Emeric Ienei, the coach with whom Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup in 1986, has passed away.
Mourning in Romanian football. The legendary Emeric Ienei, the coach with whom Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup in 1986, passed away at the age of 88 on Wednesday, November 5. In recent times, he had been hospitalized at the Bihor County Emergency Clinical Hospital.
He will be buried in Oradea.
According to ebihoreanul.ro, Emeric Ienei had been hospitalized in recent weeks, being discharged at the end of last week. He passed away at home on Wednesday morning.
A family member reacted after the death of the legendary coach.
"He passed away at home, he spent two weeks in the hospital, but the family discharged him because the doctors had done all they could. He passed away peacefully this morning, at home. He had several conditions, the most serious being the cardiac one," a family member said, according to the cited source.
In recent years, Emeric Ienei had withdrawn from public life.
The last match where Emeric Ienei made an appearance at the stadium was FC Bihor - FCSB, in September 2023, a match in the Romanian Cup.
Emeric Ienei, impressive career
Ienei, one of the most successful Romanian coaches, won six league titles, three Romanian Cups, and a European Cup.
He also coached the Romanian national team in two periods: 1986-1990 and between January and June 2000.
In his coaching career, he worked with Steaua, a team he managed in several periods, FC Bihor, CS Târgoviște, FC Fehervar, Panionios, Universitatea Craiova, the Romanian national team, and the Hungarian national team.
Emeric Ienei's football career is also linked to Steaua, where he played for 12 years, from 1957 to 1969. During his time at Steaua, Emeric Ienei won three Romanian league titles (1959-60, 1960-61, 1967-68) and four Romanian Cups (1962, 1966, 1967, 1969).