Biography
Cernăianu is the coach who brought Universitatea Craiova its first league title, at a time when Steaua and Dinamo shared supremacy in Romania.
He arrived in Craiova with one title already to his name, won with Petrolul Ploiești in 1965–1966. From 1971 to 1976 he was head coach of Universitatea Craiova, winning the league in 1973–1974. At the same time he coached Romania’s student national team, leading it to two World University Championship titles (1972 and 1974). Between 1977 and 1980 he worked with the Romanian national team, both as head coach and as assistant to Ștefan Kovács. After 1980 he went on to coach Sportul Studențesc, Steaua, Olympiakos Nicosia and Dinamo, but the great achievements of his career remain those with Petrolul and the “Champions of a Great Love”.