Rodion Cămătaru

Rodion Gorun Cămătaru (born 22 June 1958) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Rodion Cămătaru was born on 22 June 1958 in Strehaia, being given his Divizia A debut at age 17 by coach Constantin Cernăianu, playing for Universitatea Craiova on 10 November 1974 in a 1–1 against CFR Cluj.

Rodion Cămătaru played 73 matches and scored 21 goals for Romania, making his debut on 13 December 1978 under coach Ștefan Kovács in a friendly which ended with a 2–1 loss against Greece.

He spent twelve seasons with Universitatea, scoring 122 goals in 288 Divizia A matches, being part of the "Craiova Maxima" generation that won two consecutive league titles in 1980 and 1981, being the team's top-goalscorer in both, as in the first he scored 17 goals in the 26 appearances given to him by coach Valentin Stănescu and in the second he scored 23 in the 33 matches under coach Ion Oblemenco, also winning four cups in the years 1977, 1978 in which he scored a goal in the 3–1 victory from the final against Olimpia Satu Mare, 1981 and 1983 in which he scored a double in the 2–1 final against Politehnica Timișoara and made 9 appearances in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign when they reached the semi-finals, being eliminated by Benfica on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate.

At one point he was heavily criticized by journalist Eugen Barbu in the Informația Bucureștiului newspaper, Cămătaru calling the article "a blasphemy" but after the 0–0 from the first leg of the semi-final against Benfica in which Cămătaru was all over the field helping the defense, the midfielders and in the offence, Barbu wrote another article called:"M-ai învins, Rodioane!"

(English:"You defeated me, Rodion!").

He played two games at the Euro 1980 qualifiers and scored one goal in the 4–1 victory against Yugoslavia in the second leg of the 1977–80 Balkan Cup final.

Also during his period spent with The Blue Lions he had offers to play abroad, firstly from Fiorentina after the Italians got eliminated by them in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup but Romania's communist regime did not allow the transfer, then in 1985 when he went on a trial at Benfica, playing for them in a friendly against Porto, making a good impression but shortly afterwards he suffered a injury that kept him off the field for six months, so the Portuguese club chose not to transfer him.

He played six games and scored two goals at the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers, including one against goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli after a long pass from Costică Ștefănescu and a 30 meters run in a 1–0 win over Sweden on the Råsunda Stadium, afterwards being used by coach Mircea Lucescu in all three group matches from the final tournament as Romania did not advance to the next stage.

In 1986, he was transferred to Dinamo București, where he became the Divizia A top goalscorer and European Golden Boot winner in the first season spent at the club with 44 goals scored in 33 games, but as he scored 26 goals in the last 9 matches of the season, his European Golden Boot was retired because FIFA's investigations claimed the goals were scored unfairly and the trophy was awarded to Anton Polster, however Cămătaru was allowed to keep his copy of the trophy.

He played six games and scored three goals at the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, including a spectacular one on the Wembley Stadium against goalkeeper Peter Shilton in a 1–1 with England.

In 1987 he was nominated for the Ballon d'Or.

In the following years, Cămătaru played four games at the Euro 1988 qualifiers and made five appearances at the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers, scoring a double against goalkeeper and Bulgaria captain Borislav Mihaylov in a 3–1 away victory, being also part of the squad that participated at the final tournament where coach Emeric Jenei did not use him in any games.

In 1989 he went to play in Belgium at Charleroi, after two seasons he moved in Netherlands at Heerenveen where he spent three seasons, scoring his last goal as a professional in the 1992–93 KNVB Cup final, which was lost with 6–2 in front of Ajax Amsterdam.

He has a total of 378 Divizia A appearances in which he scored 198 goals and 47 matches played with 7 goals scored in European competitions.

Cămătaru's last appearance for the national team was at the Euro 1992 qualifiers in a 2–1 loss against Scotland in which he scored Romania's goal.

For representing his country at the 1990 World Cup, Cămătaru was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Universitatea Craiova

Romania

In 2020 with the occasion of Heerenveen's 100th anniversary, Cămătaru was selected the best striker in the club's history in front of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.