Marcel Sabou

Sabou was born on 22 August 1965 in Timișoara, Romania. He began playing football at local club Politehnica, making his Divizia A debut on 14 August 1985 under coach Ion Dumitru in a 1–0 away loss to Petrolul Ploiești. At the end of his first season spent at the club, they were relegated to Divizia B, but Sabou stayed with them for another half a year. Afterwards he went to play under the guidance of coach Mircea Lucescu at Dinamo București. There, he made his only appearance in European competitions, playing in a 3–0 victory against Kuusysi Lahti in the first round of the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup. On 20 June 1989 he made his last Divizia A appearance in Dinamo's 0–0 home draw against SC Bacău, having a total of 77 games with five goals in the competition. In 1989, Sabou defected to Spain, signing with Segunda División team Real Madrid Castilla. Shortly afterwards he moved to Tenerife where on 9 September 1990 under coach Xabier Azkargorta he made his La Liga debut in a 3–1 away loss to Osasuna. In 1991 he went back to Segunda División at Racing Santander, helping the team earn promotion to the first division in his second season spent there. He then went back to La Liga football, playing for Sporting Gijón, scoring his first goal in the competition on 6 March 1994 in a 2–1 away loss to Rayo Vallecano. In 1995 he scored an important goal in a relegation play-off against Lleida which helped Gijón avoid relegation. On 25 February 1996, Sabou made his last La Liga…

Between 1986 and 1987, Sabou made seven appearances for Romania's under-21 squad.

In 2013 Sabou was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that causes the death of neurons controlling voluntary muscles. On 9 June 2025, he died of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Gijón, Spain, at the age of 59.

Politehnica Timișoara

Divizia B: 1986–87