Cosmin Aurelian Olăroiu (born 10 June 1969) is a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of United Arab Emirates national team. As a manager, he guided Steaua București to the

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 ...

title and Romanian Supercup both in 2006, and led his side to the semi-finals of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in the same year. He is considered one of the greatest managers in the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, having led the most decorated clubs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates – Al Hilal, Al Sadd, Al Ain and Al Ahli – to new trophies. In 2020, he guided Jiangsu Suning to their first-ever title in China. In May 2025, he led

Sharjah FC Sharjah Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is the Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, Sharjah is considered to be one of the pioneers of complaining s ...

to their first continental title, winning the

AFC Champions League Two The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC Ch ...

Club career

As a player, Olăroiu's best-known clubs he played for are Universitatea Craiova and Naţional București. However, he also played with success in

K League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions ...

for

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

where he helped the club to win two K League titles in 1998 and 1999. He also won the

Korean League Cup The Korean League Cup was a professional football competition in South Korean football. It was held by the K League Federation from 1986 to 2012. Sponsorship Results Finals Titles by club K League's principle of official statistics is tha ...

and twice the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

. He finished his playing career with JEF United Ichihara in 2000.

Coaching career

Early years

He started his coaching career during the 2000–01 season at Naţional București, leading them to a respectable 7th place in his first season. During the following season, he guided the club to a second-place finish in the league, finishing above clubs such as Steaua and

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 ...

. In the summer 2002, Olăroiu signed for Steaua București. He resigned after only seven league games, blaming the decision on a lack of support from the board and players. The club president Viorel Păunescu re-appointed Victor Piţurcă, former manager before 2002 who wanted to return to head-coaching and was still highly regarded by the players. After leaving Steaua București, Olăroiu returned to Național București, this time as a general manager. In 2003, he was named head coach again, replacing

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently club manager at Serie C club Siracusa. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best ...

. In the winter of 2004, Olăroiu joined FCU Poli Timişoara and brought with him the best players from Național București. He led them to a near historical fourth-place finish in

, but in November 2005 he was sacked by the club's owner Marian Iancu.

Steaua Bucharest

Just some days after, Olăroiu was appointed manager by

Gigi Becali George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman, writer, politician and former convict, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club. Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and Decembe ...

, the new president, and this time owner, of Steaua București, to replace

Oleh Protasov Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov (; born 4 February 1964) is a Ukrainian and Soviet former footballer who played as a striker. He was a key member of the Soviet Union national team throughout the 1980s; his 28 goals for the Soviet Union are second ...

. His first championship title as coach came in June 2006 and then one month later, he led the club to the conquest of the

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 ...

. In May 2006, Olăroiu's side reached the semi-finals of the

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

. He also helped Steaua to qualify for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group stages, where they played against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and Olympique Lyon. Steaua secured a third place and a spot in the UEFA Cup knockout rounds.

Al-Hilal

In June 2007, Olăroiu signed for Al-Hilal. In 2008, he again proved his coaching worth, winning the

Saudi Premier League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

and the Crown Prince Cup in his first season in charge. He led his side to a second Crown Prince Cup title before leaving the club in February 2009, while leading them to the first position in the league.

Al-Sadd

In April 2009, he signed a two-year contract with Al-Sadd. In December 2010, Olăroiu announced his resignation as club boss immediately after leading his side to the

Qatari Stars Cup The Qatari Stars Cup is a Qatari football competition known as Ooredoo Cup due to sponsorship reasons. The knockout competition, which involves a round-robin structure, was first started in 2009 when the Qatar Stars League structure was amen ...

. On 5 May 2011, Olăroiu was named supervisor for Steaua București for the last three matches of Liga I in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season and the 2011 Cupa României Final. Steaua's assistant coach, Gabriel Caramarin took charge of the team as caretaker manager, for the last remaining games.

Al Ain

In the summer of 2011, Cosmin Olăroiu was hired as

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

manager on a two-year contract. He steered the club away from the relegation zone, before leading them to the

UAE Pro-League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

title in the 2011–12 season. On 18 September 2012, he also won the

UAE Super Cup The UAE Super Cup () and Charity Champions Cup in the first edition (1989–90), is the curtain raiser of the United Arab Emirates football season. It is played between the previous season's UAE League, Pro-League winners and UAE President's Cup, P ...

with Al Ain. He then repeated the performance the following season, winning a consecutive title for Al Ain. In June 2013, Olăroiu signed a contract extension with

reportedly worth €4 million a season after penning new two-year deal. However, the contract was terminated on 1 July 2013.

Al Ahli

On 6 July 2013, it was announced that Olăroiu signed a three-year contract with

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

side Al Ahli. On 30 August, Olăroiu won his first match in charge of Al Ahli against his former club

in the

final. In April 2014, Cosmin Olăroiu mathematically won his third consecutive league title as Al Ahli won over arch rivals Al Wasl 2–1. During his first season in charge, Olăroiu won three domestic titles and was awarded as Coach of the Year by the UAE Pro League in 2014. He guided the club to their first

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

final in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, losing 1–0 on aggregate to China's Guangzhou Evergrande. In the 2016–17 season, Olăroiu became one of the highest paid managers in world football, earning a sum of €6.5 million annually.

Saudi Arabia

On 15 December 2014, it was announced that he will train the

Saudi Arabia national football team The Saudi Arabia national football team (SAFF) () represents Saudi Arabia in men's international Association football, football. They are known as ''Al-Suqour Al-Arabiyyah'' (Arabian Falcons) and sometimes ''Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur'' (The Green Fa ...

for

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

as temporary coach. His first match in charge was a 4–1 loss to

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

in a friendly match. Olăroiu's side also lost two next matches, including a 1–0 loss to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in Saudi Arabia's first match at the tournament. They won their next match 4–1 against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

but lost 3–1 their final match against

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

and were eliminated in the group stages. The results is a consequence of his not knowing his players well, having only been appointed in a hurriedly temporary agreement. At the end of the tournament, Olăroiu returned to his club position.

Jiangsu Suning

On 28 March 2018, Olăroiu was appointed at Jiangsu Suning in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

, replacing

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL, AS Roma, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus FC, Juventus. H ...

. He took charge of his first match on 1 April in a home game against Tianjin Teda, which Jiangsu won 2–1. In his third season, Jiangsu Suning won the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

title for the first time in the club's history. However, the club folded before the start of the 2021 season.

Sharjah

On 10 November 2021, Olăroiu returned to the United Arab Emirates to help an out of form

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

stay competitive in the UAE Pro League. On the 18th of May 2025, Olăroiu won the inaugural

with the club. He joins Costică Ștefănescu, Valeriu Tița and

Marin Ion Marin Ion (born 25 March 1955) is a Romanian professional football coach and a former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national under-19 team. Playing career Marin started his football career as a defender with the youth team ...

as the fourth Romanian coach to win the competition.

United Arab Emirates

On 18 April 2025, Olăroiu is set to be appointed as the new head coach of United Arab Emirates national team replacing

Paulo Bento Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. A Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Suwon Samsung Bluewings *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* Korean Super Cup: 1999, 2000 * Daehan Fire Insurance Cup:

Asian Cup Winners' Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an Asian football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-Asian club competition organised by Asian Football Confedera ...

runner-up: 1997–98

Manager

Steaua București *

: 2005–06 *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Al Hilal *

: 2007–08 *

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup () was the oldest Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. History The cup was the oldest and first domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia; the first edition was held in 1956–57; five editions were played betwe ...

: 2007–08, 2008–09 Al Sadd *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Al Ain *

UAE League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

: 2011–12, 2012–13 *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Shabab Al Ahli *

: 2013–14, 2015–16 *

UAE President's Cup The UAE President's Cup, or simply the President Cup, is a association football, football tournament that takes place in United Arab Emirates, between Football team, clubs in the UAE Pro League and the UAE First Division League. The winner qualifi ...

runner-up: 2013–14, 2014–15 * UAE League Cup: 2013–14, 2016–17 *

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 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

runner-up:

Jiangsu Suning *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

runner-up:

Sharjah *

: 2021–22, 2022–23 * UAE League Cup: 2022–23 *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: 2024–25

Individual

*''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

'' Romania Coach of the Year: 2006, 2020 (joint with Răzvan Lucescu) * AGL Coach of the Year: 2014, 2016, 2017 * : 2015

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olaroiu, Cosmin 1969 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders FC Gloria Buzău players FC Progresul București players FC U Craiova 1948 players Suwon Samsung Bluewings players JEF United Chiba players Liga I players K League 1 players J1 League players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Romanian football managers FC Progresul București managers FCSB managers FC Politehnica Timișoara managers Al-Hilal Saudi FC managers Al Sadd SC managers Al Ain FC managers Al Ahli Club (Dubai) managers Saudi Arabia national football team managers United Arab Emirates national football team managers Jiangsu F.C. managers Saudi Pro League managers Qatar Stars League managers UAE Pro League managers Chinese Super League managers 2015 AFC Asian Cup managers Romanian expatriate football managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Romanian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in China 20th-century Romanian sportsmen