Eugen Trică

Eugen Trică (born 5 August 1976) is a Romanian professional manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career Universitatea Craiova Trică was born on 5 August 1976 in the Romanian village of Teslui, where he spent his early years. He was raised mainly by his grandparents until age 7, when he moved to Craiova for school. Trică made his Liga I debut on 17 June 1995 under coach Victor Pițurcă in "U" Craiova's 5–4 loss to Electroputere Craiova. The club reached the 1998 Cupa României final where coach José Ramón Alexanko used him the entire match in the 1–0 loss to Rapid București. During this period he earned the nickname José after teammate Ionel Gane compared him to José Mari Bakero. In the 2000–01 season, he also won the championship with The Military Men, being used by coach Pițurcă in 30 games in which he scored seven goals. Subsequently, he netted two goals in Steaua's 2–1 victory against rivals Dinamo București in the 2001 Supercupa României.

Litex Lovech, Maccabi Tel Aviv and CSKA Sofia Trică joined Litex Lovech in 2003 where over the course of two seasons he scored 22 goals in 54 league matches. Subsequently, he joined the squad of Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005. There, he won the 2005–06 Bulgarian Cup and the 2006 Bulgarian Supercup. Trică was one of the highest-scoring foreign players in the Bulgarian league as in the 98 appearances made in the competition he had 39 goals to his name.

CFR Cluj and Anorthosis In 2007, Trică returned to Romania, signing with CFR Cluj. Coach Andone also sent him in the 71st minute to replace Manuel José in the 2–1 victory against Unirea Urziceni in the Cupa României final. Subsequently, he played five games in the 2008–09 Champions League group stage with The Railway Men, and in the first match, he provided Emmanuel Culio with two assists, leading to a historical 2–1 victory at Stadio Olimpico against AS Roma. His performances in 2008 earned him the fifth place in the Romanian Footballer of the Year award. Trică moved in 2009 to Anorthosis in Cyprus.

Universitatea Craiova and Concordia Chiajna In 2009, Trică made a comeback to his first club Universitatea Craiova. On 15 October 2011, following Concordia's 4–0 loss to his former club CFR Cluj, Trică decided to end his playing career. Through his career, Trică earned a total of 289 matches with 51 goals scored in Liga I and 30 appearances with seven goals in European competitions. In the final tournament that was composed of eight teams, coach Victor Pițurcă used him only in the 2–1 loss to Russia where he scored his side's goal, as they finished in last place. His following game was a 1–0 win in a friendly against Ukraine. His biggest achievements were a runner-up position in a Cupa României final with CFR Cluj, and earning two promotions from the third league to the second and then from the second to the first with FC U Craiova.

Personal life Trică was married to Lorena, daughter of Ilie Balaci, one of Romania's best football players. They divorced in 2015. Their son, Atanas Trică, is also a footballer.

Playing statistics

Honours Player Universitatea Craiova Cupa României runner-up: 1997–98 Steaua București Divizia A: 2000–01 Cupa României: 1998–99 Supercupa României: 2001 Litex Lovech Bulgarian Cup: 2003–04 CSKA Sofia Bulgarian Cup: 2005–06 Bulgarian Super Cup: 2006 CFR Cluj Liga I: 2007–08 Cupa României: 2007–08 Supercupa României: 2009 Individual Romanian Footballer of the Year (fifth place): 2008

Manager CFR Cluj Cupa României runner-up: 2012–13 FC U Craiova Liga II: 2020–21 Liga III: 2019–20