Adrian Cristea (born 30 November 1983) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a winger.
Club career
Politehnica Iași
Cristea, nicknamed "Prințul" (The Prince), was born on 30 November 1983 in Iași, Romania.[1][2][3] He began playing football for his hometown club, Politehnica, in the Romanian lower leagues.[1][2] After helping Politehnica get promoted from Divizia B, Cristea made his Divizia A debut under coach Vasile Simionaș on 30 July 2004 in a 2–1 loss to Rapid București.[1][2][4][5] One week later he netted his first goal when he opened the score in the 2–1 loss to Apulum Alba Iulia.[4]
He helped The Red Dogs win the 2006–07 title, scoring three goals in 28 matches under the guidance of coach Mircea Rednic.[1][2][10] In the same season, Dinamo reached the UEFA Cup round of 32 where they were eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Benfica, Cristea scoring three goals in the campaign, including one in a 2–1 win over Beşiktaş in the group stage.[1][2][11]
He contributed to another European performance, helping the club fulfill "The wonder from Liberec" by winning with 3–0 the away game against Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009–10 Europa League.[1][2][12] On 17 October 2010 he scored one goal from a penalty in a 2–1 victory against rivals Steaua.[13]
Universitatea Cluj
In December 2010, Cristea was transferred from Dinamo to Universitatea Cluj, for a total fee estimated by the Romanian press between €1.5 – 2 million.[1][2][14] On 1 October 2011, he scored the first hat-trick of his career in Universitatea's 5–2 victory against Gaz Metan Mediaș.[15] During one and a half years he netted 11 goals in 42 first-league matches for The Red Caps.[1][2]
Petrolul Ploiești and Standard Liège
In the summer of 2012, he was transferred to Petrolul Ploiești, along with 11 other players from "U" Cluj, a move that occurred when the owner of the Cluj team left the club to take control of Petrolul.[1][2][16][17] In November 2012, he scored his only goal for Petrolul in a 2–0 win against his former team, Universitatea Cluj.[1][18]
His only experience abroad came in 2013, when he went to play in Belgium alongside fellow Romanian George Țucudean, being loaned by Petrolul to Standard Liège.[19] He made his Belgian Pro League debut on 10 February 2013, as coach Mircea Rednic used him the entire match in Standard's 1–0 home loss to Mons.[20]
Steaua București
On 30 July 2013, after terminating his contract with Petrolul Ploiești, Cristea signed a two-year contract with Steaua București.[21][22][23] However, Cristea failed to win a place in the first team, being used by coach Laurențiu Reghecampf in only nine league matches in which he scored one goal as The Military Men won the title.[1][2][10] He also played in both legs of the 2013–14 Champions League play-off where the team eliminated Legia Warsaw, reaching the group stage.[1][2][24] There he made one appearance when he was sent on the field in the 73rd minute to replace Leandro Tatu in a 3–0 away loss against Schalke 04.[1][2][25] He ended his contract with Steaua in April 2014.[26]
Concordia Chiajna
In September 2014, Cristea reached an agreement with Concordia Chiajna.[1][2][27] At Chiajna he made his last Liga I appearances, having a total of 266 games with 40 goals scored in the competition, and also totaling 34 matches with four goals in European competitions.[1][2][28]
On 25 March 2008, Cristea was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu, for his performance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, where Romania managed to qualify to the final tournament. He received Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – ("The Sportive Merit" Medal) class III.[31][32]
After retirement
After he ended his football career, Cristea worked as a fashion designer, opening a luxury clothing workshop in Bucharest.[2]
Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[1][2][33]
