Nicolae Dică


Nicolae Constantin Dică is a Romanian former footballer and currently manager.
Primarily an attacking midfielder, he was also deployed as a forward and was known for his incisive passing, long balls and spectacular finishes. Dică played professionally in four countries, but spent most of his career in Romania, where he appeared for Dacia Mioveni, Argeș Pitești, Steaua București, CFR Cluj and Viitorul Constanța. He was a Romanian international for seven years, and represented the country at the UEFA Euro 2008.

Club career

Dacia Mioveni

Dică started playing professional football when he was 18 years old at a local team Dacia Mioveni.
In his first season, Dică played in 17 games and scored 5 times for Mioveni. In the second, he became a first team player and had a very good season, with Dacia finishing fourth in the Romanian Divizia B. He was one of the top scorers in the league that season with 14 goals.

Argeș Pitești

Dică was seen as an upcoming talent and the local Divizia A club, FC Argeș Pitești, signed him in 2000. He made his debut for FC Argeș Pitești in a 2–1 win against Gaz Metan Mediaș. He was soon awarded the captain's armband after the transfers of Adrian Mutu to Dinamo București and Adrian Neaga to Steaua București.

Steaua București

Romanian giants Steaua București paid €250,000 to sign him from Argeș Pitești in December 2003. He was transferred to Steaua after the recommendation of Victor Pițurcă and Mihai Stoica.
He made his debut in Europe in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup season, when Steaua eliminated previous winners Valencia, en route to the Round of 16, where they were knocked out by another Spanish side Villareal.
In 2005 after Dică lost the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League, due to FCSB being eliminated by Rosenborg BK, he had another successful season in the UEFA Cup. The Bucharest club defeated the likes of Lens, Heereenven, Real Betis and their Romanian rivals Rapid București, on their way to the UEFA CUP semi-final, where they were eliminated by English Premier League club, Middlesbrough.
On 13 September 2006, Dică scored twice in the 4–1 away win against Dynamo Kyiv in Steaua București's opening game in the UEFA Champions League, this being his first ever appearance in said tournament. He went on to score four goals and add one assist in six games against group opponents, Dynamo Kiev, Real Madrid, and Olympique Lyonnais. After his performances in the Champions League, the daily newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor gave the Romanian Footballer of the Year 2006 award to Dică.
On 23 January 2007, he suffered a knee injury while playing in a friendly against AC Siena, and missed most of the season.
On 9 May, for his birthday, Dică returned to the team and was introduced in the late stages of the 2–0 victory against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. This was his first official game in 2007.

Catania

On 28 June 2008, Dică moved to Catania, mainly due to the desire of his former Steaua coach, Walter Zenga. He was expected to replace midfielder Juan Manuel Vargas who moved to ACF Fiorentina, but ended up being a flop, taking part in just 93 minutes of play during his first six months with Palermo. Although it seemed almost certain that he would leave during the January transfer market, coach Walter Zenga kept him at Catania until the end of the Serie A season.
In June 2009, Iraklis signed Dică on loan from Calcio Catania. He made his competitive debut on 23 August 2009 and scored twice in a 2–1 win over Panthrakikos.
In January 2010, CFR Cluj signed the midfielder on loan from Catania until June 2010. He won the Liga I and the Romanian Cup with them, scoring his first goal in a 2–1 victory against Dinamo București in the second leg of the Cup semi-final.
In July 2010, Manisaspor signed the midfielder on loan from Catania until June 2011. He rarely made it to the first team and then, on 14 December 2010, he agreed to cancel his contract with Manisaspor.

Later years

In January 2011, Dică signed a one-year contract with his former team, Steaua București. He made his debut for the club, on 27 February 2011, in a 1–0 win at Universitatea Craiova. On 5 April, he scored his first goal after his return to Steaua in a 5–0 home win over Unirea Urziceni. On 11 May, Dică scored the equalizer against AS Brașov, which sent Steaua through to the Romanian Cup final. On 25 May, Dică scored from a trademark free kick in a 2–1 victory over rivals Dinamo București, and won his second consecutive Romanian cup.
In May 2011, Dică joined Liga I side Dacia Mioveni. He received the number 80 jersey. On 31 October, Dică scored a goal in a 3–1 defeat to Concordia Chiajna. In January 2012, after fifteen games for the Liga I squad, he terminated his contract with Mioveni.
Later that month he signed a one and a half year contract with Liga II side Viitorul Constanța. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Viitorul earned promotion to the Liga I, in part due to Dică's performances, who scored six goals in the second half of the season.

International career

On 11 October 2003, Dică made his debut for the Romania national team in a friendly game against Japan. He scored his first goal in August 2006, in a friendly game against Cyprus and amassed a total of 32 appearances for Romania.

Managerial career

On 15 May 2017, it was announced that Nicolae Dică will be the manager of FCSB for the 2017–18 season. He went undefeated in his first ten games in all competitions before losing to Portuguese club Sporting CP, in the 2017–18 Champions League play-off. In December 2018, after a year and a half at the helm of the club, Dică terminated his contract with FCSB by mutual consent.

Personal life

In November 2003, Dică married Corina Zimbroianu, after the two met in 1998. He has a son, Marco Ilie, who was baptized by his former Steaua teammate, Mirel Radoi.
In March 2007, he had a difficult period in his life as his father died due to cirrhosis. Dică was under treatment at the Isokinetic clinic, in Bologna, when he heard the news. His father was the one who encouraged him to become a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
116 August 2006Stadionul Farul, Constanța, Romania1–02–0Friendly
26 September 2006Qemal Stafa, Tirana, Albania1–02–0UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
322 August 2007Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania1–02–0Friendly
48 September 2007Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus2–13–1UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
521 November 2007Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania1–06–1UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
621 November 2007Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania6–16–1UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
731 May 2008Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania3–04–0Friendly
831 May 2008Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania4–04–0Friendly
920 August 2008Stadionul Tineretului, Urziceni, Romania1–01–0Friendly

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Steaua București
CFR Cluj
Individual
SCM Pitești