Constantin Varga (born 18 September 1964) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a defender.
Varga, nicknamed "Piticul" (The Dwarf), was born on 18 September 1964 in TimiÃÂoara, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club Politehnica under the guidance of coach Bodo Carol. At age 14, he went to LuceafÃÂrul BucureÃÂti where he was teammates with Gheorghe Hagi and Miodrag Belodedici. He stayed at LuceafÃÂrul until he turned 18 and started his senior career at Divizia C club Unirea Sânnicolau Mare. After one year he went to Unirea Tomnatic in the same league. Another year later, Varga went to play for the youth of ASA Târgu MureÃÂ. After about half a year spent at ASA, he joined fourth league team Bihorul Beiuàwhich he helped earn promotion to Divizia C.
In 1986, Varga returned to Politehnica at the behest of coach Robert Cosmoc, making his Divizia A debut on 30 March in a 5âÂÂ0 away loss to Universitatea Craiova. At the end of his first season, the team was relegated to Divizia B, but Varga stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back after one year. In the following season, Politehnica was relegated once again, but he helped it once more to gain promotion back to the first league by scoring 14 goals in the 1988âÂÂ89 Divizia B season. In the 1990âÂÂ91 UEFA Cup, coach Constantin RÃÂdulescu used him in three matches, as in the first round they got past Atlético Madrid with 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate, being eliminated in the next round by Sporting Lisbon against whom he scored once. He helped the club reach the 1992 Cupa României final, coach Ion Ionescu using him the entire match in the loss at the penalty shoot-out to Steaua BucureÃÂti, Varga netting Politehnica's first spot kick. He then participated with the club in the 1992âÂÂ93 UEFA Cup edition where in the first round they faced Real Madrid, obtaining a 1âÂÂ1 draw at TimiÃÂoara and losing with 4âÂÂ0 at Santiago Bernabéu. During his years spent with The White-Purples, Varga was known for his ability of scoring from free kicks, most notably scoring with a long-distance shot in a historical victory in 1987 against Dinamo BucureÃÂti. He also scored three goals in three West derby victories against UTA Arad.
In 1994, Varga had his only experience outside Romania at Hungarian team Gyà Âri ETO where he played alongside compatriot and former Politehnica teammate Lucian Popescu. He made his Nemzeti Bajnokság I on 7 May, as coach József Verebes used him in the first half of a 3âÂÂ1 home win over Ferencvárosi, replacing him for the second half with Miklós Herczeg. Varga scored his only goal for Gyà Âri in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Debrecen, making his fourth and last Nemzeti Bajnokság I appearance on 28 May in a 3âÂÂ0 away loss to BVSC. He then returned to Politehnica for the first half of the 1994âÂÂ95 Divizia B season, leaving for the second half to join Dinamo, but Politehnica managed to gain first-league promotion without him.
In his first season at Dinamo, Varga worked with coach Remus Vlad, finishing third in the league. Afterwards he played in both legs of the 2âÂÂ1 aggregate loss to Levski Sofia in the preliminary round of the 1995âÂÂ96 UEFA Cup. He made his last Divizia A appearance on 20 April 1996 in Dinamo's 1âÂÂ1 home draw against Rapid BucureÃÂti, totaling 238 matches with 50 goals in the competition.
In the following three seasons, Varga played in Divizia B for UTA Arad, UM TimiÃÂoara and once again Politehnica TimiÃÂoara. He continued to play in the Romanian lower leagues until his 50s, featuring for teams such as Minerul Moldova NouÃÂ or ASU Politehnica TimiÃÂoara.
Varga played one friendly game for Romania on 26 August 1992 under coach Cornel Dinu in which he opened the score with a free kick in a 2âÂÂ0 victory against Mexico.
Politehnica TimiÃÂoara