Overview
- He died in a Bucharest hospital, which confirmed Tuesday that a heart attack was the cause.
- He fell ill about 10 days earlier while preparing a friendly against Slovakia, then suffered a heart attack Friday on the day doctors planned to discharge him after stabilising his heart rate.
- He had recently left the Romania job, returning in August 2024 on a two-year deal and managing his last match on March 26 in a play-off defeat to Turkey.
- As a coach he won more than 30 club trophies across Romania, Italy, Turkey, and Ukraine, and he became the first to take Romania to a European Championship in 1984.
- Tributes followed from President Nicusor Dan, who called him one of the most respected figures in European football, and from Galatasaray, which hailed his UEFA Super Cup win and a landmark league title.