Cătălin Munteanu

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

Club career Steaua București Munteanu, nicknamed "Cap de Zmeu" (Head of Zmeu), was born on 26 January 1979 in Bucharest, Romania. He began playing senior-football at Steaua București, making his Divizia A debut under coach Dumitru Dumitriu on 16 March 1997 in a 3–1 victory against Rapid București. In his first season at the club, Munteanu helped the team win The Double with 12 league appearances and five goals, and Dumitriu also sent him in the 84th minute to replace Sabin Ilie in the 4–2 victory against Național București in the Cupa României final. In the following season he helped Steaua win another title, this time under the guidance of coach Mihai Stoichiță, being the team's top-scorer with 17 goals in 33 matches, including one goal in a 3–1 win over rivals Dinamo București. Munteanu also started to play in European competitions, in his debut, scoring one goal in the first leg of the 5–3 aggregate victory against CSKA Sofia in the 1997–98 Champions League first qualifying round. Then he scored two goals that helped the team get past Bastia on the away goals rule after the 3–3 on aggregate in the second round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup.

Career in Spain Salamanca paid €3.6 million for Munteanu's transfer from Steaua in 1998. He made his La Liga debut on 30 August under coach Miguel Ángel Russo in a 0–0 draw against Mallorca. He scored his first goal in the competition in a 2–1 home loss to Real Zaragoza. Instead he was loaned for one season at Espanyol Barcelona in La Liga.

Dinamo, Brașov and Viitorul Munteanu went back to Romania in the middle of the 2005–06 season, and signed with Dinamo București. He also appeared in 12 matches in which he netted three goals, including one in the 3–1 loss on aggregate against Benfica as the club reached the round of 32 in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup. Afterwards, Dinamo aimed to reach the Champions League group stage, with Munteanu playing in the second leg of the third qualifying round against Lazio Roma, which was eventually lost with 4–2 on aggregate. In 2008, he left Dinamo to join FC Brașov for two seasons, before returning to The Red Dogs for a second four-season spell. Munteanu helped Dinamo win the 2011–12 Cupa României, brought on by coach Dario Bonetti in the 71st minute to replace Ionel Dănciulescu in the 1–0 victory in the final against Rapid București. Afterwards, Bonetti used him the entire match in the victory at the penalty shoot-out against CFR Cluj in the 2012 Supercupa României where Munteanu netted his spot kick. In 2014 he left Dinamo, ending his career by playing another half a year at FC Brașov and six months for Viitorul Constanța where on 15 March 2015 he made his last Liga I appearance in a 2–1 away victory against CFR Cluj. Munteanu accumulated 56 matches with four goals in La Liga, 107 matches and 19 goals in Segunda División and 280 appearances with 37 goals in Liga I. In the final tournament that was composed of eight teams, coach Victor Pițurcă used him in all three games which were losses to Netherlands, Germany and Russia, as they finished in last place. He made four appearances and scored one goal in the successful Euro 2000 qualifiers, though he was not part of the squad that went to the final tournament.

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

1996–97 Divizia A

1997–98 Divizia A

1998–99 La Liga

1999–00 Segunda División

2000–01 Segunda División

Espanyol (loan) 2001–02 La Liga

2002–03 Segunda División

2003–04 La Liga

Murcia 2004–05 Segunda División

2005–06 Divizia A

2006–07 Liga I

2007–08 Liga I

2008–09 Liga I

2009–10 Liga I

2010–11 Liga I

2011–12 Liga I

2012–13 Liga I

2013–14 Liga I

84!!7!!12!!1!!10!!2!!1!!0!!107!!10 FC Brașov 2014–15 Liga I

Viitorul Constanța 2014–15 Liga I

443!!60!!35!!5!!35!!8!!2!!0!!515!!72

International

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Munteanu goal. + List of international goals scored by Cătălin Munteanu No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 2 September 1998 Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania 3 2–0 7–0 Euro 2000 qualifiers

Honours Steaua București Divizia A: 1996–97, 1997–98 Cupa României: 1996–97 Dinamo București Liga I: 2006–07 Cupa României: 2011–12 Supercupa României: 2012