Alexandru Custov (8 May 1954 – 20 March 2008) was a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder.[2][3][4][5]

Alexandru Custov
Personal information
Date of birth (1954-05-08)8 May 1954
Place of birth Fundeni, Romania
Date of death 19 March 2008(2008-03-19) (aged 53)
Place of death Fundeni, Romania
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1968–1969 Gloria Fundeni
1969–1972 Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1984 Dinamo București 319 (29)
1984–1986 Victoria București[a] 7 (0)
1986–1987 Gloria Buzău
1987 Mecanica Fină București
Total 326 (29)
International career
1982 Romania 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 June 2006
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 June 2006

Club career

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Alexandru Custov was born on 8 May 1954 in Fundeni where he started playing football at junior level in 1968 at local club, Gloria.[6] In 1969 he went to play for Dinamo București, making his Divizia A debut on 4 May 1972 in a 0–0 with Farul Constanța.[6] In the 1974–75 season, Custov won his first title with the club, contributing under the guidance of coach Nicolae Dumitru with 31 appearances and two goals scored, repeating the performance in the 1976–77 season with coach Ion Nunweiller, this time playing 33 matches and scoring two goals.[6][7] In his last three seasons spent with The Red Dogs, he won three consecutive Divizia A titles, in the first one working with coach Valentin Stănescu who gave him 31 appearances in which he scored six goals and in the following two he worked again with Nicolae Dumitru and he contributed with 28 matches played and two goals scored in each season.[6][7] He also won two Cupa României with Dinamo, being used all the minutes by Stănescu in the 3–2 victory over FC Baia Mare from the 1982 final and in the one from 1984 he scored a goal in the 2–1 victory against rivals Steaua București, playing the whole match under the guidance of Dumitru.[6][8] Custov played a total of 30 games and scored three goals in European competitions, in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup he scored one goal on the San Siro stadium in a 1–1 with Inter Milan, thus contributing to its elimination after a 3–2 victory in the second leg and he appeared in six games in the 1983–84 European Cup as the club eliminated title holders Hamburg in the campaign, reaching the semi-finals where they were eliminated by Liverpool.[2][3][6][9]

In 1984 he went to play for Victoria București in Divizia B, managing to promote after one season in Divizia A, where on 10 May 1986 he made his last first league appearance in a 1–0 win over ASA Târgu Mureș, having a total of 326 matches with 29 goals scored in the competition.[1][2][3][6] Custov spent the last years of his career playing for Gloria Buzău and Mecanica Fină București in Divizia B.[1][6]

International career

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Alexandru Custov played two games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 18 July 1982 when coach Mircea Lucescu sent him on the field in the 58th minute in order to replace Ilie Balaci in a friendly which ended with a 3–1 victory against Japan.[10][11] His second game was 2–0 win over Sweden at the Euro 1984 qualifiers in which he also came as a substitute, replacing Michael Klein in the 85th minute.[10][12]

Death

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On 20 March 2008, Custov died at age 53 in his native Fundeni, after suffering from diabetes and thrombophlebitis.[2][4][5][6]

Honours

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Dinamo București

Victoria București

Notes

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  1. ^ The statistics for the 1984–85 Divizia B season are unavailable.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Alexandru Custov at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. ^ a b c d "S-a dus și Custof" [Custof died too] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 23 March 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Nu e caine pana la moarte" [He's not a dog until death] (in Romanian). Evz.ro. 12 August 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Adio, Custov!" [Goodbye, Custov!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 23 March 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "A murit Alexandru Custov" [Alexandru Custov died] (in Romanian). Evz.ro. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Alexandru Custov at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  7. ^ a b "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Romanian Cup – Season 1981–1982". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
    "Romanian Cup – Season 1983–1984". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Dinamo marchează 30 de ani de la semifinala cu Liverpool din Cupa Campionilor" [Dinamo marks 30 years since the semifinal with Liverpool in the Champions Cup] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Alexandru Custov". European Football. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Romania 3-1 Japan". European Football. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Romania 2-0 Sweden". European Football. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
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