Biography
He joined Universitatea Craiova in 1976 from second-division CSM Reșița and wore Știința’s white and blue for nine glorious years. His honours include two Romanian league titles and four Romanian Cups with Universitatea. In all he made 354 Divizia A appearances, scoring 78 goals, and played 28 European matches for Știința, scoring 5 times. He contributed to one of Romanian football’s greatest European triumphs: knocking out an English side, Leeds United. This is how Beldeanu described his goal against Leeds to the noted journalist Alin Buzărin: “I wanted to boot the ball into the stands to run down the clock. And it flew straight into the top corner! I caught it perfectly, though, and it turned out a sensational goal!”
He made his international debut on 18 April 1971, in Romania’s 2–1 win over Albania, and went on to win 19 caps.
