Emilian Dolha Explained

Emilian Ioan Dolha (born 3 November 1979) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Dolha started his career with Gloria Bistrița, before representing other teams in his native Romania, such as Olimpia Satu Mare, Rapid București, Dinamo București and Universitatea Cluj. He spent two years in Poland, playing for Wisła Kraków and Lech Poznań, and had a one-year spell in Russia with Fakel Voronezh.^[1] He was known as a goalkeeper good at saving penalties.^[2]

Club career

Emilian Dolha was born on 3 November 1979 in Turda, Romania, starting to play junior level football at Gloria Bistrița where on 14 September 1997 he made his Divizia A debut in a 2–0 away loss in front of Argeș Pitești. After spending the 1999–2000 season at Divizia B side, Olimpia Satu Mare, Dolha returned to first league football, signing with Rapid București. His first trophy won with The Railwaymen was the 2001–02 Cupa României, however coach Mircea Rednic preferred to use Bogdan Stelea in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo București from the final.^[3] In the following season, Rednic selected him as the first-choice goalkeeper, the team starting the season by winning the 2002 Supercupa României with a 2–1 victory against Dinamo, finishing the season champions with Dolha appearing in 22 matches.^[4] He then kept a clean sheet, as he was used all the minutes by Rednic in another victory over Dinamo in the 2003 Supercupa României.^[5] In his last season spent at the club, the team managed to win another Cupa României but coach Răzvan Lucescu used Dănuț Coman in the 1–0 over Național București from the final.^[6]

In June 2006, Dolha went to play for Polish side, Wisła Kraków where fellow Romanian, Dan Petrescu was coaching, also being teammate with two other compatriots Hristu Chiacu and Norbert Varga.^[7] However he made his Ekstraklasa debut under coach Dragan Okuka on 22 September in which he kept a clean sheet in the 2–0 win over Widzew Łódź.^[8] After keeping another clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Iraklis in extra time from the first round of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, he played afterwards four games in the group stage.^[9] For the way he played for Wisla in his single season, Dolha was selected as the goalkeeper of the season.^[10] In the following one he played for Lech Poznań.^[11]

In June 2008 he signed with Dinamo București where he had to compete with goalkeepers like Bogdan Lobonț.^[12] The highlights of his three seasons spell spent with The Red Dogs were six appearances in the 2009–10 Europa League group stage, including a clean sheet in the 1–0 win from the first leg with Sturm Graz, then he saved a penalty in the 2–1 victory from the second leg, also after his performance in a 1–0 away win in a derby with Steaua București, one of the clubs officials gave him a Audemars Piguet watch which costs 20.000€ as a gift.^[13]

He went to play for Fakel Voronezh in the 2011–12 Russian second league.^[14] In a match against FC Rostov from the quarter-finals of the Russian Cup he saved three penalties at the penalty shoot-out, a performance which however was not enough for his side to qualify further.^[15] At the end of his single season spent in Russia, Fakel relegated to the third division, so he returned to his first club, Gloria Bistrița where he was wanted by coach Nicolae Manea but even do he played regularly in the 2012–13 season, he could not avoid the team's relegation to the second division.^[16] However he stayed to play in first league football as he signed with Universitatea Cluj where in his second season coach Adrian Falub gave him the last of his total 154 appearances in the competition on 23 May 2015 in a 2–1 away loss in front of Oțelul Galați after which "U" mathematically relegated to the second division.^[17] Throughout his career, Dolha also played in a total of 22 matches in European competitions.

International career

Dolha played two friendly games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 8 December 2000 under coach László Bölöni in a 3–2 victory against Algeria.^{[18] [19]} His second game was a 3–0 victory against Georgia.^[18]

Honours

Rapid București

• Divizia A

2002–03

• Cupa României

2001–02, 2005–06

• Supercupa României

2002, 2003

Notes and References

1. Web site: Emilian Dolha se întoarce în fotbalul românesc! Antrenorul semnează cu o echipă de play-off. Prosport.ro. Romanian . Emilian Dolha returns to Romanian football! The coach signs with a playoff team. 16 September 2019 . 28 October 2021.
2. Web site: E cel mai bun portar din Liga 1! Apără penalty-uri cu un deget rupt: în tur a respins trei lovituri de la 11 metri! Nici măcar Pirlo nu l-a putut bate. Prosport.ro. Romanian . He is the best goalkeeper in Liga 1! He defends penalties with a broken finger: in the round he rejected three shots from 11 meters! Not even Pirlo could beat him. 26 November 2012 . 5 August 2024.
   Web site: Dolha, peste Tatarusanu! Uite de ce dinamovistul e considerat portarul-penalty!. Sport.ro. Romanian . Dolha, over Tatarusanu! Look why the Dynamo player is considered the goalkeeper-penalty!. 15 November 2010 . 5 August 2024.
3. Web site: Romanian Cup – Season 2001–2002. RomanianSoccer. 5 August 2024.
4. Web site: Romania National Champions . RomanianSoccer. 5 August 2024.
   Web site: Romanian Super Cup – Season 2002. RomanianSoccer. 5 August 2024.
5. Web site: Romanian Super Cup – Season 2003. RomanianSoccer. 5 August 2024.
6. Web site: Romanian Cup – Season 2005–2006. RomanianSoccer. 5 August 2024.
   Web site: Rapid a castigat Cupa . Hotnews.ro . Romanian . Rapid won the Cup . 18 May 2006 . 5 August 2024.
7. Web site: Dolha a semnat cu Wisla Cracovia. Bihon.ro. Romanian . Dolha signed with Wisla Cracovia. 18 June 2006 . 5 August 2024.
   Web site: Dan Petrescu, demis de la Wisla Cracovia. Hotnews.ro. Romanian . Dan Petrescu, dismissed from Wisla Cracovia. 19 September 2006 . 5 August 2024.
8. Web site: WorldFootball. Emilian Dolha. Ekstraklasa 2006/2007. 5 August 2024.
9. Web site: WorldFootball. Emilian Dolha. Europa League 2006/2007. 5 August 2024.
10. Web site: Dolha, cel mai bun portar din Polonia în 2006, vorbește despre valoarea naționalei lui Lewandowski și drama lui Kuba. "Privirea i s-a încețoșat când a discutat singura dată despre subiect". La 5 ani, Blaszykowski asista la o crimă oribilă: tatăl i-a ucis mama. Prosport.ro. Romanian . Dolha, Poland's best goalkeeper in 2006, talks about the value of Lewandowski's national team and the drama of Kuba. "His vision clouded over the only time he discussed the subject." At the age of 5, Blaszykowski witnessed a horrible crime: his father killed his mother. 7 November 2006 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Dolha: "Am dormit pe preș când am ajuns la Rapid". Coreea de Nord, Martin Tudor și influencerii "maimuțoi" de pe Instagram. Digisport.ro. Romanian . Dolha: "I slept on a mat when I arrived at Rapid". North Korea, Martin Tudor and the "monkey" influencers on Instagram. 2 July 2020 . 5 August 2024.
11. Web site: Dolha a semnat cu Lech Poznan. Adevarul.ro. Romanian . Dolha signed with Lech Poznan. 7 June 2007 . 5 August 2024.
12. Web site: Dolha a semnat pe trei ani cu Dinamo. Ziare.com. Romanian . Dolha signed for three years with Dinamo. 16 June 2008 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: FOTBAL:Dolha:"N-am calităţile celorlalţi portari din lotul lui Dinamo"!. Adevarul.ro. Romanian . FOOTBALL:Dolha:"I don't have the qualities of the other goalkeepers in Dinamo's team"!. 14 July 2009 . 5 August 2024.
13. Web site: WorldFootball. Emilian Dolha. Europa League 2009/2010. 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Sturm Graz-Dinamo 0-1! Graz(ie) Tamaș. Prosport.ro. Romanian . 17 September 2009 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Dinamo - Sturm Graz 2-1. Moș Niculae a venit mai devreme în "Groapă" şi "câinii" mai pot spera la 16-imi. Antena3.ro. Romanian . Dinamo - Sturm Graz 2-1. Santa Niculae came earlier to "The Pit" and the "dogs" can still hope for the sixteenths-finals. 3 December 2009 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Cadoul de zeci de mii de euro primit de un dinamovist de la Cristi Borcea. Prosport.ro. Romanian . The gift of tens of thousands of euros received by a Dinamo player from Cristi Borcea. 27 June 2020 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Cristi Borcea a scos ceasul de 20.000 de euro de la mână şi i l-a făcut cadou. Moment incredibil într-un club din Bucureşti. As.ro. Romanian . Cristi Borcea took the 20,000 euro watch from his hand and gave it to him as a gift. Incredible moment in a club in Bucharest. 27 June 2020 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Cum a "scăpat" Cristi Borcea de un ceas de peste 20.000 de euro, după un meci cu Steaua. "Veneam cu geanta, cu carburantul!". Digisport.ro. Romanian . How Cristi Borcea "escaped" a watch worth over 20,000 euros, after a match with Steaua. "I was coming with a bag, with fuel!". 27 June 2020 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Episod INCREDIBIL cu Dolha si Borcea in prim-plan! Cum i-a oferit fostul finantator al lui Dinamo un ceas de 20 000 de euro. Sport.ro. Romanian . INCREDIBLE episode with Dolha and Borcea in the foreground! How Dinamo's former owner offered him a 20,000 euro watch. 5 July 2020 . 5 August 2024.
14. Web site: Emilian Dolha a semnat pe 3 sezoane cu o echipă din liga a doua a Rusiei. Gsp.ro. Romanian . Emilian Dolha signed for 3 seasons with a team from the second league of Russia. 8 August 2011 . 5 August 2024.
15. Web site: Emilian Dolha, protagonist în Rusia: a apărat 3 penaltyuri!. Gsp.ro. Romanian . Emilian Dolha, protagonist in Russia: he saved 3 penalties!. 24 March 2012 . 5 August 2024.
16. Web site: Emilian Dolha, dorit insistent de Adrian Porumboiu la FC Vaslui. Digisport.ro. Romanian . Emilian Dolha, wanted insistently by Adrian Porumboiu at FC Vaslui. 22 June 2012 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Încă un portar ratat de Rapid. Emilian Dolha a semnat cu Gloria Bistrița. Digisport.ro. Romanian . Another goalkeeper missed by Rapid. Emilian Dolha signed with Gloria Bistrița. 26 July 2012 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: Gloria - CS Severin 0-0. Dolha și-a salvat echipa de la înfrângere. Digisport.ro. Romanian . Gloria - CS Severin 0-0. Dolha saved his team from defeat. 20 May 2013 . 5 August 2024.
17. Web site: A 8-a echipă din carieră: Dolha a semnat cu U Cluj. Digisport.ro. Romanian . 8th career team: Dolha signed with U Cluj. 24 June 2013 . 5 August 2024.
    Web site: U Cluj a retrogradat matematic! Oțelul – "U" Cluj 2-1. Ardelenii au deschis scorul, dar au terminat meciul în genunchi. Prosport.ro. Romanian . U Cluj relegated mathematically! Oțelul - "U" Cluj 2-1. The Transylvanians opened the scoring, but finished the match on their knees. 23 May 2015 . 5 August 2024.
18. Web site: Emilian Dolha. European Football. 28 October 2021.
19. Web site: Algeria 2-3 Romania. European Football. 28 October 2021.