Bucharest hospital confirms his death after heart attack

Coach led team to Euro 84 and won multiple club titles

Mircea Lucescu, the Romanian football great who was a serial trophy winner as a player and a coach, has died aged 80.

Lucescu’s death was confirmed by Bucharest university emergency hospital on Tuesday. He had been taken to hospital after reportedly having a heart attack on Friday morning.

“Mr Mircea Lucescu was one of the most successful Romanian football coaches and players, the first to qualify the national team for a European Championship, in 1984,” the hospital said in a statement. “Entire generations of Romanians grew up with his image in their hearts, as a national symbol.”