Cătălin Munteanu

Cătălin Munteanu (born 26 January 1979) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

Cătălin Munteanu
Personal information
Full name Cătălin Constantin Munteanu
Date of birth (1979-01-26) 26 January 1979
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sepsi OSK (video analyst)
Youth career
1989–1993 Romprim București
1993–1996 Steaua București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Steaua București 45 (22)
1998–2001 Salamanca 94 (20)
2001–2004 Atlético Madrid 0 (0)
2001–2002 → Espanyol (loan) 12 (1)
2002–2004 → Albacete (loan) 35 (1)
2004–2005 Real Murcia 22 (1)
2006–2008 Dinamo București 72 (5)
2008–2010 FC Brașov 62 (3)
2010–2014 Dinamo București 84 (7)
2014 FC Brașov 14 (0)
2015 Viitorul Constanța 3 (0)
Total 443 (60)
International career
1996–2000 Romania U21 11 (0)
1997–2001 Romania 17 (1)
Managerial career
2017–2018 Romania U19 (assistant)
2018–2019 Astra Giurgiu (assistant)
2019 Hermannstadt (assistant)
2019–2020 Petrolul Ploiești (assistant)
2020 Petrolul Ploiești (caretaker)
2020–2021 Universitatea Cluj (assistant)
2021–2022 Politehnica Iași (assistant)
2022–2023 Voluntari (assistant)
2023– Sepsi OSK (video analyst)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Cătălin Munteanu, nicknamed "Cap de Zmeu" (Head of Zmeu) was born on 26 January 1979 in Bucharest.[1][2] Munteanu started to play senior football at Steaua București, making his Liga I debut under coach Dumitru Dumitriu on 16 March 1997 in a 3–1 victory against Rapid București.[1][3] In his first season spent at the club, he helped the club win The Double, making 12 Liga I appearances and scoring 5 goals.[1][3] In the following season he helped Steaua win another title, this time under the guidance of coach Mihai Stoichiță, being the team's top-goalscorer with 17 goals scored in 33 matches, also he started to play in European competitions, scoring one goal in his debut in the first leg of the 5–3 victory on aggregate against CSKA Sofia in the 1997–98 Champions League first qualifying round and two goals that helped the team pass Bastia with the away goal rule in the 3–3 on aggregate in the second round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup.[1][4][5][6]

Salamanca paid €3.6 million for Munteanu's transfer from Steaua in 1998, where he played in the first two leagues until 2001, being colleague with fellow Romanians Bogdan Stelea and Lucian Marinescu, also during that period the club was nicknamed "Salamanca Rumana", because Ovidiu Stîngă and Gabriel Popescu also played for the club around that period.[1][7] He was bought by Atlético Madrid, but did not play a single game there, being loaned for one season at Espanyol Barcelona in La Liga and then at Albacete where he played for two seasons, in the first one he helped the club promote from the second division to the first.[1][8][9] Afterwards he went to play for Real Murcia in the Segunda División where he suffered a knee injury that kept him off the field for six months.[1][10][11]

Munteanu went back to Romania in the middle of the 2005–06 season, signing with Dinamo București, where in the following season under the guidance of coach Mircea Rednic he scored 4 goals in 32 appearances, including opening the score with a spectacular goal from 27 meters in a 4–2 victory in a derby against Steaua, helping the team win the title, also appearing in 12 matches in which he scored 3 goals, including one in the 3–1 loss on aggregate against Benfica as the club reached the sixteenths-finals of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup.[1][3][12][13][14][15] In 2008, Munteanu left Dinamo to go play for two seasons at FC Brașov, after which he came back to play for The Red Dogs for a second spell of four seasons in which he won a Cupa României and a Supercupa României, after which he ended his career by playing another half of year at FC Brașov and a half a year at Viitorul Constanța where on 15 March 2015 he made his last Liga I appearance in a 2–1 away victory against CFR Cluj.[1][16][17][18][19][20] Cătălin Munteanu has a total of 56 matches and four goals scored in La Liga, 107 matches and 19 goals scored in Segunda División, 280 games and 37 goals scored in Divizia A and 36 games played with 8 goals scored in European competitions.[1]

International career

Cătălin Munteanu played 17 matches and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 19 November 1997, when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him on the field in order to replace Viorel Moldovan at half-time in a friendly which ended 1–1 against Spain played on Lluís Sitjar Stadium from Palma de Mallorca.[21][22] He played four games and scored one goal at the successful Euro 2000 qualifiers, but was not a part of the squad that played at the final tournament.[21] He played 5 games at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, including his last appearance for the national team which took place on 2 June 2001 in a 2–0 victory against Hungary.[21]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[1][23][24][25]
Club Season League Cup Europe Supercup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Steaua București 1996–97 Divizia A 1254000–165
1997–98 Divizia A 331732103–4621
Total 452272103–6226
Salamanca 1998–99 La Liga 27320––293
1999–00 Segunda División 35700––357
2000–01 Segunda División 321000––3210
Total 942020––9620
Espanyol (loan) 2001–02 La Liga 12110––131
Albacete (loan) 2002–03 Segunda División 18110––191
2003–04 La Liga 17010––180
Total 35120––371
Real Murcia 2004–05 Segunda División 22111––232
Dinamo București 2005–06 Divizia A 100–––100
2006–07 Liga I 32410123–457
2007–08 Liga I 301204000361
Total 7253016300918
Brașov 2008–09 Liga I 31110––321
2009–10 Liga I 31251––363
Total 62361––684
Dinamo București 2010–11 Liga I 3054141–387
2011–12 Liga I 2525041–343
2012–13 Liga I 230202010280
2013–14 Liga I 6010––70
Total 8471211021010710
Brașov 2014–15 Liga I 14010––150
Viitorul Constanța 2014–15 Liga I 3000––30
Career total 443603553681051572

International stats
Romania
YearAppsGoals
199710
199851
199920
200040
200150
Total171

International
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Munteanu goal.
List of international goals scored by Cătălin Munteanu[21]
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
12 September 1998Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania3 Liechtenstein2–07–0Euro 2000 qualifiers

Honours

Steaua București

Dinamo București

References
  1. Cătălin Munteanu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. "Cătălin Munteanu a dezvăluit de unde îi vine porecla: "Miu a fost primul care mi-a spus 'Cap de Zmeu'!"" [Cătălin Munteanu revealed where his nickname comes from: "Miu was the first to call me 'Head of Zmeu'!"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  3. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  4. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  5. "Steaua - TSKA Sofia, in play-off-ul Ligii Europa" [Steaua - TSKA Sofia, in the Europa League play-off] (in Romanian). Fcsteaua.ro. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  6. "Măcelul de la Bastia! Cea mai traumatizantă experiență pentru roș-albaștri! "Lăcătuș și-a luat bătaie cât pentru toată cariera!"" [The massacre at Bastia! The most traumatic experience for the red-blues! "Lăcătuș took a beating for his whole career!"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  7. "Salamanca Rumana: de la Stîngă și Stelea la Alex Țîrlea" [Romanian Salamanca: from Stîngă and Stelea to Alex Țîrlea] (in Romanian). Wesport.ro. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  8. "Vă aduceți aminte de Cătălin Munteanu în tricoul lui Atletico Madrid? Nici spaniolii. Românul a fost inclus de Marca pe o listă care nu-i face cinste" [Do you remember Cătălin Munteanu in the shirt of Atletico Madrid? Neither do the Spaniards. The Romanian was included by Marca on a list that does him no credit] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  9. "A avut contract 3 ani cu Atletico, dar n-a jucat niciun minut. Românul de națională, pe prima pagină a ziarelor spaniole" [He had a 3-year contract with Atletico, but he didn't play a single minute. The Romania national team player, on the front page of the Spanish newspapers] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. "Catalin Munteanu ramane la Murcia" [Catalin Munteanu stays at Murcia] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 4 June 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  11. ""Cap de Zmeu", altfel decît îl ştiţi. Cătălin Munteanu, familistul" ["Cap de Zmeu", different than you know him. Cătălin Munteanu, the family man] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  12. "Cătălin Munteanu a fost invitatul lui Cătălin Oprișan! Povești spectaculoase cu fostul dinamovist" [Cătălin Munteanu was the guest of Cătălin Oprisan! Spectacular stories with the former Dinamo player] (in Romanian). As.ro. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  13. "A jucat la Steaua și Dinamo, se declară "câine roșu", dar surprinde: "N-am vorbit și nu voi vorbi urât despre ei. Îmi doresc să ajungă departe în Europa"" [He played for Steaua and Dinamo, he declares himself a "red dog", but surprises: "I have not spoken and I will not speak badly about them. I want them to go far in Europe"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  14. "Dinamo a luat ultimul titlu într-o altă lume! 4 lucruri care nu se întâmplaseră încă în 2007: Messi și Ronaldo n-aveau niciun Balon de Aur" [Dinamo took the last title in another world! 4 things that had not happened in 2007: Messi and Ronaldo did not have a Golden Ball] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. "Dinamo - Benfica 1-2" (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 22 February 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  16. "Cătălin Munteanu la FC Braşov" [Cătălin Munteanu at FC Braşov] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  17. "Primul transfer la Dinamo. Cătălin Munteanu revine în "Groapă"" [The first transfer to Dinamo. Cătălin Munteanu returns to the "Groapă"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  18. "Cătălin Munteanu dezvăluie de ce a plecat de la Dinamo: "Sînt dezamăgit!"" [Cătălin Munteanu reveals why he left Dinamo: "I'm disappointed!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  19. "Cătălin Munteanu s-a despărţit de Dinamo şi a semnat cu FC Braşov" [Cătălin Munteanu left Dinamo and signed with FC Braşov] (in Romanian). Click.ro. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  20. "Cătălin Munteanu s-a retras, dar va rămîne tot în fotbal" [Cătălin Munteanu has retired, but will remain in football] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  21. "Cătălin Munteanu profile". European Football. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  22. "Spain 1-1 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  23. Cătălin Munteanu at WorldFootball.net
  24. Cătălin Munteanu at BDFutbol
  25. Cătălin Munteanu at Soccerway
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