Mircea
Lucescu
Bio & Career
Mircea Lucescu was born on 29 July 1945 in Bucharest. As a footballer, he used to play for FC Dinamo Bucuresti, FC Sportul Studentesc Bucuresti and FC Corvinul Hunedoara, as well as for Romania national team. He is a six-time champion of Romania and two-time domestic Cup winner.
Lucescu started his coaching career at FC Corvinul Hunedoara; then coaching Romania national football team (1981-1986); FC Dinamo Bucuresti (1985-1990) and claiming the ‘golden double’ with them; also heading FC Rapid Bucuresti (1997-1998) and winning the full set of domestic silverware with them. He also worked for a long time in Italy, then in Turkey, achieving success with Galatasaray SK (2001 league title holders and the 2000 UEFA Super Cup winners) and Besiktas JK (2003 league title holders).
On 16 May 2004, Mircea Lucescu took charge of FC Shakhtar Donetsk as head coach. Just 14 days later, he won with the Donetsk team his first trophy – the Ukrainian Cup, also leading his men in the debut 2004/05 season to the league title glory. In the 2008/09 season, the Orange-and-Blacks won the UEFA Cup.
Lucescu headed the Donetsk side for 13 seasons, setting the club record for the longest coaching tenure and the number of games (573). During that period, Shakhtar won 22 trophies: 8 league titles, 6 domestic Cups, 7 domestic Super Cups, and the UEFA Cup. On 21 May 2016, immediately after the Ukrainian Cup final, where Shakhtar defeated Zorya (2-0), the Romanian mentor handed in his resignation.
Mr Lucescu is the most decorated specialist in Shakhtar history. In recognition of his top achievements, he was granted government decorations, also being awarded the Honorary Citizen of the City of Donetsk title. The name of Mircea Lucescu was immortalized on the Walk of Fame on 8 May 2011.
