Gheorghe Craioveanu

Gheorghe "Gică" Craioveanu (born 14 February 1968) is a Romanian retired footballer who played as a striker.

Gheorghe Craioveanu
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-02-14) 14 February 1968
Place of birth Hunedoara, Romania
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1981–1986 Olt Scornicești
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1988 Constructorul Slatina 65 (37)
1989–1990 Metalurgistul Slatina 27 (11)
1990 Drobeta-Turnu Severin 18 (18)
1991–1995 Universitatea Craiova 129 (61)
1995–1998 Real Sociedad 90 (26)
1998–2002 Villarreal 122 (28)
2002–2006 Getafe 120 (16)
Total 571 (197)
International career
1993–1999 Romania 25 (4)
Managerial career
2013–2023 Universitatea Craiova (image director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent most of his professional career in Spain–11 years out of 18–with Real Sociedad, Villarreal and Getafe, respectively, amassing totals of 330 matches and 70 goals in both major levels combined.

A Romanian international in the 1990s, Craioveanu represented the nation at the 1998 World Cup.

Club career

Craioveanu was born in Hunedoara, Transylvania. After playing for modest clubs, he reached Liga I in January 1991 (one month shy of his 23rd birthday) after signing with FC Universitatea Craiova. On 3 March he made his competition debut in a 0–1 away loss against FC Steaua București, but his team would eventually win the national championship with three goals from 13 appearances from the player; during his spell in Craiova, they never ranked lower than fourth and also won two domestic cups, while he was also crowned the league's top scorer in 1994 and 1995.

In summer 1995, after a combined 49 goals in his last two seasons at Universitatea, Craioveanu joined La Liga side Real Sociedad,[1][2] netting 11 times in his first season to help the Basques finish in seventh position. Two years later he moved to Villarreal CF which were having their first top-tier experience,[3] scoring a career-best – in Spain – 13 goals as they were immediately relegated.

Craioveanu was again a very important attacking unit – 38 games, eight goals – as Villarreal promoted the year after and, already a veteran, helped to the club's domestic consolidation. In 2002 the 34-year-old signed with Getafe CF of the second level, scoring 16 goals in 120 appearances over the course of four seasons and helping the Madrid team achieve a first ever top-flight promotion in his second year; he retired in June 2006, having appeared in 459 league matches during his professional career and scored a total of 131 goals.[4][5]

International career

Craioveanu earned 25 caps for Romania, his debut coming on 8 September 1993 in a 4–0 win in the Faroe Islands for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. His only major tournament was the 1998 World Cup in France, where his output consisted of 33 minutes in the round of 16 0–1 defeat to Croatia.[6]

International stats
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania 199320
199410
199520
199641
199773
199840
199950
Total254
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Craioveanu goal.
List of international goals scored by Gheorghe Craioveanu
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 August 1996Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Israel2–02–0Friendly
229 March 1997Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania Liechtenstein7–08–0World Cup 1998 Qualifying
36 September 1997Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein Liechtenstein2–08–1World Cup 1998 Qualifying
43–0

Post-retirement

After retiring, Craioveanu settled in Getafe (the city of his last club) in Madrid's metropolitan area. During the local elections of 2007 he won a sports adviser seat on the local council, running as an independent with backing from the People's Party;[7][8][9] this was the first suffrage during which Romanian citizens were eligible in other European Union counties, following Romania's European integration.

On 16 June 2007, as a result of a local alliance between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and Izquierda Unida, which took away PP's control over the Sports Adviser seat, Craioveanu convened with the PP not to hold a political office, and resigned from the council.[7][9] He also worked as a co-presenter in La Sexta's football programme Minuto y Resultado, and a radio commentator on Onda Cero; after his first marriage ended in divorce, he remarried with a Spanish woman named Gemma, and eventually fathered two children, one from each union.[7]

Personal life

Craioveanu's son, Alejandro, played youth football for Castellón de la Plana-based CD Drac as well as Villarreal.[10][11]

Honours

CS Universitatea Craiova

FC Universitatea Craiova

Individual

References
  1. Gica Craioveanu: "Esta Real es más rápida que la nuestra, pero le falta Darko" (Gica Craioveanu: "This Real is better than ours, but they don't have Darko"); Mundo Deportivo, 6 May 2013 (in Spanish)
  2. Gica Craioveanu: "La zurda de Javi de Pedro no era caviar, era beluga" (Gica Craioveanu: "Javi de Pedro's left was not caviar, it was beluga"); El Diario Vasco, 20 December 2016 (in Spanish)
  3. El Villarreal en el Camp Nou: De la exhibición de Craioveanu a la chilena de Ronaldinho (Villarreal at the Camp Nou: From Craioveanu's show to Ronaldinho's bicycle); Marca, 6 May 2017 (in Spanish)
  4. Craioveanu renueva un año con el Getafe (Craioveanu renews with Getafe for one year); Diario AS, 26 May 2005 (in Spanish)
  5. Yo jugué en el Getafe FC: Gica Craioveanu (I played with Getafe FC: Gica Craioveanu); Vavel, 10 May 2013 (in Spanish)
  6. De pena máxima (Maximum penalty); Mundo Deportivo, 1 July 1998 (in Spanish)
  7. Gică Craioveanu renunţă la politică (Gică Craioveanu leaves politics) Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; Jurnalul Naţional, 16 June 2007 (in Romanian)
  8. Craioveanu, consilier la Getafe (Craioveanu, counsellor of Getafe) Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine; Adevărul, 29 May 2007 (in Romanian)
  9. Gică Craioveanu a renunţat la postul de consilier municipal la Getafe (Gică Craioveanu resigns as Getafe city counsellor); Sport 365, 16 June 2007 (in Romanian)
  10. Gica, un padre ejemplar en el CD Drac Castellón (Gica, a role model of a father at CD Drac Castellón); El Periódico Mediterráneo, 19 November 2011 (in Spanish)
  11. EXCLUSIV Naționala are viitor! Craioveanu junior vrea sa fie "grande" (EXCLUSIVE National team have the future! Craioveanu junior wants to be "grande"); Digi Sport, 8 August 2017 (in Romanian)
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