Andrei Cristea (; born 15 May 1984) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga II club Concordia Chiajna.
Deployed as a forward, Cristea was known for his pace and his range of passing instead of his goalscoring abilities, and represented the Romania national team from 2003 to 2010.
Cristea started football in his home town and made his debut in the Divizia A in 2001, for local club FCM BacÃÂu.
In the summer of 2004, Cristea transferred to Steaua BucureÃÂti for a fee of $1 million. However, he did not manage to earn a first-team place there, despite scoring two goals that eliminated Valencia CF in the 2004âÂÂ05 UEFA Cup season. He was put on the transfer list in the summer of 2006.
Cristea moved to fellow Liga I club Politehnica Timià Âoara, in a swap which saw Gigel Coman move to Steaua BucureÃÂti. After failing to impress at Politehnica Timià Âoara, he was loaned to Politehnica Iaà Âi for the second part of the 2007âÂÂ08 season, where he had a great part in saving the team from relegation, with man of the match performances against CFR Cluj and his former team, Steaua BucureÃÂti.
On 9 May 2008, Cristea signed a five-year contract with Dinamo BucureÃÂti, just six days before turning 24. He called the transfer "a birthday present" and joined Dinamo after the summer holiday. He started scoring for the red and white team in the friendly games they played in pre-season. Cristea played only the first half on the season for Dinamo, netting two goals in eight matches and entering Dinamo's history by scoring the goal that brought the 1.000th victory of the team in all-time domestic championship, against Farul Constanta.
Cristea again went on loan to Politehnica IaÃÂi, in the winter transfer window, where he was very well received and scored seven times in 15 games, goals which proved crucial in helping the team continue in the first division. Upon his return, he became a very important player, scoring goals that brought significant victories in Liga I and Europa League. He was the top scorer of the Romanian league in the 2009âÂÂ10 season with 16 goals.
On 16 January 2011, Karlsruher SC signed Cristea in the attempt of avoiding the relegation. On 13 February, Cristea scored two goals against the leader of Second Bundesliga, Hertha BSC. These were his first goals on this new club. On 27 February, he scored the last goal of the game in the 1âÂÂ4 loss against FC Ingolstadt 04, after coming from bench. On 11 March, Cristea scored the first goal of the match in Karlsruher SC-MSV Duisburg, 3âÂÂ1 final score. On 15 May, in the last round of the 2. Bundesliga, the he saved his club from relegation, scoring a brace in the 3âÂÂ2 win against Union Berlin. The next season Karlsruhe were relegated after a play-off and Cristea became a free agent.
Initially, Cristea wanted to stay in Germany, where he had offers from Ingolstadt and Energie Cottbus, but Dinamo approached him and he accepted to return to Bucharest where he had the chance to again work under Dario Bonetti. On 22 June 2014, Cristea signed a one-year contract with Azerbaijan Premier League side Gabala FK. In December of the same year Cristea had his contract with Gabala terminated. Following his release he signed with Lega Pro side U.S. Salernitana 1919 until the end of the season.
After playing for Salernitana and Martina Franca in the Italian Serie C, in February 2016, Cristea returned to Romania to join his former team, Liga I club Politehnica IaÃÂi. He subsequently signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with the Moldavian squad.
He scored 7 goals in 17 games in the second half of the 2015âÂÂ16 Liga I and helped Politehnica IaÃÂi qualify for the 2016âÂÂ17 Europa League qualifying phase for the first time in their history. He then opened the scoring in a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Hajduk Split in their first European game. On 14 December 2018, in a game against Concordia Chiajna, Cristea scored a brace and reached 100 goals scored in the Romanian Liga I.
On 27 September 2020, Cristea scored a hat-trick in a 5âÂÂ2 league win over FCSB.
Cristea made his debut for the Romania national team on 11 October 2003, in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Japan. Over the years he made ten appearances for the national team, until his retirement in 2010.
Steaua BucureÃÂti
Politehnica TimiÃÂoara
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
Salernitana
Individual
PopeÃÂti-Leordeni