The passion that the octogenarian left back exudes is nothing short of inspiring. Every game he plays, he sets records. The momentum of his record-breaking career has been nothing short of astonishing. Born in 1945, Mircea Lucescu, the coach of the Romanian national soccer team, is a breath of fresh air for soccer fans around the world.

With the league phase of the 2024-2025 UEFA Nations League (UNL) now underway, Lucescu’s legacy is at the center of the conversation. After 38 years at the helm of Romania’s national team, he has surprised everyone by taking the reins again and sending the team into a whirlwind of ‘winning streaks’ and ‘record-breaking performances’.

Lucescu has been at the center of the Romanian surge, which has seen the team win three games in a row. Starting with a 3-0 win over Kosovo (Sept. 6 – local date), followed by whirlwind wins over Lithuania (Sept. 9 – 3-1) and Cyprus (Oct. 12 – 3-0). Nine goals scored and one conceded, a perfect command of the offense and defense. In C2, the return points put Romania firmly at the top of C2.

Lucescu’s path to the top of the C2 is marked by records.

When it comes to the ‘duration’ of a national A-team coach’s tenure, Lucescu has no intention of letting up.

First, Lucescu came into the UNL arena with the Tricolori (the tricolor nickname for Romania’s national soccer team) and broke the record for the longest comeback as a national team head coach. He set the record when he coached against Kosovo. After 38 years and 17 days in charge of his country’s A team, he was able to celebrate with a victory (see OSEN’s Sept. 12 story by Choi Kyu-seop).

Lucescu previously coached Romania from 1981 to 1986. He was in his mid-30s to early 40s when he took command. His last match in charge of his first national team was on August 20, 1986, against Norway (2-2 draw).

In terms of the time it took him to return to the helm of the same national team twice, Lucescu’s record is unrivaled. It was almost double the time of former Brazil coach Mario Jagalu, 토토사이트 who passed away earlier this year, who led the category until his return (20 years and 170 days).

And 36 days later, Lucescu reached another milestone. He became the longest-serving coach of the A national team. 42 years and 336 days, an unbelievable record that skipped over a long period of time that saw four different coaches.

Octogenarian Lucescu leads Romania’s A team to new records and a winning streak

One of the most impressive feats of coaching came against Cyprus. The Romanian A team celebrated their 3-0 victory over Cyprus, beating the previous record by four days. Lucescu first took charge of the Romania A team on November 11, 1981, when they drew 0-0 with Switzerland (see table).

The IFFHS [International Federation of Football History and Statistics], which compiled the record and released it on Wednesday, said: “The intervening period was not taken into account. The only criteria for the calculation is that the coach was at the helm of the same national A team.”

The previous record was held by Manuel Platas Solich, who coached Paraguay’s A team. It was 42 years and 332 days, with his debut match against Brazil on September 24, 1922 (1-1 draw) and his last match against Bolivia on August 22, 1965 (1-2 loss).

In this category, Jagaloo, who is also familiar to Korean soccer fans, ranks fifth.

The man who was honored with two FIFA World Cups as a player (1958 Sweden-1962 Chile) and one as a manager (1970 Mexico) spent 35 years and 62 days at the helm of the world’s top-ranked Brazil A team. On September 19, 1967, he played his first match (1-0 win) against Chile. Oddly enough, his last match was against South Korea. On November 20, 2002, they faced South Korea in a friendly A match (3-2 win).

Lucescu’s new horizon is one that no one else will be able to reach for a while. The coaches ranked second through seventh have already stepped down from their positions. The only man still in charge of the A team, Pauzi Benzarti, who succeeded Lucescu, has a long way to go to catch up. Benzarti has been in charge of Tunisia’s A team for 30 years and 195 days.

Every step Lucescu takes forward is a new record. It will be interesting to see how far he can take the record.