with 30 Divizia A appearances in which he scored 7 goals, he switched teams again going in the 1986–87 season at Dinamo București. He spent two seasons at Dinamo, under the leadership of Mircea Lucescu, appearing in 32 Divizia A games in which he scored one goal, also making 3 appearances in European competitions. However, Balaci did not win any major trophies whilst he was playing for Dinamo and he went as a player-coach for two years in the second league, after which he ended his playing career. During his whole career, Balaci played 347 Divizia A matches in which he scored 84 goals and he was the Romanian Footballer of the Year in 1981 and 1982. International career Ilie Balaci has a total of 65 games and 8 goals scored at international level for Romania making his debut on 23 March 1974 at the age of 17 under coach Valentin Stănescu in a friendly against France which ended with a 1–0 loss. He played three games at the Euro 1976 qualifiers and scored his first goal for the national team at age 20 in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 loss against Czechoslovakia. He played one game at the 1973–76 Balkan Cup, five games in which he scored one goal at the 1977–80 Balkan Cup, three games at the 1978 World Cup qualifiers, two at the Euro 1980 qualifiers and seven games with one goal scored at the 1982 World Cup qualifiers. He also became captain of the national team during the successful Euro 1984 qualifiers where he played six games, including a praised performance in Romania's 1–0 victory against World Cup holders, Italy in which he gave the assist to László Bölöni's goal, exposed his dribbling abilities and had a good performance against his direct opponent Claudio Gentile. However coach Mircea Lucescu could not select him in the squad for the final tournament due to the injury he got in a Divizia A match from Grigore Arezanov. He played one game at the 1986 World Cup qualifiers and made his last appearance for the national team on 10 September 1986 in a 4–0 victory against Austria at the Euro 1988 qualifiers. For helping his country qualify at Euro 1984, Balaci was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III. International goals