Iulian Sebastian Filipescu (born 29 March 1974) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He debuted in Divizia A with Steaua București in 1993 and became part of a league championship winning team for seven seasons in a row from 1993 to 1999: five titles with Steaua and two with Galatasaray in Turkey. He then joined Real Betis of Spain, and played four and a half seasons there before joining FC Zürich in the Swiss Super League. Filipescu made his debut for the Romania national team in 1996 against Yugoslavia, and represented his country at the UEFA Euro 1996, 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He played his last international match in 2003, earning 52 caps and scoring one goal. Career Filipescu was born in Slatina. During the 2006 Swiss Championship FC Basel 1893 were atop the league table, leading Zürich by three points heading into the last game of the season. Both teams met at that last game at St. Jakob Park, where Zürich needed to win to tie with Basel on points and take the title on superior goal differential. Alhassane Keita scored in the 31st minute and gave Zurich the advantage, Mladen Petrić tying it at 1–1 in the 73rd minute. In the 93rd, Filipescu scored the game-winning goal past Pascal Zuberbühler, with Zürich winning both the game 2–1 and the Swiss Super League title. After the final whistle, Basel fans stormed the pitch and chased the Zürich players and officials. Filipescu was the main target for scoring the winning goal and was almost hit by a large firework. Career statistics Honours Steaua București Liga I: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 Cupa României: 1995–96 Supercupa României: 1994, 1995 Galatasaray Süper Lig: 1997–98, 1998–99 Turkish Cup: 1998–99 FC Zürich Swiss Super League: 2005–06 Swiss Cup: 2005 References External links 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Slatina, Romania Romanian footballers Association football defenders Romania international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players Liga I players La Liga players Süper Lig players Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Faur București players CSA Steaua București footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Real Betis players FC Zürich players MSV Duisburg players Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland