14 Facts About Miodrag Belodedici

Miodrag Belodedici was born in a family of Serbian ethnicity in the village of Socol, near the border with Serbia.

Miodrag Belodedici spoke only Serbian until elementary school, and completed his first four grades in that language.

Miodrag Belodedici joined the youth squad of Minerul Moldova Noua in 1978, at the late age of 14, his first coach being Olimp Mateescu; three years later he moved to Luceafarul Bucuresti, a team created by the Romanian Football Federation for the purpose of gathering all talented young players in the country in one squad.

Miodrag Belodedici finished his first season with 17 Divizia A appearances, then proceeded to become a first-team regular in the following seasons as the club won five consecutive national championships, including four doubles.

Miodrag Belodedici started in the subsequent UEFA Super Cup, won against Dynamo Kyiv.

In 1988, when Nicolae Ceausescu was still in power, Miodrag Belodedici defected from his home country to the neighbouring Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Miodrag Belodedici later gave an account of his escape to Belgrade: once he saw himself in the city, he contacted the president of Red Star Belgrade, but could not get through due to widespread commotion in the team over their defeat in the derby with FK Partizan.

However, during his first year, Miodrag Belodedici had to play without a legal contract, and only in friendly matches, as the Romanian authorities forged his professional player contract, and UEFA suspended him for one year on the basis of data furnished.

The Ceausescu regime found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to ten years of prison in absentia; after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, all charges were dropped, and Miodrag Belodedici returned to Bucharest.

In 1989, Miodrag Belodedici was given the green light to play for Red Star and, soon after, became a permanent fixture on the squad.

Miodrag Belodedici moved to Real Valladolid in 1994, with the team ranking 19th but avoiding relegation as La Liga was expanded from 20 to 22 clubs.

Miodrag Belodedici spent his last season in Spain with Villarreal CF from Segunda Division, in a return to the Valencian Community.

Miodrag Belodedici retired from football in June 2001, having appeared in 235 games in Romania's top flight and winning 11 major titles.

Miodrag Belodedici returned in time to be selected and play all the games at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States as they exited in the quarter-finals, missing his attempt in the shootout against Sweden in the last-eight stage; additionally, he was selected for the Euro 1996 and Euro 2000 tournaments, totalling four appearances combined and reaching the quarter-finals in the latter.