Michael Klein (footballer, born 1959)

Michael Klein (10 October 1959 – 2 February 1993) was a Romanian footballer who played as a left-back.[3]

Michael Klein
Klein in 1990
Personal information
Date of birth (1959-10-10)10 October 1959
Place of birth Amnaș, Romania
Date of death 2 February 1993(1993-02-02) (aged 33)
Place of death Krefeld, Germany
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
1973–1977 Corvinul Hunedoara
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1988 Corvinul Hunedoara 313 (37)
1978–1979 → Aurul Brad (loan) 15 (3)
1988–1990 Dinamo București 40 (2)
1990–1993 Bayer Uerdingen 62 (0)
Total 430 (42)
International career
1984[1] Romania Olympic 1 (0)
1981–1991[2] Romania 89 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Michael Klein, nicknamed Mișa, was born on 10 October 1959 in Amnaș, Romania, being half of Transylvanian Saxon origin from his father side.[4][5][6][7] He started to play football at Corvinul Hunedoara's youth center in 1973, making his debut for the senior team on 24 August 1977 under coach Ștefan Coidum in a Divizia A match which ended 2–2 against Argeș Pitești.[4][8][9] In the following season he was sent on a loan at Divizia B team, Aurul Brad, but in the 1978–79 Divizia A season he was brought back to Corvinul by the team's new coach, Mircea Lucescu.[4][9] At the end of Klein and Lucescu's first season spent at Corvinul Hunedoara, the club relegated to Divizia B, but Klein stayed with the club, promoting back to the first division after one year, helping the club finish 3rd in the 1981–82 Divizia A, also appearing in four games in which he scored one goal in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup.[4] After 11 seasons and a half spent with Corvinul Hunedoara in which he scored 37 goals in 313 league games, in the middle of the 1988–89 season he was transferred at Dinamo București where he reunited with his former Corvinul Hunedoara manager, Mircea Lucescu.[4][9][10] In his first season spent with The Red Dogs, he didn't win any trophies and he played two games in the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup where the club reached the quarter-finals.[4][6][7][10] In the following season the club won the title and the cup with Klein playing 23 Divizia A matches in which he scored two goals, also appearing in 7 matches in which he scored one goal in the 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup where Dinamo București reached the semi-finals.[6][7][4][10][11] After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, Klein went to play in Germany for Bayer Uerdingen where in his first season the team relegated to 2. Bundesliga, but he stayed with the club winning the promotion back to Bundesliga.[5][6][7][9][12] On 2 February 1993, Klein died of a heart attack during a training session with Bayer Uerdingen at the age of 33.[5][6][7][13][14] Michael Klein has a total of 322 matches and 36 goals scored in Divizia A, 37 matches in Bundesliga, 25 games in 2. Bundesliga and 13 games played with two goals scored in European competitions.[4][5][9] The Stadionul Michael Klein from Hunedoara is named in his honor, also in front of the stadium there is a statue of Michael Klein.[6][7][13] A book about him was written by Nicolae Stanciu, called Klein, căpitanul lui Lucescu. Cronici sentimentale (Klein, Lucescu's captain. Sentimental chronicles).[7][15]

International career

Michael Klein played 89 matches and scored five goals at international level for the Romania national team, making his debut on 9 September 1981 when coach Valentin Stănescu sent him on the field in the 49th minute in order to replace Aurel Beldeanu in a friendly which ended with a 2–1 loss against Bulgaria.[1][16] His following appearance was a 0–0 against Switzerland at the 1982 World Cup qualifiers and he scored his first two goals in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 victory against Chile.[1] He made seven appearances at the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers in which he scored one goal in a 2–0 victory against Sweden, being used by coach Mircea Lucescu in all the minutes of the three matches from the final tournament as Romania did not pass the group stage.[1] He played seven games at the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, six matches with one goal scored in a 1–0 away victory against Albania at the Euro 1988 qualifiers and made five appearances at the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers, being used by coach Emerich Jenei in all the minutes of the four matches from the final tournament, as Romania got eliminated by Ireland in the eight-finals.[1] Michael Klein played six games at the Euro 1992 qualifiers and in the last one of them, he made his final appearance for the national team which took place on 13 November 1991 in a 1–0 victory against Switzerland.[1]

Career statistics
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Klein goal.[1]
List of international goals scored by Michael Klein
#DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
118 May 1982Estadio Nacional de Chile, Ñuñoa, Chile7 Chile1–03–2Friendly
218 May 1982Estadio Nacional de Chile, Ñuñoa, Chile7 Chile2–03–2Friendly
315 July 1982Stadionul Areni, Suceava, Romania8 Japan1–04–0Friendly
48 September 1982Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania11 Sweden2–02–0Euro 1984 qualifiers
528 October 1987Flamurtari Stadium, Vlorë, Albania59 Albania1–01–0Euro 1988 qualifiers

Honours

Corvinul Hunedoara

Dinamo București

Bayer Uerdingen

References
  1. "Michael Klein – International Appearances". European Football.
  2. "Michael Klein – International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  3. "Michael Klein". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  4. Michael Klein at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  5. "22 de ani fără Mişa Klein. A murit în timpul unui antrenament, pe când avea doar 33 de ani" [22 years without Misha Klein. He died during a training session when he was only 33 years old] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  6. "Foştii coechipieri ai lui Mişa Klein au plâns la statuia sa, dezvelită azi la Hunedoara" [Misha Klein's former teammates cried at his statue, unveiled today in Hunedoara] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  7. "Un sfert de veac fără Mişa Klein… Amintirile dor, dar nu mor!" [A quarter of a century without Misha Klein… Memories hurt, but do not die!] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  8. "Corvinul Hunedoara FC Arges 2–2". Labtof. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  9. "Mircea Lucescu, la 18 ani de la moartea lui Klein: "Mişa a fost unul dintre jucătorii mei preferaţi"" [Mircea Lucescu, 18 years after Klein's death: "Misha was one of my favorite players"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  10. "Azi se împlinesc 25 de ani de la dispariția lui Michael Klein. Povestea unicului căpitan al Corvinului Hunedoara" [Today marks 25 years since the disappearance of Michael Klein. The story of the only captain of Corvinul Hunedoara] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  11. "Cum au fost create marile echipe ale anilor '80?. Episodul 3: Dinamo - Show cu doar 14 "câini". Dar de rasă" [How were the great teams of the '80s created? Episode 3: Dinamo - Show with only 14 "dogs". But dogs of race] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  12. "Trei decenii de la Marele Exod" [Three decades since the Great Exodus] (in Romanian). Wesport.ro. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  13. "Stadionul "Michael Klein", între legendă și derizoriu. Cum arată acum arena pe care Mircea Lucescu a scris istorie pentru Corvinul Hunedoara" [The "Michael Klein" stadium, between legend and mockery. What does the arena where Mircea Lucescu wrote history for looks like now?] (in Romanian). Pressalert.ro. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  14. "30 de ani de la moartea misterioasă a lui Michael Klein, "gladiatorul cu 7 inimi" răpus de o boală de inimă" [30 years since the mysterious death of Michael Klein, the "gladiator with 7 hearts" from heart disease] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  15. ""Klein, căpitanul lui Lucescu. Cronici sentimentale" – amintiri în alb-negru despre o legendă alb-albastră" ["Klein, Lucescu's captain. Sentimental chronicles" - black and white memories of a white-blue legend] (in Romanian). Glasul-hd.ro. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  16. "Romania 1-2 Bulgaria". European Football. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
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