Daniel Ștefan Costescu (born 14 July 1976) is a Romanian former 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 usually played as a striker. He scored 46 goals in 235 matches in the Romanian First Division, 47 goals in 141 matches in the Romanian Second Division and 8 goals in 19 matches in the Swiss Third Division. His first match in

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 ...

(Romanian First Division) was

Olimpia Satu Mare Fotbal Club Olimpia MCMXXI Satu Mare, commonly known as Olimpia Satu Mare, Olimpia MCMXXI or simply as Olimpia, is a Romanian professional football club from Satu Mare, Satu Mare County, Romania, founded on 5 May 1921, re-founded in 2010 and 20 ...

– Petrolul Ploiești 3–0 on 1 August 1998, while playing for Petrolul Ploiești. He was selected once in the Romanian Divisionary National Team (comprising players playing only in the Romanian leagues).

Career

Born in

Câmpina Câmpina () is a city in Prahova County, Romania, north of the county seat Ploiești, located on the main route between Wallachia and Transylvania. Its existence is first attested in a document of 1503. It is situated in the historical region of ...

Prahova county Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/k ...

, Costescu began playing football with ''Sterom Câmpina'' in Divizia D (Romanian Fourth Division), and in 1996 he moved to the representative team of the same town,

Poiana Câmpina Poiana Câmpina is a communes of Romania, commune in Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Bobolia, Pietrișu, Poiana Câmpina, and Răgman. The commune is located in the western part of the county, northwest of the ...

, in

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 ...

, the Romanian Second Division. He played 2 years for

, scoring 15 goals in 60 games, helping the team getting a top 10 finish in both seasons. He then attracted the interest of Petrolul Ploiești in

, the best team from the

, three-time champions of

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 ...

. At Petrolul Ploiești he established himself as an important striker in the Romanian league, scoring 27 goals between 1999 and 2002. During his time at Petrolul Ploiești he caught the eyes of

n greats Steaua București and Dinamo Bucuresti. After his experience at Petrolul Ploiești, he changed the team but not the city, signing for

Astra Ploiești Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian Association football, football Club (organization), club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ' ...

, where he had a prolific season, scoring 10 goals in 26 games, helping them to a record-high 9th position in Divizia A. After his short spell at

, he returned to Petrolul Ploiești, where he played for another 2 years, scoring 9 goals in 36 games. In 2004, he transferred to a well-established club in Romania,

FC Argeș Pitești Asociația Clubul Sportiv Campionii Fotbal Club Argeș, commonly known as FC Argeș Pitești (), Argeș Pitești or simply FC Argeș, is a Romanian professional football club based in Pitești, Argeș County, that competes in the Liga I. The te ...

, 2-time champions of Romania and the team that gave players like

Nicolae Dobrin Nicolae Dobrin (; 26 August 1947 – 26 October 2007) was a Romanian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and a manager. Nicknamed ''Gâscanul'' ("The Gander") or ''Prințul din Trivale'' ("The Prince of Trivale"), he is considered o ...

Adrian Mutu Adrian Mutu (; born 8 January 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder. Mutu started his career playing two years for Argeș Pite� ...

Adrian Neaga Adrian Constantin Neaga (born 4 June 1979) is a Romanian football manager and retired player. Playing career Early career Neaga was born in Pitești. Neaga signed his first professional contract with Argeș Pitești in 1997. He was then pla ...

Dănuț Coman Dănuț Dumitru Coman (born 28 March 1979) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently the president of Liga II club Argeș Pitești. Coman started out as a senior at FC Argeș in the 1997–98 season and also played ...

and Paul Codrea. But, unfortunately for him, his time at

FC Argeș FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

was not one of the best, managing to score just 2 goals in 1 season. He was transferred in 2006 by

newcomers

Unirea Urziceni Fotbal Club Unirea Urziceni, commonly known as Unirea Urziceni (), was a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County. Unirea became Divizia A Final Tables, national champions ...

, who were in need of an experienced man upfront. Unirea proved to be a surprise-pack, finishing 10th in the league, and Daniel scored 2 goals for his new team. After his season at Unirea he transferred to Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costescu, Daniel 1976 births Living people Romanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Liga I players Liga II players FC Astra Giurgiu players FC Argeș Pitești players FCM Câmpina players FC Unirea Urziceni players CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț players CS Mioveni players FC Progresul București players FC Delta Tulcea players FC Baulmes players Swiss 1. Liga (football) players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland People from Câmpina Footballers from Prahova County