Adrian Cristea (born 30 November 1983) is a former Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger.

Club career

Adrian Cristea, nicknamed "Prințul" ''(The Prince)'', started his career in his hometown,

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, playing in the lower leagues for Politehnica. After Politehnica won its promotion from

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

, Cristea made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut on 30 July 2004 in a 2–1 loss against

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

. After scoring 2 goals in 15 matches in the first half of the 2004–05 season, he was transferred to

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

where he was wanted by coach

Ioan Andone Ioan Andone (; born 15 March 1960) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player. Club career Corvinul Hunedoara Ioan Andone, nicknamed "Fălcosul" was born on 15 March 1960 in Șpălnaca , and when he was 14 years old, he playe ...

. He spent 7 seasons at

Dinamo A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinb ...

, appearing in 161

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

matches in which he scored 27 goals, winning the

Liga I 2006–07 Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Ameri ...

title with coach

Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...

, a cup and a supercup. He also played 31 matches in which he scored 4 goals in European competitions for '' The Red Dogs'', helping them reach the sixteenths-finals in the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

where they were eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Benfica and fulfill "The wonder from

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

" after winning with 3–0 the away game against

Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech professional association football, football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won thr ...

, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009–10 Europa League. In December 2010, Cristea was sold to

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

, for a total fee estimated by the Romanian press between €1.5 million and €2 million. After one year and a half in which he scored 11 goals in 42

matches, in the summer of 2012, he was transferred to Petrolul Ploiești, with 11 other players from

, when the owner of the Cluj team, left the club in order to take control of Petrolul. His first experience abroad came in 2013, when he went to play alongside fellow Romanian George Țucudean, being loaned to

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

, where he was wanted by

, a coach that worked with him at Petrolul and

. On 30 July 2013, after terminating his contract with Petrolul Ploiești, Cristea signed a two-year contract with fellow Romanian

club Steaua București. However, Cristea failed to win a place in the first team, being used by coach

Laurențiu Reghecampf Laurențiu Aurelian Reghecampf (born 19 September 1975) is a Romanian professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player. Playing career Club Reghecampf was born in Târgoviște and began his ca ...

in only 9

matches in which he scored one goal as '' The Military Men'' won the title and played in both legs of the 2013–14 Champions League play-off where the team eliminated

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

, reaching the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

where he made one appearance when he was sent on the field in the 73rd minute in order to replace Leandro Tatu in a 3–0 away loss against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

, ending his contract with Steaua in April 2014. In September 2014, Cristea reached an agreement with

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional Association football, football football team, club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best ...

, where he made his last Liga I appearances, having a total of 266 games with 40 goals scored in the competition.

International career

Adrian Cristea played 9 games for

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, making his debut on 7 February 2007 when coach

Victor Pițurcă Victor Pițurcă (; born 8 May 1956) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Club career Victor Pițurcă was born on 8 May 1956 in Orodel, Dolj County, Romania, starting to play football in 1964 at the youth center of U ...

introduced him at halftime to replace

Ovidiu Petre Ovidiu Petre (born 22 March 1982) is a former Romanian footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Considered a veritable talent in his early playing years, he had his career hindered by numerous knee injuries. Club career FC National (200 ...

in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 victory against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. His following game was a 3–0 victory against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

at the successful Euro 2008 qualifiers, also appearing in the second leg against

, which ended with a 2–0 victory. In 2008, he was called by

in the squad for the 2008 European Championship, but didn't receive a chance to play. He played in a 1–1 against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and a 5–0 loss against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

at the

2010 World Cup qualifiers Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

, making his last appearance for the national team in a 2–2 against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

at the

Euro 2012 qualifiers The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

. On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by the president of

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

, for his performance in the

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group G Standings and results for Group G of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying tournament. Romania secured qualification to the tournament proper on 17 October 2007 following a 2–0 win against Luxembourg, and a 1–1 draw between Albania and Bulgaria, beco ...

, where Romania managed to qualify to

UEFA Euro 2008 Group C Group C of UEFA Euro 2008 was played from 9 to 17 June 2008. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Zürich and Bern. The group was composed of 2006 FIFA World Cup 2006 FIFA World Cup Final, finalists Italy national footba ...

. He received Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – ("The Sportive Merit" Medal) class III.

After retirement

After he ended his football career, Adrian Cristea worked as a fashion designer, opening a luxury clothing workshop in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Career statistics

International

Honours

Politehnica Iași *

: 2003–04 *

Divizia C The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

: 2001–02 Dinamo București *

: 2006–07 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 2004–05 * Supercupa Romaniei:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Petrolul Ploiești *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

runner-up:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Steaua București *

: 2013–14 Concordia Chiajna *

Cupa Ligii The Cupa Ligii () was Romania's secondary club football tournament. Like the Cupa României, it was played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. History It is unclear when the competition was first created, as there are no official recordi ...

runner-up: 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cristea, Adrian 1983 births Living people Footballers from Iași Men's association football midfielders Romanian men's footballers FC Politehnica Iași (1945) players FC Dinamo București players FC Universitatea Cluj players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Standard Liège players FCSB players CS Concordia Chiajna players Liga I players Liga II players Liga III players Belgian Pro League players Romania men's international footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 21st-century Romanian sportsmen