Valeriu Răchită

Valeriu "Vivi" Răchită (born 30 May 1970) is a Romanian former footballer and manager.

Club career Răchită was born on 30 May 1970 in Boldești-Scăeni, Romania and began playing junior-level football at the age of 12 at Petrolul Ploiești. He started playing football at senior level in 1985 at Divizia B club Metalul Plopeni. Subsequently, Răchită went to play for Petrolul Ploiești where he scored a personal record of five goals during the 1993–94 season. Then he made four appearances in the 1995–96 Cup Winners' Cup campaign as The Yellow Wolves got past Wrexham in the qualifying round, being eliminated by Rapid Wien in the following one.

Răchită made a comeback to Steaua in the middle of the 1996–97 season, helping them win the title by playing 19 matches and scoring once under coach Dumitru Dumitriu. They also won the Cupa României, where Răchită played the full 90 minutes in the 4–2 win over Național București in the final. Afterwards, he helped the club get past CSKA Sofia in the 1997–98 Champions League first qualifying round, but they were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain in the following round. Then they continued their European campaign in the UEFA Cup, where Steaua eliminated Fenerbahçe and Bastia, being defeated in the round of 16 by Aston Villa. During the same season, Răchită made 27 league appearances and scored three goals under coach Mihai Stoichiță, as the team won another title. Subsequently, Răchită played four matches in the 1998–99 Champions League qualifying rounds, helping his side get past Flora in the first round, but they got eliminated in the following round by Panathinaikos against whom he scored two goals. In the middle of that season, he left Steaua to go to FC Onești. Subsequently, Răchită returned to Romania and played only three games in the second half of the 1999–2000 season for Farul Constanța. He helped the team win the 2000-01 Bulgarian Cup, playing under coach Ferario Spasov in the 1–0 win over Velbazhd in the final. Subsequently, Răchită played eight matches in the 2001–02 UEFA Cup campaign, as Litex eliminated Longford Town, Inter Slovnaft Bratislava and Union Berlin, being defeated in the third round by AEK Athens against whom he scored a goal. Afterwards, he went for a third spell at Steaua. In the first half of the 2004–05 season, coach Victor Pițurcă used him in one match in which he scored one goal. "U" Craiova suffered relegation at the end of that season.

International career Răchită represented Romania's junior teams at international level in the late 1980s.

Managerial career In September 2005, Răchită began his coaching career, as he was named head coach of Divizia B club Petrolul Ploiești after the fourth round of the season, replacing Vasile Cosarek. The spell lasted until May 2006, a period in which he handed a debut to 16-year-old Constantin Budescu in senior football. Subsequently, in the same year, he worked as an assistant coach to Anghel Iordănescu at Al Ain. In the summer of 2007, Răchită went to coach CSM Ploiești, helping them gain promotion from the third league to the second at the end of the 2007–08 season. He was dismissed in January 2009, being replaced by Marius Șumudică.

In June 2009, Răchită took over Petrolul once again, managing to gain first-league promotion at the end of the 2010–11 season. In the 2017–18 Liga II season, he led Sportul Snagov to a 10th place finish. In December 2018, Răchită was appointed as the head coach of ACS Poli Timișoara, but could not save the team from relegation to the third league at the end of the season. He returned to Sportul Snagov, but after four losses in the first four rounds of the 2019–20 season, Răchită withdrew from his coaching position.

Personal life Răchită's father was also a footballer and captain at Petrolistul Boldești.

Managerial statistics

Honours Player Metalul Plopeni Divizia C: 1986–87 Petrolul Ploiești Cupa României: 1994–95 Steaua București Divizia A: 1996–97, 1997–98, 2004–05 Cupa României: 1996–97 Supercupa României: 1998 Litex Lovech Bulgarian Cup: 2000–01

Manager CSM Ploiești Liga III: 2007–08 Petrolul Ploiești Liga II: 2010–11