Lică Nunweiller Explained

Lică Nunweiller
Birth Date:12 December 1938
Birth Place:Piatra Neamț, Romania
Death Place:Bucharest, Romania
Height:1.72m
Position:Midfielder, Defender
Youthyears1:1947–1948
Youthclubs1:Unirea Tricolor București
Youthyears2:1948–1949
Youthclubs2:Venus U.C.B.
Youthyears3:1949–1957
Youthclubs3:Dinamo București
Years1:1957–1959
Years2:1960–1967
Caps2:140
Goals2:5
Years3:1967–1969
Caps3:55
Goals3:0
Years4:1969
Caps4:1
Goals4:0
Years5:1970
Caps5:11
Goals5:0
Totalcaps:207
Totalgoals:5
Nationalyears1:1961–1968
Nationalteam1:Romania
Nationalcaps1:5
Nationalgoals1:0

Lică Nunweiller (12 December 1938 – 8 November 2013) was a Romanian international football midfielder who played for clubs in Romania and Turkey.

Club career

Lică Nunweiller was born in Piatra Neamț on 13 November 1938, but his parents told the authorities that he was born on 12 November 1938, because they felt that the number 13 brings bad luck.[1] He had an Austrian father named Johann Nunweiller, who settled in Piatra Neamț after World War II where he met his wife, Rozina, later they moved from Piatra Neamț to Bucharest.[1] He had six brothers, the oldest one of them, Constantin was a water polo player and the other five: Dumitru, Ion, Victor, Radu and Eduard were footballers, each of them having at least one spell at Dinamo București, they are the reason why the club's nickname is "The Red Dogs".[1] [2] He started playing junior level football at in 1947 at Unirea Tricolor București, moving afterwards at Venus U.C.B., then at Dinamo București. In 1957 he started to play senior level football at Dinamo Obor București in Divizia B.

Lică made his Divizia A debut, playing for Dinamo București on 5 June 1960 in a 2–0 victory against Rapid București. Throughout his first period spent at Dinamo's senior team from 1960 until 1967, he won four consecutive Divizia A titles with the club from 1962 to 1965 and a Cupa României in 1964, also appearing in 11 matches without scoring in the European Cup.[1] In 1967, he joined Dinamo Bacău for two seasons. Nunweiller next moved to Turkey to join Beşiktaş J.K. in 1969, making him one of the first Romanians to play professional football in Turkey.[3] He made only one appearance in the Süper Lig during the 1969–70 season, before returning to Romania to end his career at Dinamo București in 1970, gaining a total of 206 Divizia A appearances with five goals scored.

International career

Lică Nunweiller played four friendly games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 8 October 1961 under coach Gheorghe Popescu I in a 4–0 victory against Turkey.[4] [5] His following games were a 3–2 win over East Germany, a 0–0 against Turkey and a 1–1 with Austria.

Death

Lică Nunweiller died on 8 November 2013 at the Floreasca Hospital from Bucharest at age 74.[6]

Honours

Dinamo București

1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65

1963–64

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fata primului "câine roșu", cele mai frumoase povești despre Lică Nunweiller și un îndemn pentru ultima etapă: "Tata v-ar fi zis să fiți Un suflet!". Gsp.ro. Romanian . The girl of the first "red dog", the most beautiful stories about Lica Nunweiller, and an exhortation for the last stage: "Dad would have said be A Soul!". 4 October 2017.
  2. Web site: Destinul fratilor Nunweiller, cei care au dat numele de "cainii-rosii". "Nevestele ne-au indepartat". Cancan.ro. Romanian . The Destiny of the Nunweiller Brothers, who gave the name of "Red Dogs". "The wives separated us". 4 October 2017.
  3. Web site: Cotidianul.ro. Gheorghiu, Lucian. Pe timpul lui Ceauşescu fotbaliştii români au invadat Turcia. Romanian. 11 September 2011.
  4. Web site: Romania 4-0 Turkey. European Football. 8 November 2021.
  5. Web site: Siminiceanu, Radu. Romania National Team 1960–1969 – Details. RSSSF. 10 January 2004.
  6. Web site: Zi tristă pentru fotbalul românesc! Lică Nunweiller a încetat din viață. Prosport.ro. Romanian . Sad day for Romanian football! Lica Nunweiller passed away. 7 June 2024.