Mihai Neșu

Mihai Neșu
Neșu with Utrecht in 2008
Personal information
Full name Mihai Mircea Neșu
Date of birth (1983-02-19) 19 February 1983
Place of birth Oradea, Romania
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2008 Steaua București 87 (1)
2008–2012 FC Utrecht 86 (2)
National team‡
2003–2005 Romania U–21 12 (0)
2005–2010 Romania 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 March 2011
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 March 2010

Mihai Mircea Neșu (nickname: "Bișonul"/"The Bichon"), (born 19 February 1983 in Oradea) is a Romanian former football player who played most of his career for Steaua București. He also played for FC Utrecht. His career came to an end when he suffered a severe neck injury, which left him paralyzed. He officially ended his career in 2012, as he mainly wanted to focus on his rehabilitation.

Club career

Steaua București

He signed his first professional contract in 2001 with Steaua București. Steaua paid $6.000 for Mihai.

Neșu made his debut on 21 April 2002 in a game against Petrolul Ploiesti which ended 1–1. In the first two seasons he did not play too much, only 13 games, and his best performance with the team was finishing second in 2002–2003.

Steaua achieved the same position in the next season when Mihai played more, 13 games. In the season 2004–2005 season Mihai Neșu won his first league title with Steaua and succeeded to score his first goal in Divizia A, although he played only 7 games. In the next year he played in 19 games and Steaua won the tile for the second consecutive year.

After Ogăraru's transfer to Ajax Amsterdam, Mihai Neșu won a place in the starting eleven and became an important player for the team. He played the full 180 minutes of the Champions League third round qualifier against Standard Liège and helped Steaua qualify for the group stages for the first time since 1996-97. In the group stages he provided an assist for Steaua's second goal in the 4–1 win against Dynamo Kyiv.

In the European Cups he played in 20 games but did not score any game. He debuted in the season 2003–2004 in UEFA Cup when played 3 games2.

After only one European game in 2004–2005 he had in the next season very good results and Nesu played in all four games for the qualifiers in UEFA Champions League. After this he played in UEFA Cup and succeeded to defeat teams like Lens, Heerenveen, Real Betis and Rapid București, but they were eliminated in the semi-final by Middlesbrough.

In the season 2006–2007 Steaua with Mihai as a titular player eliminated Standard Liège and succeeded after 10 years to qualify in UEFA Champions League groups in a group with Real Madrid, Olympique Lyonnais and Dynamo Kiev. As of 23 August 2008 Neșu played 87 games in Liga I of Romania, scoring once. All the games were played under Steaua București's badge.

FC Utrecht and injury

Neșu completed a transfer deal with FC Utrecht which saw him move to the club on 27 August 2008. He replaced Erik Pieters who left for PSV in the summer.[1]

However, on 10 May 2011 Neșu suffered a bad injury during a training session with his team. Mihai Nesu, collided heavily with a team mate during Tuesday's training. Neșu broke his cervical vertebrae. The doctors said that it may take days, weeks or even several months before it becomes clear if he will ever recover.[2]

In June 2012 his contract with Utrecht expired. Neșu officially ended his career in professional football, although he had not played for a year after his paralysis.

International career

He also won eight caps for Romania, his first in 2005, against Ivory Coast.

Titles

Season Club Title
2000–2001Steaua BucureștiDivizia A
2000–2001Steaua BucureștiSupercupa României
2004–2005Steaua BucureștiDivizia A
2005–2006Steaua BucureștiDivizia A
2005–2006Steaua BucureștiSupercupa României

Personal life

Neșu is the son of Mircea who was a football midfielder at Universitatea Cluj where he won the 1964–65 edition of the Cupa României and appeared in 145 Liga I matches scoring 4 goals, he was also a football referee and doctor.[3][4] Mihai's nephew, Nikos Barboudis, is also a football player.[5][6]

He married Maria Laura Gherman in June 2006, but got divorced in 2012.[7]

Accident

Neșu was involved in a freak training-ground accident on 10 May 2011 when team-mate Alje Schut landed on top of him as they challenged for the ball in a practice match. Neșu broke a cervical vertebra in his neck and was left without any feeling in his body from the neck down and fighting for breath. After a 5-hour surgery and 4 days of unconsciousness he started to speak and recognize people around him but he still couldn't feel his arms and legs. He risks to remain paralyzed for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, his teammates were in shock, especially Alje Schut who was deeply affected by the accident and couldn't train anymore. The FC Utrecht fans showed extraordinary support for their player, sending hundreds of mails and postcards with emotional messages. Scarves and T-shirts of Nesu went out of stock. In the next home match against rivals AZ Alkmaar, the fans revealed a huge supporting banner and chanted for extended periods of time. Every player on the pitch wore a T-shirt with Nesu's face and Romanian flag imprinted on it Picture Encouraged by a 27.000 crowd, FC Utrecht won the game 5-1, in an impressive manner with every goal being dedicated to Mihai Nesu.

References

  1. ↑ FC Utrecht rondt transfer Mihai Nesu af Archived 22 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Mihai Nesu: The footballer, the victim of cruel fate, the fighter". Sports Keeda. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Tatăl lui Mihai Neşu, fostul jucător şi arbitru Mircea Neşu, a murit" [The father of Mihai Neşu, the former player and referee Mircea Neşu, died] (in Romanian). digi24.ro. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Tatăl lui Mihai Neşu a murit. Mircea Neşu ajunsese la spital după o supradoză de medicamente, Mihai Neşu: E un an foarte trist, dar ăsta e cursul vieţii" [Mihai Neşu's father died. Mircea Neşu arrived at the hospital after an overdose of drugs, Mihai Neşu: It's a very sad year, but this is the course of life] (in Romanian). mediafax.ro. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "EXCLUSIV Nikos Barboudis, nepotul lui Mihăiță Neșu: "Torje poate fi decisiv"" [EXCLUSIVELY Nikos Barboudis, nephew of Mihăiţă Neşu: "Torje can be decisive"] (in Romanian). libertatea.ro. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Foto: Nikos Barboudis, nepotul lui Mihăiţă Neşu: „Mihai mi-e ca un frate!"" [Photo: Nikos Barboudis, nephew of Mihăiţă Neşu: "Mihai is like a brother!"] (in Romanian). libertatea.ro. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Fosta soţie a lui Mihai Neşu şi-a refăcut viaţa după divorţ. Ce face acum Maria Gherman" [Mihai Neşu's ex-wife resurrected her life after divorce. What is Maria Gherman doing now?] (in Romanian). prosoprt.ro. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
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