Cristian Gheorghe

Cristian Gheorghe

Personal information
Date of birth	(1956-09-10) 10 September 1956 (age 68) [1]
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania [1]
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) [1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper [1]
Youth career
1970–1972	Autobuzul București
1972–1974	Argeș Pitești
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1986	Argeș Pitești	272	(0)
1986–1988	Sportul Studențesc București	51	(0)
1988	Argeș Pitești	0	(0)
1989–1991	Gloria Bistrița [a]	1	(0)
Total		324	(0)
International career
1977–1981	Romania	14	(0)
Managerial career
1999–2001	Dacia Pitești
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cristian Gheorghe (born 10 September 1956) is a Romanian former football goalkeeper and manager. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Club career

Cristian Gheorghe was born on 10 September 1956 in Bucharest, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1970 at local club, Autobuzul. ^{[1] [2]} In the 1978–79 season he helped Argeș win the title, being used by coach Florin Halagian in 17 games, having to compete to be first-choice goalkeeper with Andrei Speriatu. ^{[1] [5]} In the following season they passed AEK Athens in the first round of the 1979–80 European Cup where he kept a clean sheet in the 3–0 from the first leg but the team got eliminated in the following one by title holders and eventual winners, Nottingham Forest. ^{[1] [6]}

In 1986 Gheorghe went at Sportul Studențesc, playing four games in the 1987–88 UEFA Cup campaign where in the second round they eliminated Peter Schmeichel and Brian Laudrup's Brøndby, losing the away game with 3–0 but managing to win the second leg with the same score, obtaining at the penalty shoot-out a historical qualification to the third round where the campaign ended in front of Italian side, Hellas Verona. ^{[1] [7]}

In 1988 Gheorghe returned to Argeș for a short while but did not play in any league games, moving to Divizia B club, Gloria Bistrița which he helped earn promotion to the first league at the end of the 1989–90 season. ^{[1] [2]} On 23 September 1990 he made his last Divizia A appearance in Gloria's 5–2 away loss in front of Universitatea Craiova, having a total of 324 appearances in the competition, also he played a total of 17 games in European competitions. ^{[1] [2]}

International career

Cristian Gheorghe played 14 games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 16 April 1977 under coach Ștefan Kovács, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 home win over Spain at the 1978 World Cup qualifiers. ^{[8] [9]} He played two more games at the same competition, keeping another clean sheet in a 2–0 away victory over Yugoslavia but conceded two in a loss in front of Spain from the second leg. ^[8] Afterwards he played three games at the Euro 1980 qualifiers, managing to not concede goals in home wins with Cyprus and Norway. ^[8] Gheorghe's last two games for the national team were at the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 with rivals Hungary and conceding two goals in a loss with Switzerland. ^[8]

Coaching career

From 1999 until 2001 Gheorghe coached Dacia Pitești in Divizia B. ^[2] He mostly worked at Argeș Pitești's Center for Children and Juniors, forming and teaching players like Nicolae Dică, Andrei Mărgăritescu and Leonard Manole. ^{[2] [3]}

Honours

Argeș Pitești

• Divizia A: 1978–79 ^[1]

Gloria Bistrița

• Divizia B: 1989–90 ^[1]

Notes

1. The statistics for the 1988–89 and 1989–90 Divizia B seasons are unavailable. ^[1]

References

1. Cristian Gheorghe at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
2. "Pitești: Gheorghe Cristian crețte tinere talente pentru fotbalul mare" [Pitesti: Gheorghe Cristian raises young talents for the big football] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 3 October 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
3. "Gheorghe Cristian trăieşte din alocația copiilor" [Gheorghe Cristian lives from his children's allowance] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 26 January 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
4. Cristian Gheorghe at National-Football-Teams.com
5. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
6. "43 de ani de la meciul dintre FC Argeș și Nottingham Forest" [43 years since the match between FC Argeș and Nottingham Forest] (in Romanian). Jurnaluldearges.ro. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
   "24 octombrie 1979: Argeșul a dat piept cu Nottingham Forest, campioana Europei" [October 24, 1979: Argeș played against Nottingham Forest, the European champions] (in Romanian). Romaniansoccer.ro. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
   "FC Argeș – Nottingham Forest 1-2 (Cupa Campionilor Europeni, 7 noiembrie 1979)" [FC Arges – Nottingham Forest 1-2 (European Champions Cup, November 7, 1979)] (in Romanian). Tikitaka.ro. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
   "Cristian Gheorghe. Champions League 1979/1980". WorldFootball. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
7. "35 de ani de la cea mai glorioasă victorie a Sportului: 1-0 cu legendara Inter" [35 years since the most glorious victory of Sportul: 1-0 with the legendary Inter] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
   "33 de ani de la "minunea din Regie", Sportul - Brøndby 6-0:"Schmeichel parcă înnebunise, a devastat vestiarul!"" [33 years since the "miracle of directing", Sportul - Brøndby 6-0: "Schmeichel seemed to have gone mad, he devastated the dressing room!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
   "Cristian Gheorghe. UEFA Cup 1987/1988". WorldFootball. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
8. "Gheorghe Cristian". European Football. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
9. "Romania 1-0 Spain". European Football. Retrieved 30 August 2024.

External links

• Cristian Gheorghe at WorldFootball.net