Cristian Gheorghe (born 10 September 1956) is a Romanian former football goalkeeper and manager.
Gheorghe was born on 10 September 1956 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1970 at local club Autobuzul, moving two years later to ArgeàPiteÃÂti. On 20 October 1974 he made his Divizia A debut under coach Florin Halagian, as The White-Purples defeated with 5âÂÂ0 Sportul StudenÃÂesc BucureÃÂti. In the 1978âÂÂ79 season, Gheorghe helped Argeàwin the title, being used by Halagian in 17 games, having to compete to be first-choice goalkeeper with Andrei Speriatu. In the following season they got past AEK Athens in the first round of the 1979âÂÂ80 European Cup, where he kept a clean sheet in their 3âÂÂ0 victory in the first leg, but the team got eliminated in the following round by title holders and eventual winners, Nottingham Forest.
In 1986, Gheorghe joined Sportul StudenÃÂesc. There, he played four games in the 1987âÂÂ88 UEFA Cup campaign where in the second round they eliminated Peter Schmeichel and Brian Laudrup's Brøndby, winning the second leg 3âÂÂ0 after an away loss by the same score, securing a historic penalty shootout qualification to the third round where they were defeated by Hellas Verona.
In 1988, Gheorghe returned to Argeàfor a short while, but did not play in any league games. Subsequently, he moved to Divizia B club Gloria BistriÃÂa, which he helped earn promotion to the first league at the end of the 1989âÂÂ90 season. On 23 September 1990, he made his last Divizia A appearance in Gloria's 5âÂÂ2 away loss to Universitatea Craiova, totaling 324 matches in the competition and 17 games in European competitions.
Gheorghe played 14 games for Romania, making his debut on 16 April 1977 under coach ÃÂtefan Kovács, keeping a clean sheet in a 1âÂÂ0 home win over Spain in the 1978 World Cup qualifiers. He played two more games in the same competition, keeping another clean sheet in a 2âÂÂ0 away victory over Yugoslavia, but conceded two goals in a loss during the second leg against Spain. Afterwards he played three games in the Euro 1980 qualifiers, managing to not concede goals in home wins against Cyprus and Norway. Gheorghe's last two games for the national team were in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, keeping a clean sheet in a 0âÂÂ0 draw against rivals Hungary and conceding two goals in a loss to Switzerland.
From 1999 until 2001, Gheorghe coached Dacia PiteÃÂti in Divizia B. He mostly worked at ArgeÃÂ PiteÃÂti's Center for Children and Juniors, forming players such as Nicolae DicÃÂ, Andrei MÃÂrgÃÂritescu and Leonard Manole.
ArgeÃÂ PiteÃÂti
Gloria BistriÃÂa