Constantin Cârstea

Constantin Cârstea (22 February 1949 – 16 November 2009) was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender. He was also a football coach. As a player he spent his entire professional career with Argeș Pitești.

Club career

Constantin Cârstea was born on 22 February 1949 in Moșoaia, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1961 at Argeș Pitești. He made his Divizia A debut on 8 March 1970 in a 2–1 away loss in front of Bihor Oradea. In the following two seasons he was in the team's squad but did not play a single league game, this being a period in which the team won the 1971–72 title. He made his debut in European competitions in the 1978–79 UEFA Cup edition when he helped the team eliminate Panathinaikos in the first round with a 5–1 aggregate victory. In the following one they were defeated with 6–4 on aggregate by Valencia, however Cârstea did not play in either game. In the same season he helped the club win the title, being used by coach Florin Halagian in 31 games. In the following season they passed AEK Athens in the first round of the 1979–80 European Cup, the team being eliminated in the following one by title holders and eventual winners, Nottingham Forest. He scored his only goal in European competitions in a 4–0 win over APOEL Nicosia from the 1981–82 UEFA Cup season. Cârstea's last Divizia A appearance took place on 13 November 1982 in a 3–0 home victory over SC Bacău in which he scored once, having a total of 244 matches with eight goals scored in the competition, also playing a total of 11 games with one goal in European competitions.

International career

Constantin Cârstea made one appearance at international level for Romania, playing on 13 May 1979 under coach Florin Halagian in a 1–1 with Cyprus at the Euro 1980 qualifiers.

Managerial career

Constantin Cârstea started coaching in 1983 when he was the assistant of former teammate and good friend Nicolae Dobrin at Argeș Pitești until 1985 when he became head coach. He spent most of his managerial career coaching in several spells each of Argeș and Gloria Bistrița but also worked for Dacia Pitești, Olt Scornicești, IPA Aluminiu Slatina, Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea, Unirea Alba Iulia, Mioveni and Gloria Buzău. His highest achievements were with Gloria Bistrița, firstly when with the help of technical director Remus Vlad, the club won the first trophy in its history, the 1993–94 Cupa României, after a 1–0 over Universitatea Craiova in the final. He also guided Gloria in the first round of the 1994–95 Cup Winners' Cup, obtaining a 2–1 home victory in the first leg with Real Zaragoza but losing the second one with 4–0, Zaragoza ending up being the winner of the competition.

Constantin Cârstea has a total of 428 matches as a manager in the Romanian top-division, Divizia A consisting of 170 victories, 69 draws and 189 losses.

Death

Constantin Cârstea died on 16 November 2009 at age 60 in the Smeura village, part of his native commune, Moșoaia.

Honours

Player

Argeș Pitești
*Divizia A: 1978–79

Manager

Gloria Bistrița
*Cupa României: 1993–94

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carstea, Constantin
1949 births
2009 deaths
Romanian men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Romania men's international footballers
Liga I players
FC Argeș Pitești players
Romanian football managers
FC Argeș Pitești managers
ACF Gloria Bistrița managers
CS Mioveni managers
CSM Unirea Alba Iulia managers
FC Gloria Buzău managers
Footballers from Argeș County
20th-century Romanian sportsmen