Romania mourns Lucian Bălan
Monday, November 16, 2015
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Lucian Bălan, who won the European Champion Clubs' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup with FC Steaua București in the mid-1980s, has passed away at the age of 56.
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Romanian football is mourning Lucian Bălan, a key player in the FC Steaua București team which won the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1986 and the UEFA Super Cup the following year, who has passed away at the age of 56.
Born in Bucharest on 25 June 1959, Bălan began his football career at second-division Autobuzul before moving to FC Baia Mare, where he made his top-flight debut at the age of 19 in November 1978.
He moved back to Bucharest and Steaua in 1985, and enjoyed a four-year spell crowned by triumph in the 1986 Champion Clubs' Cup final, when Steaua defeated FC Barcelona 2-0 on penalties following a goalless 120 minutes in Seville with goalkeeper Helmut Duckadam saving all four Barcelona penalties in the shootout. He was also a substitute in Steaua's losing Champion Clubs' Cup final against AC Milan in Barcelona in 1989.
Bălan was a member of the Steaua team which won the UEFA Super Cup with a single-goal success over FC Dynamo Kyiv in Monaco in February 1987. On the domestic scene, he won four successive league titles and two domestic cups with the Bucharest club.
He then had spells with K. Beerschot AC in Belgium and Real Murcia CF in Spain before returning to Steaua to finish his career in 1991. Bălan made his sole appearance for the Romanian national team in 1987.
