Nicolae Mitea

Nicolae Mitea

Personal information
Full name	Nicolae Mitea
Date of birth	24 March 1985 (1985-03-24) (age 26)
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Petrolul Ploieşti
Number	17
Youth career
1994–1997	FRB Titan Bucureşti
1997–1998	Juventus Bucureşti
1998–2001	Dinamo Bucureşti
2001–2002	Rapid Bucureşti
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2003	Dinamo Bucureşti	9	(0)
2003–2008	Ajax	57	(12)
2008–2009	Dinamo Bucureşti	12	(0)
2011–	Petrolul Ploieşti	2	(1)
National team‡
2003–2007	Romania U–21	18	(6)
2003–2005	Romania	9	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 August 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 June 2005

Nicolae Mitea (born 24 March 1985) is a Romanian footballer who is currently playing in Liga I for Petrolul Ploieşti. Mitea is a left-winger that was renowned for his dribbling ability and fast pace.

Club career

Mitea started his professional career in the Romanian Divizia A, playing for FC Dinamo Bucureşti in the 2002-03 season. After having played only 9 matches in the Romanian league, he was picked up by Dutch club Ajax after he impressed on a trial.

Before he left he and Dinamo won the Cupa României. His first season at Ajax was a success as he, at the age of 18, played 23 matches and scored 7 goals in the Dutch Eredivisie and in the process winning the league title with Ajax.

This period also saw him making his debut for the Romanian national team on 20 August 2003. The 2004-2005 season proved more difficult, as Mitea struggled to find the back of the net and only scored twice during that season. He performed very well on the Romanian youth team and became more interesting for the national team.

2005 was his breakthrough year in the national team, as he played 4 matches that year in which he scored twice. He established himself as a more important player for the team as well. His development in his career was set on hold due to a knee injury which sidelined him for a long time, resulting in only one appearance for Ajax in the 2005-06 season. Also in the following season Mitea did not play regularly as manager Henk ten Cate choose to overlook him and he was no longer first choice for the left-wing position. Despite the lack of appearances in these two seasons he did add two KNVB Cups to his list of trophies.

Due to minor injuries and still being out of favour with Henk Ten Cate, and then temporary replacement coach Adrie Koster, Mitea did not play a single game for Ajax during the 2007-08 season. Unsurprisingly, Mitea wasn't in new coach Marco Van Basten's plans and was told to look for a new club.

Mitea returned to Dinamo Bucureşti in August 2008 signing a 4 year contract, but after only 1 season, in the summer of 2009 he left Dinamo and became a free agent.

Statistics

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Goals
2002/03	Dinamo Bucureşti	Liga I	9	0
2003/04	Ajax	Eredivisie	23	7
2004/05	Ajax	Eredivisie	21	2
2005/06	Ajax	Eredivisie	1	1
2006/07	Ajax	Eredivisie	8	2
2007/08	Ajax	Eredivisie	0	0
2008/09	Dinamo Bucureşti	Liga I	12	0
Total			74	12

Honours

Club

Dinamo Bucureşti

• Romanian Cup: 2002-03

AFC Ajax

• Dutch League: 2003-04
• Dutch Cup: 2005-06, 2006–07
• Dutch Supercup: 2005

External links

• (Dutch) Voetbal International profile
• (Romanian) Mitea's page at romaniansoccer.ro

References

Romanian football portal

Persondata
Name	Mitea, Nicolae
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	24 March 1985
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Date of death
Place of death