Nicolae Kovács

Nicolae Kovács (Hungarian: Kovács Miklós, sometimes rendered as Nicolae Covaci, 29 December 1911 – 7 July 1977)[2] was a Romanian-Hungarian football player and coach. He was a dual international football player and played both for Romania and Hungary.[3]

"Miklós Kovács (footballer)" redirects here. For the Hungarian footballer who used this as a pseudonym, see Ferenc Puskás.
The native form of this personal name is Kovács Miklós. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Nicolae Kovács
Personal information
Full name Kovács Miklos/Nicolae Covaci
Date of birth (1911-12-29)29 December 1911
Place of birth Mehádia, Austria-Hungary
Date of death 7 July 1977(1977-07-07) (aged 65)
Place of death Timișoara, Romania
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1924–1928 Chinezul Timișoara
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1928–1930 Banatul Timișoara 43 (20)
1930–1931 Ripensia Timișoara 23 (8)
1931–1935 CA Oradea 47 (22)
1935 Ripensia Timișoara 14 (4)
1935–1936 Valenciennes 24 (10)
1936–1938 CA Oradea 39 (14)
1938–1940 Tricolor Ploieşti 21 (8)
1941–1942 Nagyváradi AC 16 (3)
1943–1945 Gamma 49 (21)
1945–1947 Ferar Cluj 44 (23)
1947 Crișana Oradea 21 (5)
1928 Chinezul Timișoara 14 (11)
Total 355 (149)
International career
1929–1938[1] Romania 37 (6)
1941[1] Hungary 1 (1)
Managerial career
1946–1947 Universitatea Cluj
1947 Ferar Cluj
1948–1949 ICO Oradea
1950–1953 Politehnica Timișoara
1953–1954 CSM Mediaş
1954 Minerul Petroșani
1957–1963 Minerul Nădrag
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

For the Romania national football team, he won 37 caps and participated in the 1930, 1934 and 1938 World Cups, being one of five players to have appeared in all three of the pre-war World Cups. The other players were Edmond Delfour, Étienne Mattler, Bernard Voorhoof and Rudolf Bürger, according to official FIFA match reports. Later, he also represented the Hungary national football team once.[4][5]

He was the older brother of Ștefan Kovács, the famous coach who led AFC Ajax to two European Cups in 1972 and 1973.[6]

International goals

Romania's goal tally first

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.15 September 1929Levski Field, Sofia, Bulgaria Bulgaria2–23–2Friendly
2.14 July 1930Estadio Pocitos, Montevideo, Uruguay Peru3–13–11930 FIFA World Cup
3.28 June 1931Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia3–14–21931 Balkan Cup
4.8 May 1932Stadionul ONEF, Bucharest, Romania Austria1–14–11932 Central European Cup
5.3 July 1932Avala, Belgrade, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia1–21–31932 Balkan Cup

Honours

Player
Ripensia Timișoara

Coach
CA Oradea
Politehnica Timișoara

References and notes
  1. "Nicolae Kovács - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  2. Nicolae Kovacs at fifa.com, www.weltfussball.de Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Ion Văduva-Poenaru Enciclopedia marilor personalități: A-I Contemporanii 1999 - p. 496 "H. a egalat recordul deţinut timp de 60 de ani, de fotbalistul român Nicolae Kovacs, cu 3 participări consecutive la tumeele finale ale CM (1990 -Italia, 1994- SUA şi 1998- Franţa), evoluând în 12 meciuri din faza finală a competiţiei mondiale."
  4. Players Appearing for Two or More Countries
  5. ""Doar bunicul și alți 4 fotbaliști din lume au fost la primele 3 Mondiale". Povestea celui mai tânăr român prezent la un turneu final" ["Only my grandfather and 4 other footballers in the world have been to the first 3 World Cups". The story of the youngest Romanian present at a final tournament] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  6. "Ștefan Kovács, antrenorul timișorean care a cucerit de două ori Cupa Campionilor. Cum a scris istorie la cârma marelui Ajax" [Ștefan Kovács, the coach from Timisoara who won the Champions Cup twice. How he wrote history at the helm of the great Ajax] (in Romanian). Pressalert.ro. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
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