 m |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Youthyears1: | 1958–1961 |
| Youthclubs1: | Luceafarul Brașov |
| Years1: | 1961–1964 |
| Clubs1: | Steagul Roșu Brașov |
| Caps1: | 40 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 1964–1974 |
| Caps2: | 118 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Totalcaps: | 158 |
| Totalgoals: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1965–1967 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Pcupdate: | 25 January 2020 |
Carol Haidu (3 June 1942 – 11 July 2022) was a Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Carol Haidu was born on 3 June 1942 in Râșnov, Romania under the name of Karol Haydu, but the communist authorities made him change it to Carol Haidu, in order to "sound more Romanian".[1] He started to play junior level football in 1958 at Luceafarul Brașov, afterwards moving at Steagul Roșu Brașov where he made his Divizia A debut on 1 April 1962 under coach Silviu Ploeșteanu in a 3–1 away loss against Dinamo Pitești.[1] He went to play for Steaua București in 1964, a team with whom he won the 1967–68 Divizia A title in which coach Ștefan Kovács used him in 20 matches, also helping the club win five Cupa României.[1] [2] During his period spent with The Military Men he also played 9 games (including one appearance in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup) in European competitions, taking part in the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, playing three games as the team reached the quarter-finals by eliminating Hibernians and Barcelona, being eliminated after 1–1 on aggregate on the away goal rule by Bayern Munich.[1] [3] [4] [5] Haidu's last Divizia A appearance took place on 9 December 1973, playing for Steaua in a 1–0 away loss against SC Bacău, having a total of 158 appearances in the competition.[1] After he retired from football, he had a period when he suffered from poverty, not having a place to sleep.[1] [6] [7] Carol Haidu died on 11 July 2022 at age 80.[8]
Carol Haidu played five games at international level for Romania, including three at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers.[9] He received goals in only one game, a 2–1 loss against Portugal, with both goals being scored by Eusébio.[10]
Steaua București
1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71