Adrian Anca

Adrian Gheorghe Anca (born 27 March 1976) is a former Romanian football striker and manager.

Anca, nicknamed Caniggia was born on 27 March 1976 in Diosig, Romania, and began playing football in 1998 at Divizia C club, Crișul Aleșd.^[1][2] In 2001 he went to play at Divizia B level, signing with IS Campia Turzii.^[1] In 2003 he went to Gloria Bistrița where on 8 March under the guidance of coach Remus Vlad, he made his Divizia A debut in a 1–1 draw against Sportul Studențesc București.^[1][3][4] He scored his first goal on 18 March in Gloria's 3–1 home loss to Farul Constanța.^[3] During his spell with The Blue Vampires, Anca started to play in European competitions, scoring on his debut, a victory against Bangor City which helped them get past the first round of the 2003 Intertoto Cup, being eliminated in the following one by Brescia.^[5]

In the 2003–04 season, he returned to Divizia B, joining CFR Cluj where he would score 24 goals to help the team earn promotion to the first division, making a partnership in the offence with Cosmin Tilincă.^[1][2][6] In the following season he scored 11 goals to help his side avoid relegation, starting with opening the score in a 1–1 draw against Rapid București, also scoring two doubles in two 4–2 wins over Apulum Alba Iulia and Dinamo București.^[1][7] Under coach Dorinel Munteanu he played ten games in the 2005 Intertoto Cup campaign as CFR got past Vėtra, Athletic Bilbao, Saint-Étienne and Žalgiris, scoring four goals, two against each of the first and the latter, the team reaching the final where they were defeated 4–2 on aggregate by Lens.^[1][8] In the 2007–08 season, Anca helped CFR win for the first time in the club's history the championship and the cup, being used in five league matches by coach Ioan Andone.^{[1][9][10][11]}

In the summer of 2008, he joined Oțelul Galați but after only two months he cancelled his contract and signed with Gloria Bistrița to be closer to his wife who was about to give birth.^[1][12] With Gloria he made his last Divizia A appearance on 15 August 2009 in a 0–0 draw against Astra Ploiești, having a total of 113 matches with 25 goals netted in the competition, also totaling 13 games with six goals scored in the Intertoto Cup.^[1]

In February 2010 he signed with Luceafărul Oradea, a third division club.^[13] He was an assistant coach besides him playing for the club.^[1][13] In April 2010 he became head coach at Luceafărul, after Alexandru Kiss resigned.^[14] In June 2010 he was appointed head coach of Silvania Șimleu Silvaniei, but in October of the same year his contract was terminated.^[15] In 2011, Anca was for 11 months coach of Bihorul Beiuș in the third league.^[16]

CFR Cluj

• Liga I: 2007–08^[1]
• Cupa României: 2007–08^[1]
• Divizia B: 2003–04^[1]
• Intertoto Cup runner-up: 2005^[8]

• Adrian Anca at WorldFootball.net
• Adrian Anca at Soccerway