Ioan Sabău

Ioan Ovidiu Sabău

Personal information
Full name	Ioan Ovidiu Sabău
Date of birth	12 February 1968 (1968-02-12) (age 43)
Place of birth	Câmpia-Turzii, Romania
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Manager (former Midfielder)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–1988	Universitatea Cluj	61	(7)
1988	ASA Târgu Mureş	12	(2)
1988–1990	Dinamo Bucureşti	49	(8)
1990–1992	Feyenoord	39	(11)
1992–1996	Brescia Calcio	99	(10)
1996–1997	Reggiana	19	(1)
1997–1998	Brescia Calcio	7	(1)
1998–2000	Rapid Bucureşti	43	(2)
2000–2001	Universitatea Cluj	20	(9)
2001–2003	Rapid Bucureşti	35	(1)
2004–2005	Gaz Metan Mediaş	1	(0)
Total		385	(52)
National team
1988–1999	Romania	52	(8)
Teams managed
2003	Univeristatea Cluj
2003–2005	Gaz Metan Mediaş
2005–2009	Gloria Bistriţa
2009–2010	Politehnica Timişoara
2010–2011	FCM Târgu Mureş
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ioan Ovidiu Sabău (born 12 February 1968) is a former Romanian football midfielder, who was born in Câmpia-Turzii and debuted in Divizia A with U Cluj in 1986. He is currently manager of FCM Târgu Mureş.

He later won the league title with Dinamo Bucureşti in 1990, before he played several seasons in the Netherlands and Italy. Upon returning to Romania he went to Rapid Bucureşti, where he won two league titles (1999, 2003) and one cup title (2002).

Sabău made his debut for the national team in 1988 against Israel. He was in the squad for the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1996. After a two-year absence from the national team he returned to play five matches in 1999.

In November 2001, he made another comeback to the Romanian national team, playing in both legs of their 2002 World Cup play-off defeat by Slovenia.

He was considered an important member of the Golden Generation of Romanian football, despite missing out the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where Romania reached the quarter-finals, due to injury.

He is a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses Association of Romania.^[1]

As a manager

Sabău started his coaching career in 2003 with Universitatea Cluj-Napoca and Gaz Metan Mediaş before taking over Gloria Bistriţa in the summer of 2005. During his time at Gloria Bistriţa, he showed a good eye for young players such as Gabriel Mureşan or László Sepsi. Highlights include a sixth place finish at the end of the 2006-07 season of Liga I and a 2-1 home victory over Atlético Madrid the following season, in the now-defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Sabău was resigned at the end of the 2008-09 season and was very close to taking over Dinamo, but eventually signed for league runners-up FC Timişoara. The team produced the main shock of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds by eliminating UEFA Cup holders FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the third round.

Honours

Dinamo Bucuresti

• Romanian League: 1989–90
• Romanian Cup: 1989–90

Feyenoord

• Dutch Cup: 1990-91, 1991–92
• Dutch Super Cup: 1991

Brescia

• Anglo-Italian Cup: 1993-94

Rapid Bucuresti

• Romanian League: 1998-99, 2002–03
• Romanian Cup: 2001-02

Notes

1. ^ (Romanian) Daniel Conţescu "Iehovistul Sabău le-a arătat calea: 'Timișoara va câștiga titlul. După două înfrângeri, Dorinel va fi înjurat'" ("Jehovah's Witness Sabău Shows Them the Way: 'Timişoara Will Win the Title. After Two Defeats, Dorinel Will be Cussed Out'"), Evenimentul ZIlei, 17 March 2011; accessed 17 March 2011

External links

• RomanianSoccer.ro
• Career history at National Football Teams

Romanian football portal

Persondata
Name	Sabau, Ioan
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	12 February 1968
Place of birth	Câmpia-Turzii, Romania
Date of death
Place of death