Nicolae Dobrin

Dobrin, nicknamed Gâscanul ("The Gander") or Prințul din Trivale ("The Prince of Trivale"), was born on 26 August 1947 in Pitești, Argeș County, Romania, and is considered one of Romania's greatest footballers. He began playing football as a child with his friends on a field they nicknamed "Maracana", located close to the Argeș river. One day in 1959 some players from Dinamo Pitești came to play with them, and Dobrin's team won 12–2, with him scoring six goals. After the game, Leonte Ianovschi, a coach at the youth center of Dinamo Pitești, told him to come to the club's training sessions. Dobrin played for the first time in a Divizia A match when he was still 14 years old, on 1 July 1962, coach Ștefan Vasile using him in a match between Știința Cluj and Dinamo Pitești that ended with a 5–1 loss, thus holding the record of the youngest debutant in the competition.

Dobrin played for his local club Argeș Pitești for most of his professional career. His first performance occurred when the team reached the 1965 Cupa României final, where coach Virgil Mărdărescu used him as a starter in the eventual 2–1 loss to Știința Cluj. In the last round of the 1968–69 season, he scored a double and provided an assist for Petre Nuțu's goal in a 3–0 win over ASA Târgu Mureș which earned the points that saved them from relegation. In the last game of the following season, The Violet Eagles were playing against Universitatea Craiova, with Dobrin and Universitatea star Ion Oblemenco competing…

Dobrin played 47 games and scored six goals for Romania, making his debut on 1 June 1966 under coach Ilie Oană in a 1–0 friendly loss to West Germany played at Südweststadion in Ludwigshafen. He made a good impression in the game, showing his dribbling abilities in front of West Germany's experienced midfielder Horst Szymaniak and after the game, World Cup winner Fritz Walter went into Romania's locker room to tell Dobrin: "Boy, if you're good and drink a lot of milk, you're going to be a great player!". The press from West Germany also praised Dobrin, as the newspaper 5 Uhr Blatt wrote the next day: "Game coordinator Dobrin has impressed with his demonstrated high class" and Die Rheinpfalz wrote: "Of special class is Dobrin, who for his age proves an impressive maturity and a brilliant technique". Dobrin played four games and scored two goals against Italy and Switzerland in the Euro 1968 qualifiers. Afterwards, he appeared in three games in which he scored one goal in a 1–0 victory against Portugal during the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers. He was selected by coach Angelo Niculescu to be part of Romania's 1970 World Cup squad, but did not play in any match. The reasons for Niculescu's decision not to play him remain unclear, but his absence is considered one of the most controversial moments in Romanian football history. Dobrin played six matches and scored two goals in the 1972 Euro qualifiers, managing to reach the quarter-finals where Romania was defeated by…

Dobrin started his managerial career in the 1982–83 Divizia A season as a player-coach at Argeș Pitești. He coached Argeș Pitești on several occasions, managing the club in a total of 138 Divizia A matches. His only coaching experience outside of Argeș Pitești was in the 1985–86 Divizia B season, when he served as a player-coach at CS Botoșani. Dobrin also worked as a technical director for a short while at ARO Muscelul Câmpulung alongside head coach Ion Oblemenco at the end of the 1994–95 Divizia C season. They helped the team get promoted to the second league after winning a promotion play-off against ICIM Brașov.

Dobrin's style of play was praised by journalist Ion Cupen, who wrote: “Dobrin amazed with flawless technique, refinement, tactical sense, a cunning shot, selflessness, and fair play. He dribbled bewilderingly, eyes lifted, as if sensing a wider horizon visible only to him. He guided his teammates along paths known only to him, always unguarded by the opposition. Charm, colour, effectiveness. And a constant disregard for prejudice, bending the rigid rules of sporting life with a smile upon his lips.” Writer Fănuș Neagu described Dobrin’s playing style in metaphorical terms: “The moment we see him near the ball, hungry for the game, roses bloom in our hands, for he is the bullfighter favored by fate and luck, and we are his love, paid for with the bull's blood.”