Răducanu Necula

Early career

Răducanu, nicknamed "Tamango" after the character played by Alex Cressan from the 1958 movie Tamango, was born on 18 May 1946 in Vlădeni, Ialomița, Romania, but grew up in the Giulești neighborhood of Bucharest. He started to play football in 1958 in the offence at Victoria MIBC București. He later moved to Divizia C club Flacăra Roșie București where coach Sandu Frățilă started using him as a goalkeeper. Frățilă gave him his senior debut in a 1–0 victory in the 1963–64 Cupa României against Divizia A club Progresul București in which he saved a penalty from Nicolae Oaidă.

Rapid București

He was noticed by Rapid București's coach, Valentin Stănescu, who brought him to the Giulești team, giving him his Divizia A debut on 8 May 1966 in a 2–1 home loss to Siderurgistul Galați. In the following season, Stănescu used Răducanu in 24 league games, as the club won its first title. Afterwards he played four games in the 1967–68 European Cup, helping The Railwaymen eliminate Trakia Plovdiv and advance to the following round where they were eliminated by Juventus. In the following years, he won two Cupa României in the 1971–72 and 1974–75 editions, but played only in the 1972 final when under coach Bazil Marian he kept a clean sheet in the 2–0 win over Jiul Petroșani. He participated in all six matches of Rapid's 1971–72 UEFA Cup campaign as the team reached the round of 16 by eliminating Napoli and Legia Warsaw before falling to the eventual tournament…

Răducanu played 56 games for Romania in which he conceded 54 goals, making his debut under coach Angelo Niculescu on 25 June 1967 in a 1–0 home loss to Italy in the Euro 1968 qualifiers. He played four games during the successful 1970 World Cup qualifiers. Coach Niculescu used him in the 3–2 loss against Brazil in the final tournament when he replaced Stere Adamache in the 29th minute and conceded a goal from Pelé. That was the first goalkeeper substitution in World Cup history. However, The Tricolours failed to progress from their group. He played nine matches in the 1972 Euro qualifiers, managing to reach the quarter-finals where Romania was defeated by Hungary, who advanced to the final tournament. Subsequently, Răducanu played six games in the Euro 1976 qualifiers, appeared in two matches during the 1973–76 Balkan Cup and made three appearances in the 1977–80 Balkan Cup. He made his last appearance for the national team on 25 October 1978 in a 3–2 home victory against Yugoslavia during the Euro 1980 qualifiers. For representing his country at the 1970 World Cup, Răducanu was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

His son, Cătălin Necula, was also a footballer. Răducanu was well known for his charisma, being invited in numerous Romanian TV shows. He was also an occasional film actor, playing in the 1978 Totul pentru fotbal (Everything for football) directed by Andrei Blaier and in the 2008 Legiunea străină (The foreign legion) directed by Mircea Daneliuc, both comedy films. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, he briefly owned a grocery store named Merci Rică in Bucharest's Drumul Taberei neighborhood and a luxury terrace called Sirena (The mermaid) in the Neptun summer resort. Folk singer Victor Socaciu composed a song dedicated to him called Portar sub Podul Grant (Goalkeeper under the Grant Bridge). A book about him was written by Sorin Satmari titled Rică Răducanu sau prea mare pentru un careu atât de mic (Rică Răducanu or too big for such a small penalty box). In May 2008, Adriean Videanu, the mayor of Bucharest, awarded Răducanu the Honorary Citizen of Bucharest title.

Rapid București

Divizia A: 1966–67 Divizia B: 1974–75 Cupa României: 1971–72, 1974–75 Steaua București

Cupa României: 1978–79 Individual

Romanian Footballer of the Year runner-up: 1970