Adrian Neaga Explained

Adrian Neaga
Fullname:Adrian Constantin Neaga
Height:1.78m
Birth Date:1979 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Pitești, Romania
Position:Striker
Youthyears1:–1997
Youthclubs1:Argeș Pitești
Years1:1997–2001
Years2:1998–1999
Years3:2001–2005
Years4:2003
Years5:2005–2006
Years6:2006–2007
Years7:2007–2009
Years8:2008–2009
Years9:2009–2010
Years10:2010
Years11:2010–2011
Years12:2011–2013
Years13:2014
Years14:2016
Clubs1:Argeș Pitești
Clubs2:Dacia Pitești (loan)
Clubs3:Steaua București
Clubs4:Al-Nassr (loan)
Clubs5:Chunnam Dragons
Clubs6:Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Clubs7:Steaua București
Clubs8:Steaua II București
Clubs9:Neftchi Baku
Clubs10:Unirea Urziceni
Clubs11:Volyn Lutsk
Clubs12:Mioveni
Clubs13:Argeș Pitești 1953
Clubs14:National II Sebiș
Caps1:52
Caps2:20
Caps3:59
Caps4:1
Caps5:47
Caps6:26
Caps7:33
Caps8:5
Caps9:43
Caps10:6
Caps11:4
Caps12:26
Caps14:1
Goals1:15
Goals2:10
Goals3:27
Goals4:0
Goals5:13
Goals6:4
Goals7:3
Goals8:4
Goals9:16
Goals10:0
Goals11:0
Goals12:0
Goals14:0
Totalcaps:312
Totalgoals:92
Nationalyears1:2000–2004
Nationalteam1:Romania
Nationalcaps1:6
Nationalgoals1:0
Manageryears1:2013
Managerclubs1:Unirea Bascov
Manageryears2:2013–2014
Managerclubs2:Atletic Bradu
Manageryears3:2014–2015
Managerclubs3:Urban Titu
Manageryears4:2015
Managerclubs4:SCM Pitești
Manageryears5:2015–2016
Managerclubs5:Național Sebiș
Manageryears6:2016
Managerclubs6:Atletic Bradu
Manageryears7:2018
Managerclubs7:Poli Timișoara

Adrian Constantin Neaga (born 4 June 1979) is a Romanian football manager and retired player.

Playing career

Early career

Neaga was born in Pitești.

Neaga signed his first professional contract with Argeș Pitești in 1997. He was then playing in the same team with Adrian Mutu. He played three games in his first season, scoring a goal, and then played two other games in the first half of the following season, before the club decided to loan him to Dacia Pitești, a club from the second league, where he played 20 games and scored 10 goals, therefore gaining the right to be part of Argeș Pitești again.

In 2001 Neaga failed a drug test which had been performed at the end of a Divizia A game. He tested positive for the anabolic steroid metenolone.[1] He was not sanctioned for it, however.

Return to Steaua

After he ended his contract with Al-Nassr, Neaga returned to Steaua București. During the 2003–04 season he scored 13 goals in 15 games.

Walter Zenga was appointed head coach of Steaua București in the summer of 2004 and he soon made Neaga one of the two team leaders, alongside Mirel Rădoi, and in the first half of that season Neaga played 15 games in Divizia A, scoring six goals, while in the UEFA Cup he scored five times in eight games, finishing Steaua's top-scorer in Europe that season.

In February 2005, Gigi Becali received a buying offer from the South Korean club Chunnam Dragons for US$1.5 million. Becali accepted the offer, even though Neaga and the team were due to play a very important game against Valencia CF, then the La Liga champions and UEFA Cup winners, in the second round of the UEFA Cup.

South Korea

During his time at Chunnam Dragons, Neaga was selected in the Team of the Season and was awarded the Bronze Boot for finishing third in the goalscorers standings. After 18 months at Chunnam Dragons, Neaga made a statement saying that he would like to return to Steaua București. His club agreed to the transfer, on the condition that the Romanian club pay a US$1.5 million release fee. But Steaua București refused, and Neaga joined Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma instead. With his new team, Neaga won the Korean title for the first time and, also for the first time, played in the Asian Champions League, scoring a goal in his first game, against Vietnam's champions.

Second return to Steaua București

In June 2007, Neaga returned to Steaua București for a second time. Back at Steaua, he scored a goal in the 2–0 home victory against BATE Borisov, thus qualifying for the first time in his life for the UEFA Champions League, where he played against the likes of Arsenal and Sevilla.

In January 2009, Neaga was released by Steaua București and signed for Azerbaijani club Neftchi Baku.

Coaching career

After he ended his player career, Neaga started a career as coach, and his first job came at the beginning of 2013, when he signed a contract with Liga IV team Unirea Bascov. In December 2013, Neaga signed a contract to manage Atletic Bradu, in Liga III. In July 2014, Neaga signed a contract to coach ACS Urban Titu.

Honours

Steaua București

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma

Notes and References

  1. http://www.espnfc.com/europe/news/2001/0728/20010728romaniadoping.html Doping case not over, says Romanian Olympic Committee