Marius Iordache

Marius Sandu Iordache (born 8 October 1978 in Craiova, Dolj County, Romania) is a retired Romanian football player. He played as a left back.

Club career Iordache, nicknamed Jordy, was born on 8 October 1978 in Craiova, Romania. He began playing football at FC Universitatea Craiova, making his Divizia A debut on 2 October 1996 under coach Emerich Jenei in a 4–0 away victory against Politehnica Timișoara. 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. In 1999, Iordache was transferred to Villarreal where he was teammates with fellow Romanian Gheorghe Craioveanu. Subsequently, he made his only La Liga appearance on 28 February 1999 under coach José Antonio Irulegui in a 2–2 draw against Espanyol Barcelona. Afterwards, Iordache joined Steaua București, where he played in the 1999 Supercupa României as a starter under coach Jenei before being replaced by Laurențiu Reghecampf in the 62nd minute as they lost 5–0 to Rapid. He also played in both legs of the 7–1 aggregate victory against Levadia Tallinn in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup qualifying round. In the middle of the season, he left Steaua to join Național București. In 2003, he made a comeback to FCU Craiova where at the end of the 2004–05 season, the team was relegated to Divizia B. However, Iordache continued to play in Divizia A, as he signed with Pandurii Târgu Jiu. Afterwards, they qualified to the 2006–07 UEFA Cup where Ethnikos defeated Roeselare in the second qualifying round, being eliminated by Lens in the first round, with Iordache playing in all four games. Iordache went back to Romania in 2007, signing with Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

International career Between 1994 and 1999, Iordache made several appearances for Romania's under-18, under-21 and B teams. During his time with the under-21 side, he was part of the team that managed a first-ever qualification to a European Championship in 1998, which Romania subsequently hosted. In the final tournament that was composed of eight teams, coach Victor Pițurcă used him in two games which were losses to Germany and Russia, as they finished in last place.

Honours Universitatea Craiova Cupa României runner-up: 1997–98 Steaua București Supercupa României runner-up: 1999 Național București Divizia A runner-up: 2001–02 Ethnikos Achnas Intertoto Cup: 2006