Ștefan Birtalan

Ștefan Birtalan

Personal information
Born	25 September 1948 Jibou, Romania[1]
Nationality	Romanian
Height	194 cm
Weight	96 kg
Playing position	Back
Nickname	Bibi
Club information
Senior clubs
1964–1966 1967–1970 1970–1985 1985–1986	Rapid CFR Jibou Minerul Baia Mare Steaua Bucharest Tuscany Follonica
National team
1966–1982	Romania	231 (993)
Teams managed
1986–1994 1993–1994 1994–1999 1999–2002	Steaua Bucharest (assistant) Romania Qatar Steaua Bucharest
Medal record Team handball Representing  Romania Olympic Games 1976 Montreal Team 1972 Munich Team 1980 Moscow Team World Championship 1970 France Team 1974 East Germany Team

Ştefan Birtalan (Hungarian: Birtalan István; born 25 September 1948) is a former Romanian handball player, coach and sports official.

Birtalan, who comes form the Hungarian minority in Romania,^[2] was one of the best players of his time and was named the World Player of the Year in 1974, 1976 and 1977.^[3] He spent most of his club career with Steaua Bucureşti, winning with them 12 Romanian championships and the European Champions Cup in 1977. He also won the world title in 1970 and 1974, becoming the top scorer at the 1974 tournament with 43 goals. He participated in the 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics winning one silver and bronze medals.^[1][4]

Biography

As a teenager Birtalan trained in handball, volleyball, basketball and athletics. He debuted in handball aged 16 with the team Rapid CFR Jibou. In 1966, he moved to Baia Mare to study civil engineering. There he first played volleyball and in 1967 changed to handball. From 1970 to 1985 he competed for Steaua Bucharest, with an interruption between 1981 and 1983. With Steaua he won the 1977 EHF Champions League title, finishing second in 1971, and 12 national titles. In 1966, he was included to the junior and in 1968 to the senior national handball team.^[4]

At the end of his career Birtalan spent one year in Italy as player-coach in 1985-86. After returning to Romania he worked with the national junior team, and in 1991-1994 was head coach at Steaua. In 1994 he accepted a coaching position in Qatar. Between 1999 and 2002 he again coached Steaua, bringing it to the national titles in 2000 and 2001. In 2002 he retired from coaching due to health problems, and became a sport administrator.^[4]

Awards

• World Championship Top Scorer: 1974
• World Player of the Year: 1974, 1976, 1977

References

1. "Ştefan Birtalan Biography and Olympic Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
2. "A román államelnök mentette meg a magyar legenda életét" [The Romanian president saved the life of the Hungarian legend] (in Hungarian). Sportgéza. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
3. "Handball legend amazed by CL final". European Handball Federation. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
4. Ştefan Birtalan. cosr.ro

External links

• Profile at DatabeOlympics