Cristian Dumitru Pustai (born 12 October 1967) is a Romanian football manager and former striker.

Club career

Cristian Pustai played as a striker for Gaz Metan Mediaş,

Unirea Alba Iulia Clubul Sportiv Municipal Unirea Alba Iulia, commonly known as Unirea Alba Iulia (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Alba Iulia, Alba County, founded in 1924 and currently playing in the Liga III. Among the greatest achievemen ...

and Chimica Târnăveni. He is credited for scoring 170 goals for these teams.

Coaching career

Chimica Târnăveni

He began his coaching career at Chimica Târnăveni, towards the end of the 1999–2000 edition of Division B, when he led the team as a playing-coach. He quit his job there after the team was relegated from the

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C to Liga III before the start of the 2006–07 season. It was the first in this format (six series of 18 ...

. Afterwards he became a math teacher.

Gaz Metan Mediaş

In 2003, he became a part of Gaz Metan Mediaş's staff, coaching the youth teams. In 2007 Pustai was appointed head coach of then

Liga II The Liga 2, most often 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 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

club Gaz Metan Mediaş. He managed to win the 2007–08 Liga II in the first season with the team, gaining promotion to the Liga I. In the first division, the team under his guidance had a constant progress. In the 2011–12 season Gaz Metan Mediaş played in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

under his command. They managed to knock out

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

, but were subsequently knocked out by

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mo ...

Pandurii Târgu Jiu

In January 2013, Pustai took over

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative bo ...

. At the end of 2012–13 season, Pandurii finished as Liga I runner-up for the first time in the history, becoming the vice-champion of Romania, and qualified for the first time in

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. Starting its European adventure from the second qualifying round, Pandurii qualified in 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 concen ...

after surprisingly eliminating

Sporting Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

with 2–0, after the pandurs were defeated with 0–1. In the group stage, Pandurii failed to win any match, drawing twice with Paços de Ferreira and losing against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

and

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced ...

. In the championship, Pandurii failed to maintain its position between the first squads, and after a poor series of results which led the team to fall to the sixth place, Pustai resigned from his duties on 23 April 2014.

ASA Târgu Mureș

On 30 September 2014, he signed a contract with ASA Târgu Mureș. He was sacked on 29 December 2014.

Rapid București

On 8 January 2015, he was announced as the new head coach of

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascad ...

. His objective was to save the team from its precarious position, the 18th in Liga I. He was however sacked on 14 April 2015 due to poor results. He was replaced by

Cristiano Bergodi Cristiano Bergodi (born 14 October 1964) is an Italian former professional footballer and a professional football manager, currently in charge of Romanian side Sepsi OSK. He played as a defender. Club career Born in Bracciano, Lazio, Bergodi s ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Gaz Metan Mediaș *

: 1992–93

Coach

Gaz Metan Mediaș *

: 2015–16

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pustai, Cristian 1965 births Living people Romanian men's footballers CS Gaz Metan Mediaș players CSM Unirea Alba Iulia players Romanian football managers CS Gaz Metan Mediaș managers CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu managers FC Rapid București managers ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș managers FC Botoșani managers FC Dunărea Călărași managers FC Gloria Buzău managers CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț managers Men's association football forwards Footballers from Mediaș