Constantin Gâlcă

Constantin Gâlcă

Personal information
Full name	Constantin Gâlcă
Date of birth	8 March 1972 (1972-03-08) (age 39)
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1988–1989	Progresul Bucureşti
1989–1991	Argeş Piteşti	35	(2)
1991–1996	Steaua Bucureşti	148	(24)
1996–1997	Mallorca	34	(13)
1997–2001	Espanyol	123	(16)
2001–2003	Villarreal	38	(1)
2002–2003	→ Zaragoza (loan)	24	(0)
2003–2006	Almería	98	(4)
Total		500	(60)
National team
1993–2005	Romania	68	(4)
Teams managed
2009–2010	Almería B
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Constantin Gâlcă (born 8 March 1972) is a retired Romanian footballer and current manager.

Equally at ease as defensive or central midfielder with an accurate long-range shot, he first made a name for himself at Steaua Bucureşti, then proceeded to spend one full decade in Spain, playing in 318 matches in both major levels combined, and representing five clubs.

Additionally, he appeared for Romania in two FIFA World Cups, and as many UEFA European Football Championships.

Football career

Born in Bucharest, Gâlcă's senior career began at age 16 in the third division of Romania, with FC Progresul Bucureşti. Only one year after, he switched to the top level with lowly FC Argeş Piteşti, for whom he played four times towards the end of the season, soon breaking into the national U21's.

After one more season with solid displays (31 matches, two goals), Gâlcă moved to country giants FC Steaua Bucureşti, immediately beginning to produce: in his first season, he netted five times in 26 contests, including twice from long-range.

On 22 September 1993, he made his senior side debut, against Israel in a friendly; called up for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he played three times during the tournament, against the hosts in the group stage, in the famous 3–2 round of 16 success against Argentina and in the penalty shootout defeat to Sweden in the last-eight.

Gâlcă stayed at Steaua two more seasons, netting 13 times combined; after winning the cup and having appeared in nearly 200 official matches, he left for Spain where he would remain the next 11 years. First stop was RCD Mallorca, and the player scored 13 goals as the Balearic Islands side returned to the first division (that total was tied for squad best). He then experienced a steady period with Barcelona's RCD Espanyol, scoring five goals in his third season, which also ended with domestic cup conquest.

From 1996–2000, Gâlcă featured in over forty more international games for Romania, often pairing with Dorinel Munteanu in central midfield. During the qualifications for the 1998 World Cup, the national side was undefeated in its 10 group matches, drawing only once and netting 37 goals, with him scoring two. In those final stages and UEFA Euro 2000, the country was beaten, respectively, in the last-16 and last-eight, with Gâlcă starting in every match.

In the 2001 summer, Gâlcă signed with Villarreal CF, but was deemed surplus to requirements midway through his second year, which he finished in the second division, loaned to Real Zaragoza, being instrumental as it returned to the first level after one year of absence, starting all 24 matches he appeared in.

Gâlcă still had three more solid seasons in the country, with second division's UD Almería, playing 40 matches in his last season, one year before the Andalusians first reached the topflight; he eventually returned to the national team with this team, in 2005, after a three-year absence. He retired officially in 2006.

Established in Almería after his playing days, Gâlcă took up coaching in 2009–10, starting with Almería's B team, in the fourth category. He was sacked on 19 January 2010, after a string of poor results.

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	24 April 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Georgia	5–0	5–0	Friendly
2.	31 August 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Lithuania	3–0	3–0	1998 World Cup qualification
3.	20 August 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Macedonia	2–0	4–2	1998 World Cup qualification
4.	10 September 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Iceland	3–0	4–0	1998 World Cup qualification

Honours

Steaua Bucureşti

• Romanian League: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
• Romanian Cup: 1995–96
• Romanian Supercup: 1993, 1994

Espanyol

• Spanish Cup: 1999–2000

External links

• RomanianSoccer profile and stats
• Constantin Gâlcă at National-Football-Teams.com
• BDFutbol profile

Romanian football portal

Persondata
Name	Galca, Constantin
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	8 March 1972
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Date of death
Place of death