Cătălin Munteanu Explained

Cătălin Munteanu
Fullname:Cătălin Constantin Munteanu
Birth Date:26 January 1979
Birth Place:Bucharest, Romania
Height:1.72 m
Position:Central midfielder
Youthyears1:1989–1993
Youthclubs1:Romprim București
Youthyears2:1993–1996
Youthclubs2:Steaua București
Years1:1996–1998
Clubs1:Steaua București
Caps1:45
Goals1:22
Years2:1998–2001
Clubs2:Salamanca
Caps2:94
Goals2:20
Years3:2001–2004
Clubs3:Atlético Madrid
Caps3:0
Goals3:0
Years4:2001–2002
Clubs4:Espanyol (loan)
Caps4:12
Goals4:1
Years5:2002–2004
Clubs5:Albacete (loan)
Caps5:35
Goals5:1
Years6:2004–2005
Clubs6:Real Murcia
Caps6:22
Goals6:1
Years7:2006–2008
Clubs7:Dinamo București
Caps7:72
Goals7:5
Years8:2008–2010
Clubs8:FC Brașov
Caps8:62
Goals8:3
Years9:2010–2014
Clubs9:Dinamo București
Caps9:84
Goals9:7
Years10:2014
Clubs10:FC Brașov
Caps10:14
Goals10:0
Years11:2015
Clubs11:Viitorul Constanța
Caps11:3
Goals11:0
Totalcaps:443
Totalgoals:60
Nationalyears1:1996–2000
Nationalteam1:Romania U21
Nationalcaps1:11
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:1997–2001
Nationalteam2:Romania
Nationalcaps2:17
Nationalgoals2:1
Manageryears1:2017–2018
Managerclubs1:Romania U19 (assistant)
Manageryears2:2018–2019
Managerclubs2:Astra Giurgiu (assistant)
Manageryears3:2019
Managerclubs3:Hermannstadt (assistant)
Manageryears4:2019–2020
Managerclubs4:Petrolul Ploiești (assistant)
Manageryears5:2020
Managerclubs5:Petrolul Ploiești (caretaker)
Manageryears6:2020–2021
Managerclubs6:Universitatea Cluj (assistant)
Manageryears7:2021–2022
Managerclubs7:Politehnica Iași (assistant)
Manageryears8:2022–2023
Managerclubs8:Voluntari (assistant)
Manageryears9:2023
Managerclubs9:Sepsi OSK (video analyst)

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

Club career

Cătălin Munteanu, nicknamed "Cap de Zmeu" (Head of Zmeu) was born on 26 January 1979 in Bucharest.[1] 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.[2] In his first season spent at the club, he helped the club win The Double, making 12 Liga I appearances and scoring 5 goals.[2] 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.[3] [4] [5]

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.[6] 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.[7] [8] 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.[9] [10]

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.[2] [11] [12] [13] [14] 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.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] 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.

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.[20] [21] 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.[20] 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.[20]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeSupercupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Steaua București1996–97Divizia A1254000165
1997–98Divizia A3317321034621
Total45227210362!26
Salamanca1998–99La Liga27320293
1999–00Segunda División35700357
2000–01Segunda División3210003210
Total94202096!20
Espanyol (loan)2001–02La Liga12110131
Albacete (loan)2002–03Segunda División18110191
2003–04La Liga17010180
Total3512037!1
Real Murcia2004–05Segunda División22111232
Dinamo București2005–06Divizia A100100
2006–07Liga I32410123457
2007–08Liga I301204000361
Total725301630091!8
Brașov2008–09Liga I31110321
2009–10Liga I31251363
Total6236168!4
Dinamo București2010–11Liga I3054141387
2011–12Liga I2525041343
2012–13Liga I230202010280
2013–14Liga I601070
Total8471211021010710
Brașov2014–15Liga I14010150
Viitorul Constanța2014–15Liga I300030
Career total443603553681051572

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.

Honours

Steaua București

1996–97Dinamo București

2006–07

2011–12

2012

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cătălin Munteanu a dezvăluit de unde îi vine porecla: "Miu a fost primul care mi-a spus 'Cap de Zmeu'!". Prosport.ro. Romanian . Cătălin Munteanu revealed where his nickname comes from: "Miu was the first to call me 'Head of Zmeu'!". 20 November 2015 . 28 July 2022.
  2. Web site: Romania National Champions . RomanianSoccer. 5 September 2023.
  3. Web site: Romania National Champions . RomanianSoccer. 28 July 2022.
  4. Web site: Steaua - TSKA Sofia, in play-off-ul Ligii Europa. Fcsteaua.ro. Romanian . Steaua - TSKA Sofia, in the Europa League play-off. 5 August 2011 . 28 July 2022.
  5. Web site: Măcelul de la Bastia! Cea mai traumatizantă experiență pentru roș-albaștri! "Lăcătuș și-a luat bătaie cât pentru toată cariera!". Prosport.ro. Romanian . The massacre at Bastia! The most traumatic experience for the red-blues! "Lăcătuș took a beating for his whole career!". 1 July 2011 . 28 July 2022.
  6. Web site: Salamanca Rumana: de la Stîngă și Stelea la Alex Țîrlea. Wesport.ro. Romanian . Romanian Salamanca: from Stîngă and Stelea to Alex Țîrlea. 15 April 2020 . 28 July 2022.
  7. Web site: 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. Prosport.ro. Romanian . 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. 31 January 2019 . 28 July 2022.
  8. Web site: A avut contract 3 ani cu Atletico, dar n-a jucat niciun minut. Românul de națională, pe prima pagină a ziarelor spaniole. Digisport.ro. Romanian . 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. 31 January 2019 . 28 July 2022.
  9. Web site: Catalin Munteanu ramane la Murcia. Adevarul.ro. Romanian . Catalin Munteanu stays at Murcia. 4 June 2005 . 28 July 2022.
  10. Web site: "Cap de Zmeu", altfel decît îl ştiţi. Cătălin Munteanu, familistul. Gsp.ro. Romanian . "Cap de Zmeu", different than you know him. Cătălin Munteanu, the family man. 4 July 2010 . 28 July 2022.
  11. Web site: Cătălin Munteanu a fost invitatul lui Cătălin Oprișan! Povești spectaculoase cu fostul dinamovist. As.ro. Romanian . Cătălin Munteanu was the guest of Cătălin Oprisan! Spectacular stories with the former Dinamo player. 28 October 2021. 28 July 2022.
  12. Web site: 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". Gsp.ro. Romanian. 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". 29 July 2018. 28 July 2022.
  13. Web site: 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. Gsp.ro. Romanian . 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. 3 July 2017. 28 July 2022.
  14. Web site: Dinamo - Benfica 1-2. Hotnews.ro. Romanian . 22 February 2007. 28 July 2022.
  15. Web site: Cătălin Munteanu la FC Braşov. Gsp.ro. Romanian . Cătălin Munteanu at FC Braşov. 12 June 2008. 28 July 2022.
  16. Web site: Primul transfer la Dinamo. Cătălin Munteanu revine în "Groapă". Gsp.ro. Romanian . The first transfer to Dinamo. Cătălin Munteanu returns to the "Groapă". 14 May 2010. 28 July 2022.
  17. Web site: Cătălin Munteanu dezvăluie de ce a plecat de la Dinamo: "Sînt dezamăgit!". Gsp.ro. Romanian . Cătălin Munteanu reveals why he left Dinamo: "I'm disappointed!". 12 June 2014. 28 July 2022.
  18. Web site: Cătălin Munteanu s-a despărţit de Dinamo şi a semnat cu FC Braşov. Click.ro. Romanian . Cătălin Munteanu left Dinamo and signed with FC Braşov. 11 June 2014. 28 July 2022.
  19. Web site: Cătălin Munteanu s-a retras, dar va rămîne tot în fotbal. Gsp.ro. Romanian . Cătălin Munteanu has retired, but will remain in football. 3 August 2015. 28 July 2022.
  20. Web site: Cătălin Munteanu profile. European Football. 27 July 2022.
  21. Web site: Spain 1-1 Romania. European Football. 28 July 2022.