Nicolae Mitea

Youth years

Mitea was born on 24 March 1985 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1994 at local club FRB Titan. In 1997 he joined Juventus București, one year later moving to Dinamo București, then in 2001, he switched teams again, going to Rapid București. In 2002, Mitea and Roberto Iancu were taken by coach Ionuț Chirilă on a one-week trial at FC Barcelona, but despite leaving a good impression, they did not sign a contract because of some problems with their sports agent. Mitea was also taken by Chirilă at a trial at Mircea Lucescu's Galatasaray but again despite making a good impression he did not sign a contract.

Dinamo București

In 2002 he returned to Dinamo București where he started his senior career, making his Divizia A debut on 24 November when coach Cornel Dinu sent him in the 87th minute to replace Flavius Stoican in a 1–0 home victory over FC Brașov. On 27 November 2003, Dinu brought him on in the 79th minute to replace Ionel Dănciulescu in a 3–0 win in the derby against Steaua București in the Cupa României. Although the club won the trophy that season, new coach Ioan Andone did not play him in the 1–0 win over Național București in the final. In the same season, Mitea also played for the club's then satellite team Poiana Câmpina, helping it get promoted from the third to the second league.

Ajax

After having played only nine matches in the Romanian league, he was picked up by Dutch club Ajax which paid…

From 2002 to 2006, Mitea was consistently featured for Romania's under-19 and under-21 sides. He played eight games and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 20 August 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 83rd minute to replace Adrian Mutu in a friendly that ended with a 2–0 away win against Ukraine. Mitea's last three matches for the national team were in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, and in the first of these, he scored a double in a 2–1 victory over Macedonia. The following two were a loss to the Netherlands and a win against Armenia.

Club

International stats

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mitea goal.

Dinamo București

Cupa României: 2002–03 Ajax

Eredivisie: 2003–04 KNVB Cup: 2006–07 Individual

Ajax Talent of the Year (Marco van Basten Award): 2003–04