Constantin Gâlcă

Constantin "Costel" Gâlcă (born 8 March 1972) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is currently in charge of Liga I club Universitatea Craiova.

Equally at ease as a defensive or central midfielder and possessing an accurate long-range shot, he first made a name for himself at Steaua București. He then spent a full decade in Spain, playing in 318 matches in both major levels combined and representing five clubs, most notably Espanyol.

Additionally, Gâlcă appeared for Romania in two World Cups and as many European Championships, winning 68 caps. As a manager, he led teams including both Steaua and Espanyol.

Club
Born in Bucharest, Gâlcă's senior career began at age 16 in the third division, with FC Progresul București. Only one year after he switched to the Divizia A with lowly FC Argeș Pitești, for whom he played four times towards the end of the season, soon breaking into the Romanian national under-21 team.

After one more season with solid displays (31 games, two goals), Gâlcă signed with country giants Steaua București, immediately beginning to produce: in his debut campaign, he scored five times in 26 matches.

Gâlcă stayed at Steaua two more years, netting 13 goals combined. After winning the domestic cup and having appeared in nearly 200 official matches, he left for Spain where he would remain the next 11 years. First stop was RCD Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, for which he scored 13 times to help to a promotion to La Liga (that total was tied for squad best). He then experienced a steady period with Barcelona-based RCD Espanyol, scoring five goals in his third season, which also ended with conquest of the Copa del Rey.

In July 2001, Gâlcă signed for Villarreal CF on a three-year deal with the option of one more. Midway through his his second year he was loaned to Segunda División club Real Zaragoza; the team had an option to sign him if they won promotion, but did not transfer him despite the achievement.

Gâlcă still had three more solid seasons in the country with second-tier club UD Almería, playing 40 matches in his last season, one year before the Andalusians first reached the top division. He eventually returned to the national team with this team in 2005 – after a three-year absence – and retired in June 2006 at the age of 34.

International
Galca made his full debut for Romania on 22 September 1993, against Israel in a friendly. Called up for the 1994 FIFA World Cup he played three times during the tournament, against the United States in the group stage, in the famous 3–2 round-of-16 success against Argentina and in the penalty shootout defeat to Sweden in the last-eight.

From 1996 to 2000, Gâlcă featured in over forty more international games for Romania, often pairing with Dorinel Munteanu in central midfield. During the qualifying phase for the 1998 World Cup the national side were undefeated in their ten group fixtures, drawing only once and netting 37 goals, with him scoring two. In those finals and UEFA Euro 2000 the country was beaten, respectively, in the last-16 and last-eight, as he started in every match.

International goals
(Romania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Gâlcă goal)

Coaching career
Established in Almería after his playing days, Gâlcă took up coaching in 2009–10, starting with Almería's B-team in the fourth tier. He was sacked on 19 January 2010, after a string of poor results.

On 20 August 2013, Gâlcă was named head coach of Romania under-17s. He ended his contract in June 2014 and, also in that month, was appointed at league champions Steaua București on a two-year deal, replacing outgoing Laurențiu Reghecampf and leading the team to the double in his first and only season.

On 14 December 2015, Gâlcă replaced former club teammate Sergio at the helm of Espanyol. His first game in charge took place the following day, a 2–1 home win against Levante UD for the Copa del Rey (3–2 on aggregate). The following 27 May, having led the Periquitos to 13th, his contract was not renewed.

Gâlcă was hired by Saudi Professional League club Al-Taawoun on 19 October 2016. For the following season, he moved to Al-Fayha in the same league. Having won once in nine games and with the club in the relegation zone, he was dismissed on 7 November 2017.

On 6 March 2019, Gâlcă returned to European football with Vejle Boldklub, last-placed in the Danish Superliga. His team won the second tier in the 2019–20 season, and survived on return to the top flight; he resigned in May 2021 due to disagreements with the board.

Gâlcă returned to the Saudi top league on 10 December 2021, joining Al-Hazem after the dismissal of Hélder. He left the club by mutual consent on 21 February 2022.

On 16 April 2023, Gâlcă was appointed manager of Polish Ekstraklasa side Radomiak Radom, replacing Mariusz Lewandowski. His stint started off well, with three wins and one draw in five league games. However, as the 2023–24 season started and progressed, he became vocal about his disappointment in the board's decisions regarding transfer activity and lack of youth players to fulfill their mandatory playing time quota. On 27 November 2023, 86 minutes before Radomiak's home game against Śląsk Wrocław, it was announced Gâlcă left the club by mutual consent.

On 17 April 2024, he was revealed as the new manager of Romanian top tier side Universitatea Craiova, signing on until the end of the 2024–25 season, with an extension option.

Player
Progresul București
 * Divizia C: 1989–90

Steaua București
 * Divizia A: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
 * Cupa României: 1991–92, 1995–96
 * Supercupa României: 1994, 1995

Espanyol
 * Copa del Rey: 1999–2000
 * Supercopa de España runner-up: 2000

Coach
Steaua București
 * Liga I: 2014–15
 * Cupa României: 2014–15
 * Cupa Ligii: 2014–15
 * Supercupa României runner-up: 2014

Vejle
 * Danish 1st Division: 2019–20