{{Short description|Romanian footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Aurel Guga | image =Aurel Guga.jpg | caption = | fullname = <!-- if different --> | birth_date = {{Birth date |1898|8|10|df=y}}<ref name="Aurel Guga">{{Cite web | title = Aurel Guga, FIFA Profile | url = https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=292768/index.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121112154613/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=292768/index.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 November 2012 | publisher = FIFA | accessdate = 8 September 2011}}</ref> | birth_place = Temeskubin, Austria-Hungary<ref name=sr/> | death_date = {{death date and age|1936|11|7|1898|8|10|df=y}} | death_place = Timișoara, Romania<ref name=sr>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418090006/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/gu/aurel-guga-1.html Aurel Guga]. sports-reference.com</ref> | position = Forward | years1 = 1919–1920 | years2 = 1920–1925 | years3 = 1925 | years4 = 1926–1927 | years5 = 1927–1929 | years6 = 1929–1930 | clubs1 = Vulturii Lugoj | clubs2 = Universitatea Cluj | clubs3 = Gloria CFR Arad | clubs4 = UCAS Petroşani | clubs5 = Jiul Lupeni | clubs6 = Universitatea Cluj | nationalyears1 = 1922–1928 | nationalteam1 = Romania | nationalcaps1 = 12 | nationalgoals1 = 4 }}
'''Aurel Guga''' (10 August 1898 – 7 November 1936) was a Romanian football player. Regarded as one of the most talented and versatile players of the early 1920s, Guga was the first captain of the Romania football team.<ref name="Istoric"/> He was also part of Romania's squad for the football tournament at the 1924 Summer Olympics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/27089 |title=Aurel Guga |work=Olympedia |access-date=21 August 2021}}</ref>
==Early life== Born in Temeskubin (''Cuvin'') in what is now Serbia on 10 August 1898,<ref name="Aurel Guga"/> with other sources claiming that he was born in 1900,<ref name="Istoric"/> Guga finished high school in Oravița, before moving to Lugoj.<ref name="Istoric"/> Because of World War I he could not start playing football until 1919, when he was 21. He started at the local club, Vulturii Lugoj, but stayed only one year because he wanted to apply for the Commercial Academy from Cluj.<ref name="Istoric">{{cite news|url=http://drumulmingii.gsp.ro/stire/9/o-singura-data-in-trei-secole|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817183749/http://drumulmingii.gsp.ro/stire/9/o-singura-data-in-trei-secole|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 August 2011|title=O singura data in trei secole|date=28 March 2011|publisher=Gazeta Sporturilor|language=Romanian}}</ref>
==Career== After his arrival in Cluj, he joined U Cluj, a club formed one year earlier by the "Sports Society of University Students". At the time, he only played with his team in local competitions since there was not any football championship at a national level. In January 1922, a Viennese newspaper dedicated a full-page article to him, calling him "an exceptional forward player".<ref name="Istoric"/>
Sometime in October or November 1923, U Cluj got to play its first tournament abroad, at the invitation of the Grenoble municipality for the opening of their new stadium.<ref name="Istoric"/> U Cluj first played in Lyon, with a local team, managing to win with 5–2; Aurel Guga scored three times. The next day, the French press wrote that "he is a world-class player".<ref name="Istoric"/> Since there were rumors at the times about a friendly between the England national team and a team of selected players from the continent, Guga was proposed by the French to play for Europe.<ref name="Istoric"/> In Grenoble, U Cluj beat the French, winning with 3–0, with Guga scoring twice.<ref name="Istoric"/>
After he graduated from college in 1925, the press wrote that "the excellent international Romanian player will settle in Timișoara, very likely signing with one of the local teams."<ref>Gazeta Sporturilor (13 June 1925), p.1</ref> However, there are no official documents to confirm that he actually played for Timișoara. Instead, in November, he started playing for Gloria CFR Arad, helping his team finishing second in the Regional Championship.<ref>''"Arad – Categoria I-a"'', Gazeta Sporturilor (19 November 1925), p.3</ref> Sometime in March 1926, he joined UCAS Petroşani,<ref>''"Romania – Bulgaria"'', Gazeta Sporturilor (April 1926), p.3</ref> the vice-champion team at the time, but retired from all the competitions that season. From 1927 he had a two-year spell in Lupeni, playing for local Jiul, and in 1929, he returned in Cluj, to play for the last time for the club that made him famous.<ref name="Istoric"/> In 1930, he was officially retired.
On 8 November 1936, ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' reported that the day before, Guga was involved in a car accident. He lost control of his car, fell into the Bega Channel, and drowned.<ref>''"A murit internaționalul Guga"'', Gazeta Sporturilor (8 November 1936), p.1</ref>
As Ioan Chirilă recalls in his book: <blockquote>Guga was one of the finest players our land ever gave. And maybe the most complete. And the most modern.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sepcile-rosii.com/smf/Print.html?topic=316.0 |title=Legendele Universitatii |date=12 July 2007 |publisher=Universitatea Cluj |language=Romanian |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331182514/http://www.sepcile-rosii.com/smf/Print.html?topic=316.0 |archivedate=31 March 2012 }}</ref></blockquote>
==International career== Aurel Guga captained the first official match of the Romania national team in the 1922 King Alexander's Cup, against Yugoslavia, a match won by the Romanian team with Guga scoring the winning goal.<ref name="Istoric"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://a1.ro/news/sport/8-iunie-1922-primul-meci-din-istoria-nationalei-de-fotbal-id1422.html | title=8 iunie 1922. Primul meci din istoria nationalei de fotbal| publisher=A1.ro| language=Romanian |trans-title=8 June 1922. The first match in the history of the national football team| date=8 June 2012 | accessdate=3 February 2020}}</ref> He played six years for Romania, managing twelve caps and four goals.<ref name="Profile">{{Cite web |title=Aurel Guga, FRF Profile |url=http://www.frf.ro/echipa-nationala/player/19 |publisher=FRF |accessdate=8 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327100553/http://www.frf.ro/echipa-nationala/player/19 |archivedate=27 March 2012 }}</ref> He also captained nine out of twelve matches.
::''Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first:''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=7409|title=Aurel Guga |publisher=European Football|accessdate=3 February 2020}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%" |- !colspan="7"|'''International appearances and goals''' |- ! App !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Result !! Goal !! Competition |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 1. || 8 June 1922 || Belgrade, Yugoslavia || {{Fb|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}} || 2–1 || 1 || Friendly |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 2. || 3 September 1922 || Chernivtsi, Romania || {{Fb|POL}} || 1–1 || 0 || Friendly |- | 3. || 1 July 1923 || Cluj, Romania || {{Fb|TCH}} || 0–6 || 0 || Friendly |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 4. || 2 September 1923 || Lviv, Poland || {{Fb|POL}} || 1–1 || 1 || Friendly |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 5. || 20 May 1924 || Vienna, Austria || {{Fb|AUT}} || 1–4 || 0 || Friendly |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 6. || 27 May 1924 || Paris, France || {{Fb|NED}} || 0–6 || 0 || 1924 Summer Olympics |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 7. || 31 May 1925 || Sofia, Bulgaria || {{Fb|BUL}} || 4–2 || 0 || Friendly |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 8. || 25 April 1926 || Bucharest, Romania || {{Fb|BUL}} || 6–1 || 1 || Friendly |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 9. || 3 October 1926 || Zagreb, Yugoslavia || {{Fb|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}} || 3–2 || 1 || King Alexandru's Cup |-style="background-color:#ccffcc" | 10. || 10 May 1927 || Bucharest, Romania || {{Fb|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}} || 0–3 || 0 || King Alexandru's Cup |- | 11. || 19 June 1927 || Bucharest, Romania || {{Fb|POL}} || 3–3 || 0 || Friendly |- | 12. || 15 April 1928 || Arad, Romania || {{Fb|TUR}} || 4–2 || 0 || Friendly |}
==Death== He died on 7 November 1936 at age 38, while driving his car in Timișoara and falling in the Bega river, where he drowned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.libertatea.ro/sport/si-ei-au-facut-o-lata-in-trafic-690299|title=Şi ei au făcut-o lată în trafic!|publisher=libertatea.ro|language=Romanian |trans-title=They also made it wide in traffic!|date= 14 January 2012 |accessdate= 28 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fanatik.ro/accidentele-rutiere-au-facut-victime-si-in-sportul-romanesc-maria-cioncan-ibrahim-dossey-sau-cezar-dinu-s-au-stins-la-volan-18956843|title=Accidentele rutiere au făcut victime şi în sportul românesc! Maria Cioncan, Ibrahim Dossey sau Cezar Dinu s-au stins la volan|publisher=fanatik.ro|language=Romanian |trans-title=Road accidents have made victims in Romanian sport too! Maria Cioncan, Ibrahim Dossey or Cezar Dinu have gone behind the wheel|date= 1 June 2019 |accessdate= 28 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gsp.ro/fotbal/nationala/elemer-hirsch-aristocratul-care-s-a-stins-in-iarba-130092.html | title=Elemer Hirsch, aristocratul care s-a stins în iarbă| publisher=Gsp.ro| language=Romanian |trans-title=Elemer Hirsch, the aristocrat who passed away on the grass| date=23 March 2009 | accessdate=2 February 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{RomanianSoccer|850/aurel-guga}} *{{NFT|36423}} *{{WorldFootball.net|aurel-guga}}
{{Romania Squad 1924 Summer Olympics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guga, Aurel}} Category:1898 births Category:1936 deaths Category:People from Kovin Category:Footballers from South Banat District Category:Romanian men's footballers Category:Romania men's international footballers Category:Olympic footballers for Romania Category:Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Category:Liga I players Category:CSM Lugoj players Category:FC Universitatea Cluj players Category:AFC Gloria Arad players Category:CSM Jiul Petroșani players Category:ACS Minerul Lupeni players Category:Road incident deaths in Romania Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Romanians of Vojvodina Category:Deaths by drowning Category:20th-century Romanian sportsmen