László Bölöni

Playing career

Born in Târgu Mureș, Romania to a Székely family from Târnăveni, Bölöni's first team was Chimica Târnăveni. In 1970 he moved to ASA Târgu Mureş where he stayed until 1984, when he joined Steaua Bucureşti, being part of the team which won the European Champions Cup in 1986 (where he missed his penalty in the shootout in the final) and the European Super Cup the following year. Bölöni remained at Steaua until 1987.

In 1988, aged 35, Bölöni left the country to play in Belgium at Racing Jet Bruxelles and then in France at US Créteil. He retired from professional football in 1992.

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II for his part in winning the 1986 European Cup Final.

International career

Playing for the Romanian national team in 1983, Bölöni scored one of his most vital goals ever, in the 1–0 win against Italy in a Euro 84 qualification match which eventually proved invaluable to the country's qualification for the tournament. At the finals themselves in France, he played in all three of Romania's games, and scored the equaliser in the 1–1 draw with Spain in Saint-Etienne.

In total, Bölöni won 102 caps for Romania and scored 23 goals (108/25 including Olympic games qualification).

National stats

Coaching career

As a football coach, Bölöni started with French club AS Nancy-Lorraine, where he was head coach for several years. He promoted with the team in Ligue 1. In 2000 he was appointed as national team coach, but in the summer of 2001 decided to leave the job.

Then he joined Portugal's club Sporting Lisbon, where he won both the Portuguese championship and cup in his first year. He was fired at the end of the next season due to mediocre results. His legacy at Sporting was the introduction of youth team players such as Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Viana and Cristiano Ronaldo into the senior's team starting lineup.

In 2003, he returned to France as manager of Stade Rennais; in 2005, he managed the team to their best position in history (4th in Ligue 1), and a subsequent UEFA Cup qualification.

In May 2006, Bölöni signed a two-year contract with AS Monaco but was fired on 23 October for lack of results (Monaco being 19th out of 20 in the league by that date).

On 9 June 2008, Belgian team Standard Liège appointed Bölöni as their new manager, as he succeeded Michel Preud'homme, who led the club to their first Belgian First Division title in 25 years (season 2007–2008). On 24 May 2009, he won the Belgian First Division title in his first season at Standard (season 2008–2009) after playing the championship play-off against Anderlecht. On 10 February 2010, Bölöni resigned from his coaching position at Standard Liege.

On 29 May 2010, it was officially announced that Bölöni signed a contract with United Arab Emirates side Al-Wahda. On 2 September 2010, Al-Wahda sacked Bölöni, despite the team's 3–1 win over Ittihad Kalba.

On 2 January 2011, he was hired by RC Lens, on a one-year contract, but he couldn't save the team from relegetion. Bölöni was immediately released in June, and signed a two-year contract with PAOK on 8 June 2011, following a short negotiation period.

PAOK

Bölöni's tenure at PAOK started with two wins against Vålerenga Fotball for the Third Qualifying Round of 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, that brought them against Karpaty Lviv for the Play-off round. PAOK won the first leg at home and drew the second leg, qualifying for the group stage. In a tough group that consisted of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., FC Rubin Kazan and Shamrock Rovers F.C., Bölöni's PAOK managed to qualify undefeated at the first place, winning the game at White Hart Lane on the process, a remarkable feat considering that no Greek team had won at English soil since 1976. For the round of 32, PAOK faced Udinese Calcio, and although a 0–0 draw at the first game in Italy spread optimism, a weakened PAOK side was eliminated off the competition when the home leg ended with a 0–3 defeat. All and all, the European presence was positive despite the abrupt end, as PAOK managed 6 wins out of 12 games, with impressive performances and a milestone win against Tottenham.

At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as the team managed to finish 3rd in regular season, with 5th being its final position after Play-off. During the season, PAOK won the away games against AEK Athens F.C. and Panathinaikos F.C., marking the end of a winless, 10-year-old tradition against those teams when playing away from home. Team's form was inconsistent though, and the departure – due to the club's financial difficulties – of two of the most significant players of the team, Vieirinha and Pablo Contreras didn't help matters. Bölöni had to improvise to cover for the roster's lack of depth, with mixed results. Although the season was not deemed successful, fans didn't put the blame on Bölöni,who had won their hearts with his personality, his results against some major opponents and the team's style of play when on good form.

On 25 May 2012 PAOK released Bölöni after a one-year cooperation.

Coaching in the Middle East

Bölöni was hired by Qatari club Al Khor on 21 June 2012. On 26 January 2013, in a league match against Qatar SC, he was involved in a controversial incident. He threw a water bottle at a ball boy behind the goal after the boy took the ball, which went out of play, off the pitch. The bottle did not hit the boy, however, it was spotted by the match observer, Ali Al-Naimi, who relayed the information to a referee's assistant who eventually informed the referee, Fahad Jaber, who decided to send him off. Instead of going directly to the stands, he chose to illegally stay within the checkpoint. Security officers attempted to guide him off, but he retorted by using foul language and pushing the police officers. As a result, a police report was filed against him. He was later fined 75,000 Qatari riyals by the QFA and banned for 5 matches.

In August 2013, Croatian media speculated that Bölöni might be named the new head coach of Dinamo Zagreb, following the sacking of team's former head coach, Krunoslav Jurčić. Bölöni has previously been linked with Hajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb's fierce rival, as well.

On 21 July 2015, Saudi club Al-Ittihad announced Bölöni as their new coach.

Player

Steaua Bucharest

Manager

AS Nancy-Lorraine

Sporting Lisbon

Al-Jazira

Standard Liège

Individual