Michael Klein

Klein began playing football at Corvinul Hunedoara's youth center in 1973. He made his debut for the senior team on 24 August 1977 under coach Ștefan Coidum in a Divizia A match that ended in a 2–2 draw against Argeș Pitești. In the following season he was loaned to Divizia B team Aurul Brad but in the middle of the season he was recalled to Corvinul by new coach Mircea Lucescu. At the end of that season, the team was relegated to Divizia B, but Klein stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back to the first division after one year. Afterwards he helped the club finish third in the 1981–82 Divizia A. He also appeared in all four games in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup campaign and scored once as they got past Grazer AK in the first round, being eliminated in the following one by FK Sarajevo. For the way he played in 1985, Klein was placed fifth in the ranking for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award. After 11 and a half seasons spent with The Ravens, in the middle of the 1988–89 season he was transferred to Dinamo București where he reunited with his former Corvinul manager Mircea Lucescu. In his first season spent with The Red Dogs, he played in both legs of the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals, where they were eliminated on the away goals rule after 1–1 on aggregate by Sampdoria. In the following season, Klein won The Double with the club, Lucescu giving him 23 appearances in which he scored two goals in the league, and he also played the entire match in…

Klein played 89 matches and scored five goals for Romania, making his debut on 9 September 1981 when coach Valentin Stănescu sent him in the 49th minute to replace Aurel Beldeanu in a 2–1 friendly loss to Bulgaria. His next appearance was a 0–0 draw against Switzerland in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers. He scored his first two goals in a friendly that ended with a 3–2 victory over Chile. Klein made seven appearances in the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers in which he scored one goal in a 2–0 win against Sweden. Coach Mircea Lucescu used him for the entirety of all three games in the final tournament which were a draw against Spain and losses to West Germany and Portugal, as his side failed to progress from their group. Klein played seven matches in the 1986 World Cup qualifiers and six matches with one goal scored in a 1–0 away victory against Albania during the Euro 1988 qualifiers. Afterwards he made five appearances in the successful 1990 World Cup qualifiers. He was used by coach Emerich Jenei for the entirety of all four matches in the final tournament, as Romania got eliminated by Ireland in the round of 16. Klein played six games in the Euro 1992 qualifiers and in the last one of them, he made his final appearance for the national team which took place on 13 November 1991 in a 1–0 victory against Switzerland.

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Klein goal.

On 2 February 1993, Klein died of a heart attack during a training session with Bayer Uerdingen at the age of 33. Klein has a total of 322 matches with 36 goals in Divizia A, 37 matches in Bundesliga, 25 games in 2. Bundesliga and 13 appearances with two goals in European competitions. The Stadionul Michael Klein in Hunedoara is named in his honor, and a statue of Klein is placed in front of the stadium. A book about him was written by Nicolae Stanciu, titled Klein, căpitanul lui Lucescu. Cronici sentimentale (Klein, Lucescu's captain. Sentimental chronicles).