Adrian Cristea

Politehnica Iași

Cristea, nicknamed "Prințul" (The Prince), was born on 30 November 1983 in Iași, Romania. He began playing football for his hometown club, Politehnica, in the Romanian lower leagues. 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. One week later he netted his first goal when he opened the score in the 2–1 loss to Apulum Alba Iulia. On 3 October he scored the only goal in a victory against Steaua București.

Dinamo București

After scoring two goals in 15 matches in the first half of the 2004–05 season, Cristea was transferred to Dinamo București where he was wanted by coach Ioan Andone. By the end of the season, he won the Cupa României but Andone did not use him in the final against Farul Constanța. Cristea started the following season by winning the Supercupa României but again without Andone playing him in the victory against Steaua București. The team also reached the 2005–06 UEFA Cup group stage where he played in three games, including a 1–0 victory against title holders CSKA Moscow. He helped The Red Dogs win the 2006–07 title, scoring three goals in 28 matches under the guidance of coach Mircea Rednic. 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…

Cristea played nine games for Romania, making his debut on 7 February 2007 when coach Victor Pițurcă introduced him at halftime to replace Ovidiu Petre in a 2–0 friendly victory against Moldova. He appeared in two victories against Luxembourg in the successful Euro 2008 qualifiers. Cristea was called by Pițurcă in the squad for the Euro 2008 final tournament, but did not get an opportunity to play. He played in a 1–1 draw against Austria and a 5–0 loss to Serbia during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Cristea's last appearance for the national team was in a 2–2 draw against Belarus in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. 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.

Club

International

Politehnica Iași

Divizia B: 2003–04 Divizia C: 2001–02 Dinamo București

Liga I: 2006–07 Cupa României: 2004–05 Supercupa Romaniei: 2005 Petrolul Ploiești

Supercupa României runner-up: 2013 Concordia Chiajna

Cupa Ligii runner-up: 2015–16