Gheorghe Craioveanu

Gheorghe Craioveanu
Personal information
Date of birth	14 February 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth	Hunedoara, Romania
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1981–1986	Olt Scornicești
Senior career*
Years	Team
1986–1988	Constructorul Slatina
1989–1990	Metalurgistul Slatina
1990	Drobeta-Turnu Severin
1991–1995	Universitatea Craiova
1995–1998	Real Sociedad
1998–2002	Villarreal
2002–2006	Getafe
Total
International career
1993–1999	Romania
Managerial career
2013–2023	Universitatea Craiova (image director)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gheorghe "Gică" Craioveanu (born 14 February 1968) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a striker.

He spent most of his professional career in Spain–11 years out of 18–with Real Sociedad, Villarreal and Getafe, respectively, amassing totals of 330 matches and 70 goals in both major levels combined.

A Romanian international in the 1990s, Craioveanu represented the nation at the 1998 World Cup.

Club career

Craioveanu was born in Hunedoara, Transylvania. After playing for modest clubs, he reached Divizia A in January 1991 (one month shy of his 23rd birthday) after signing with Universitatea Craiova. On 3 March he made his competition debut in a 0–1 away loss against FC Steaua București, but his team would eventually win the national championship with three goals from 13 appearances from the player; during his spell in Craiova, they never ranked lower than fourth and also won two domestic cups, while he was also crowned the league's top scorer in 1994 and 1995.

In summer 1995, after a combined 49 goals in his last two seasons at Universitatea, Craioveanu joined La Liga side Real Sociedad,^[1]^[2] netting 11 times in his first season to help the Basques finish in seventh position. Two years later he moved to Villarreal CF which were having their first top-tier experience,^[3] scoring a career-best – in Spain – 13 goals as they were immediately relegated.

Craioveanu was again a very important attacking unit – 38 games, eight goals – as Villarreal promoted the year after and, already a veteran, helped to the club's domestic consolidation. In 2002 the 34-year-old signed with Getafe CF of the second level, scoring 16 goals in 120 appearances over the course of four seasons and helping the Madrid team achieve a first ever top-flight promotion in his second year; he retired in June 2006, having appeared in 459 league matches during his professional career and scored a total of 131 goals.^[4]^[5]

International career

Craioveanu earned 25 caps for Romania, his debut coming on 8 September 1993 in a 4–0 win in the Faroe Islands for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. His only major tournament was the 1998 World Cup in France, where his output consisted of 33 minutes in the round of 16 0–1 defeat to Croatia.^[6]

International stats

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Romania	1993	2	0
	1994	1	0
	1995	2	0
	1996	4	1
	1997	7	3
	1998	4	0
	1999	5	0
Total		25	4

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Craioveanu goal.^{[citation needed]}

List of international goals scored by Gheorghe Craioveanu
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 August 1996	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania	Israel	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	29 March 1997	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	7–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
3	6 September 1997	Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	2–0	8–1	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
4	6 September 1997	Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	3–0	8–1	World Cup 1998 Qualifying

Post-retirement

After retiring, Craioveanu settled in Getafe (the city of his last club) in Madrid's metropolitan area. During the local elections of 2007 he won a sports adviser seat on the local council, running as an independent with backing from the People's Party;^[7]^[8]^[9] this was the first suffrage during which Romanian citizens were eligible in other European Union counties, following Romania's European integration.

On 16 June 2007, as a result of a local alliance between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and Izquierda Unida, which took away PP's control over the Sports Adviser seat, Craioveanu convened with the PP not to hold a political office, and resigned from the council.^[7]^[9] He also worked as a co-presenter in La Sexta's football programme Minuto y Resultado, and a radio commentator on Onda Cero; after his first marriage ended in divorce, he remarried with a Spanish woman named Gemma, and eventually fathered two children, one from each union.^[7]

Personal life

Craioveanu's son, Alejandro, played youth football for Castellón de la Plana-based CD Drac as well as Villarreal.^[10]^[11]

Honours

Universitatea Craiova

Individual

Divizia A top scorer: 1993–94 (22 goals), 1994–95 (27 goals)

References

^ Gica Craioveanu: "Esta Real es más rápida que la nuestra, pero le falta Darko" (Gica Craioveanu: "This Real is better than ours, but they don't have Darko"); Mundo Deportivo, 6 May 2013 (in Spanish)
^ Gica Craioveanu: "La zurda de Javi de Pedro no era caviar, era beluga" (Gica Craioveanu: "Javi de Pedro's left was not caviar, it was beluga"); El Diario Vasco, 20 December 2016 (in Spanish)
^ El Villarreal en el Camp Nou: De la exhibición de Craioveanu a la chilena de Ronaldinho (Villarreal at the Camp Nou: From Craioveanu's show to Ronaldinho's bicycle); Marca, 6 May 2017 (in Spanish)
^ Craioveanu renueva un año con el Getafe (Craioveanu renews with Getafe for one year); Diario AS, 26 May 2005 (in Spanish)
^ Yo jugué en el Getafe FC: Gica Craioveanu (I played with Getafe FC: Gica Craioveanu); Vavel, 10 May 2013 (in Spanish)
^ De pena máxima (Maximum penalty); Mundo Deportivo, 1 July 1998 (in Spanish)
^ ^a ^b ^c Gică Craioveanu renunţă la politică (Gică Craioveanu leaves politics) Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; Jurnalul Naţional, 16 June 2007 (in Romanian)
^ Craioveanu, consilier la Getafe (Craioveanu, counsellor of Getafe) Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine; Adevărul, 29 May 2007 (in Romanian)
^ ^a ^b Gică Craioveanu a renunţat la postul de consilier municipal la Getafe (Gică Craioveanu resigns as Getafe city counsellor); Sport 365, 16 June 2007 (in Romanian)
^ Gica, un padre ejemplar en el CD Drac Castellón (Gica, a role model of a father at CD Drac Castellón); El Periódico Mediterráneo, 19 November 2011 (in Spanish)
^ EXCLUSIV Naționala are viitor! Craioveanu junior vrea sa fie "grande" (EXCLUSIVE National team have the future! Craioveanu junior wants to be "grande"); Digi Sport, 8 August 2017 (in Romanian)

External links

Gheorghe Craioveanu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
Gheorghe Craioveanu at BDFutbol
Gheorghe Craioveanu at National-Football-Teams.com
Gheorghe Craioveanu – FIFA competition record (archived)
Gheorghe Craioveanu at EU-Football.info

[1] Gica Craioveanu: "Esta Real es más rápida que la nuestra, pero le falta Darko" (Gica Craioveanu: "This Real is better than ours, but they don't have Darko"); Mundo Deportivo, 6 May 2013 (in Spanish)

[2] Gica Craioveanu: "La zurda de Javi de Pedro no era caviar, era beluga" (Gica Craioveanu: "Javi de Pedro's left was not caviar, it was beluga"); El Diario Vasco, 20 December 2016 (in Spanish)

[3] El Villarreal en el Camp Nou: De la exhibición de Craioveanu a la chilena de Ronaldinho (Villarreal at the Camp Nou: From Craioveanu's show to Ronaldinho's bicycle); Marca, 6 May 2017 (in Spanish)

[4] Craioveanu renueva un año con el Getafe (Craioveanu renews with Getafe for one year); Diario AS, 26 May 2005 (in Spanish)

[5] Yo jugué en el Getafe FC: Gica Craioveanu (I played with Getafe FC: Gica Craioveanu); Vavel, 10 May 2013 (in Spanish)

[6] De pena máxima (Maximum penalty); Mundo Deportivo, 1 July 1998 (in Spanish)

[Jurnalul-7] Gică Craioveanu renunţă la politică (Gică Craioveanu leaves politics) Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; Jurnalul Naţional, 16 June 2007 (in Romanian)

[8] Craioveanu, consilier la Getafe (Craioveanu, counsellor of Getafe) Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine; Adevărul, 29 May 2007 (in Romanian)

[Sport-9] Gică Craioveanu a renunţat la postul de consilier municipal la Getafe (Gică Craioveanu resigns as Getafe city counsellor); Sport 365, 16 June 2007 (in Romanian)

[10] Gica, un padre ejemplar en el CD Drac Castellón (Gica, a role model of a father at CD Drac Castellón); El Periódico Mediterráneo, 19 November 2011 (in Spanish)

[11] EXCLUSIV Naționala are viitor! Craioveanu junior vrea sa fie "grande" (EXCLUSIVE National team have the future! Craioveanu junior wants to be "grande"); Digi Sport, 8 August 2017 (in Romanian)

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