Ion Lăpușneanu was born on 8 December 1908 in Bucharest, Romania, starting to play football in 1926 at Venus București in the regional championship.[1][2] After two years he went to play for Banatul Timișoara with whom in the 1928–29 season he won the regional championship which helped the team qualify for the national league where they were defeated with 3–0 by România Cluj in the semi-finals.[1][2][3] Afterwards he went for one year at Sportul Studențesc București, then he returned to Venus in 1931, keeping a clean sheet in his first match, a 2–0 over RGM Timișoara, making a total of 11 appearances by the end of the season as the team won the title.[1][2][4] He won another title with Venus in the 1933–34 season when coach Karoly Weszter used him in seven games.[1][2][4] In 1935, Lăpușneanu went to play for Rapid București where in his second season the team finished runner-up in the league and won the cup but he did not play in the 5–1 win over Ripensia Timișoara from the final, as Petre Rădulescu was preferred in his place.[1][2][5] After spending the 1937–38 season in Divizia B at Gloria CFR Galați, Ion Lăpușneanu ended his playing career.[1]
International career
Ion Lăpușneanu played 10 games at international level for Romania, making his debut when coach Constantin Rădulescu used him on 15 September 1929 in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 victory against Bulgaria.[6][7] He played two games at the successful 1929–31 Balkan Cup, two at the 1932 Balkan Cup and one at the 1931–1934 Central European Cup for Amateurs.[6][8][9] Lăpușneanu was also selected by coach Rădulescu to be part of the team's 1930 World Cup squad in which he played in both of Romania's games at the tournament, the 3–1 victory against Peru and the 4–0 loss against eventual tournament winners Uruguay.[6][10] His last game for the national team was a friendly which ended with a 5–0 loss against Poland.[6]
After coaching Sporting Club Pitești in the Romanian lower leagues for a while, he had his first coaching experience in the Romanian top-division Divizia A, being in charge of Politehnica Timișoara in the 1948–49 season.[2][13] He made his debut on 22 August 1948 in a 3–1 win over Petrolul București, finishing the season on the 10th place, thus avoiding relegation.[14][15] He then coached Flacăra Petroșani in the 1951 and 1952 Divizia A seasons, avoiding relegation in each of them.[2][16][17][18]
In 1953 he had his first spell at newly founded club, Dinamo Pitești, helping the club finish the first season of its existence on the 8th place in the regional championship.[2][13][19] In 1955 he started his second spell at Dinamo, helping the club promote from the regional championship to Divizia C where in the following season the team finished on the 8th place.[2][13][19] He had his third and final spell at Dinamo from 1958 until 1959, helping them promote once again from the regional championship to Divizia C.[2][13][19]
Writing
Lăpușneanu wrote a book about football called Jocul și antrenamentul portarului de fotbal (The game and training of the football goalkeeper) which was released in 1968.[20]
Death
Ion Lăpușneanu died on 24 February 1994 at age 85.[1][2]
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