Mircea Lucescu: "I don't need money or to create a certain image. I love soccer"

Former Dynamo Kyiv coach Mircea Lucescu has shared his emotions after his official introduction as the new head coach of the Romanian national team.

"I have a lot of feelings, first of all - nostalgia. Yesterday we talked about soccer for three hours. I never thought I would be offered this position. To be honest, I did not want to be offered to lead the Romanian national team again, because I want to see young coaches at the helm of the national team.

Iordănescu created a good team, and it is important to continue building the team, but, as far as I understood, he did not want to. I told the leaders of the Football Federation that if you have no other solution, I have to come back and offer the team all my knowledge. It is difficult, but I trust this generation of players, this is a winning team.

I don't need money or to create a certain image. In this job I am motivated by those memories, those beautiful moments that I have experienced before. My decision was determined by one thing: my love for soccer.

I will do absolutely everything to succeed in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. My wife told me not to accept the offer and my son told me to do what I think is right. I'm interested in it because I know it's not going to be easy. Only those who have done this kind of work know what it's like to be a coach. It's an emotion and you can't give it up. When you experience success, it's hard to give up," Lucescu is quoted by Eurosport.ro.