Dumitru Macri Explained

Dumitru Macri
Birth Date:28 April 1931
Birth Place:Bucharest, Romania
Death Place:Paris, France
Height:1.71 m
Position:Central defender
Youthyears1:1947–1949
Youthclubs1:Flacăra Roșie București
Years1:1950–1965
Clubs1:Rapid București
Caps1:221
Goals1:1
Nationalyears1:1956–1957
Nationalteam1:Romania B[1]
Nationalcaps1:2
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:1959
Nationalteam2:Romania Olympic
Nationalcaps2:2
Nationalgoals2:0
Nationalyears3:1958–1962
Nationalteam3:Romania
Nationalcaps3:8
Nationalgoals3:0
Manageryears1:1971
Managerclubs1:CFR Timișoara
Manageryears2:1971–1973
Managerclubs2:RC Kouba
Manageryears3:1973
Managerclubs3:Rapid București
Manageryears4:1974–1975
Managerclubs4:Algeria
Manageryears5:1978–1980
Managerclubs5:Viitorul Scornicești
Manageryears6:1981
Managerclubs6:Romania U20 (assistant)
Manageryears7:1984
Managerclubs7:Olt Scornicești

Dumitru Macri (28 April 1931 – 20 March 2024) was a Romanian football player and coach.

Club career

Dumitru Macri was born on 28 April 1931 in Bucharest, Romania and started to play football in 1947 at junior level at Flacăra Roșie București, afterwards he went to play at senior level at Rapid București, masking his Divizia A debut on 19 March 1950 in a 0–0 against Știința Timișoara, ending the season on the second place, losing the title in favor of Flamura Roșie Arad with whom they had the same number of points but inferior goal average.[2] [3] [4] He spent all of his career at Rapid București which consisted of 15 seasons in which he was the club's captain between 1952 and 1966, the highlights of this period being another two runner-up positions in the first league, the reaching of two Cupa României finals in 1961 and 1962 under the guidance of coach Ion Mihăilescu which were lost in front of Arieșul Turda respectively Steaua București, also the winning of the 1957 Cupa Primăverii and the 1963–64 Balkans Cup.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] In 1961, Macri became the first Romanian footballer to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or.[2] [3] [8] [9] During his stay at Rapid București, the club relegated twice to Divizia B, but Macri stayed with the club each time, helping it promote back to the first division.[3] [4] Macri made his last Divizia A appearance on 27 June 1965 in a 2–1 victory against Crișul Oradea, having a total of 221 matches with one goal scored in the competition against Flamura Roșie Arad in 1954 with a shot from about 60 meters in a eventual 3–2 loss.[2] [3] [4] [10] During his career, Macri had offers from Bucharest rivals, Dinamo and Steaua, also from Greek club, Panathinaikos but he refused to leave Rapid every time.[4]

International career

Macri played eight games for Romania, making his debut under coach Augustin Botescu on 26 October 1958 in a friendly which ended with a 2–1 loss against Hungary.[11] [12] His second game was a 3–0 victory against Turkey at the 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifiers, but his best game played for the national team is considered to be a 1–0 victory in a friendly against Turkey after which a Turkish journalist who saw the game and also was one of the 19 journalists who sent nominations to France Football for the 1961 Ballon d'Or, chose Macri on his list of nominees sent to the magazine.[3] [11] His last game played for the national team took place on 1 November 1962 in a 6–0 loss against Spain at the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers.[11] He also appeared twice for Romania's Olympic team at the 1960 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[1] [10] [11]

Coaching career

Macri was manager at CFR Timișoara, Rapid București and Olt Scornicești in Divizia A, also managing in Algeria, firstly from 1971 until 1973 at RC Kouba, then the Algerian national team from 1974 until 1975.[2] [3] [4] [10] [13] [14] [15] In 1981 he was Constantin Cernăianu's assistant at Romania's under-20 national team that obtained a third place at the FIFA World Youth Championship.[16] [17]

Personal life

Macri's family comes from Ampelochori, a small village near Kalabaka, Greece.[18] He left Romania in 1986, moving to France with his son, an architect, being forced to do so by Romania's communist regime who was bothered that he had relatives living outside the country.[5] [16]

Macri died on 20 March 2024, at the age of 92.[13] [19] [20]

Honours

Rapid București

1952, 1955

1963–64[3]

Individual

1961 (35th place)[8] [9]

Notes and References

  1. News: Dumitru Macri profile. 11v11. 31 May 2020.
  2. Web site: Povestea lui Tache Macri. Independentaromana.ro. Romanian . Tache Macri's story. 17 May 2021. 13 October 2022.
  3. Web site: Fotbaliști de legendă: Tache Macri (primul fotbalist român nominalizat la Balonul de Aur). Tikitaka.ro. Romanian . Legendary footballers: Tache Macri (the first Romanian footballer nominated for the Golden Ball). 13 October 2022.
  4. Web site: Take Macri s-a alaturat Galeriei din Ceruri. Legenda Rapidului avea 92 de ani. 1923.ro. ro . Take Macri joined the Gallery in the Heavens. The legend of Rapid was 92 years old. 20 March 2024. 21 March 2024.
  5. Web site: Take Macri, suparat foc pe Romania: Popor ingrat, nu vei avea nici oasele mele!. 22 January 2013. 29 June 2016. ro. Ziare.
  6. Web site: Romanian Cup - Season 1960 - 1961. RomanianSoccer. 31 May 2020.
  7. Web site: Romanian Cup - Season 1961 - 1962. RomanianSoccer. 31 May 2020.
  8. Web site: European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1961. José Luis. Pierrend. 1 February 2006. RSSSF. 15 December 2020.
  9. Web site: Dumitru Macri, primul fotbalist român nominalizat la Balonul de Aur! Gică Hagi, aproape de succes în 1994. Fanatik.ro. ro . Dumitru Macri, the first Romanian footballer nominated for the Golden Ball! Gica Hagi, almost successful in 1994. 30 November 2018. 15 December 2020.
  10. Web site: A murit un simbol al Giuleștiului, Tache Macri! A jucat 15 sezoane la Rapid. 100sport.ro. ro . A symbol of Giulesti, Tache Macri, died! He played 15 seasons at Rapid. 21 March 2024. 21 March 2024.
  11. Web site: Dumitru Macri profile. 31 May 2020. EU Football.
  12. Web site: Romania 1-2 Hungary. 13 October 2022. EU Football.
  13. Web site: Deces de Dumitru Macri : Les condoleances du president de la FAF. Faz.de. fr . Death of Dumitru Macri: Condolences from the president of the FAF. 20 March 2024. 21 March 2024.
  14. Web site: Dumitru Macri manager profile. Labtof. 30 January 2021.
  15. Web site: Algeria National Team Coaches. RSSSF. 29 June 2016.
  16. Web site: A murit Dumitru "Take" Macri, primul român nominalizat la Balonul de Aur. Gsp.ro. ro . Dumitru "Take" Macri, the first Romanian nominated for the Ballon d'Or, has died. 20 March 2024. 21 March 2024.
  17. Web site: Acum 34 de ani România a fost mai aproape ca oricând de titlul mondial la fotbal. Povestea echipei care a obţinut cea mai mare performanţă pentru FRF. Adevarul.ro. ro . 34 years ago, Romania was closer than ever to the world football title. The story of the team that achieved the highest performance for FRF. 7 August 2022. 21 March 2024.
  18. Web site: Ο Θρύλος της Ραπίντ Βουκουρεστίου απο το Αμπελοχώρι Καλαμπάκας – Sportrikala.gr.
  19. Web site: A murit Dumitru Macri, primul fotbalist român nominalizat la Balonul de Aur. Digisport.ro. ro . Dumitru Macri, the first Romanian footballer nominated for the Ballon d'Or, has died. 20 March 2024. 21 March 2024.
  20. Web site: A murit Tache Macri, primul român nominalizat la Balonul de Aur! Este o legendă pentru Rapid, fiind căpitan al echipei în 14 sezoane. Prosport.ro. ro . Tache Macri, the first Romanian nominated for the Ballon d'Or, has died! He is a legend for Rapid, captaining the team for 14 seasons. 20 March 2024. 21 March 2024.