Andrei Mărgăritescu

Mărgăritescu, nicknamed China, was born in Pitești on 1 January 1980 and began playing junior-level football at local club Argeș, where he worked with coach Cristian Gheorghe. He made his Divizia A debut at age 19 on 2 November 1999, playing for Rapid București under coach Mircea Lucescu in a 2–1 victory over FC Brașov. After receiving a red card in a game against Steaua București, Lucescu gave him the captain's armband in the following game in order to make him more responsible and less aggressive in his play. After only one season at Rapid, Mărgăritescu went to play four seasons in Divizia B for Tractorul Brașov, Olimpia Satu Mare and Unirea Focșani. Subsequently, he returned to Divizia A football as he was signed by Dinamo București where he was recommended by Lucescu and a coach from his youth career Ionuț Chirilă. With The Red Dogs he managed to win the only trophies of his career. The first two were under coach Ioan Andone, starting with the 2004–05 Cupa României when he played the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 victory against Farul Constanța in the final. The second was the 2005 Supercupa României as he played the entire match in the 3–2 victory against rivals Steaua București. Andone also used him in seven games during the 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when the team eliminated Everton with a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage. Afterwards, he helped Dinamo win the 2006–07 Liga I title, being used by coach Mircea Rednic in 31 games in which he scored one…

Mărgăritescu played three matches for Romania in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, under coach Victor Pițurcă. He made his debut on 6 September 2006 when he substituted for Laurențiu Roșu in the 90th minute of a 2–0 away victory against Albania. His second game was a 2–0 away victory against Luxembourg and his final match was the second leg against Albania, a 6–1 home victory. On 25 March 2008, Mărgăritescu 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.

International stats

Rapid București

Supercupa României: 1999 Dinamo București

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