Dorinel Ionel Munteanu (; born 25 June 1968) is a Romanian football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club Hermannstadt.
A former midfielder, Munteanu is the most capped Romanian player of all time, with a total of 134 appearances and 16 goals. He played in two editions of the World Cup, those held in the United States in 1994 and France in 1998, as well as two European Championships, in 1996 and 2000.
Munteanu, nicknamed "NeamÃÂul" (The German), was born on 25 June 1968 in GrÃÂdinari, CaraÃÂ-Severin County, Romania. He started playing senior level football at age 13, in the Romanian lower leagues at the local club from his native GrÃÂdinari. About one year later he played in a friendly against Minerul OraviÃÂa which then decided to transfer him. At OraviÃÂa, Munteanu made his Divizia C debut under the guidance of coach Eugen Pojoni. Four years later he went to play at Divizia B level for Metalul BocÃÂa. In 1987 he was close to a move to Politehnica TimiÃÂoara but eventually stayed in Divizia B, going to CSM ReÃÂiÃÂa.
In 1988, Munteanu joined Olt ScorniceÃÂti where on 21 August he made his Divizia A debut under coach Silviu StÃÂnescu in a 0âÂÂ0 away draw against Victoria BucureÃÂti.
Afterwards, he signed with Inter Sibiu with which he won the 1990âÂÂ91 Balkans Cup under coach Viorel Hizo. He also scored seven goals during the 1990âÂÂ91 domestic league to help his side earn a fourth place.
Munteanu's childhood favorite team Dinamo BucureÃÂti bought him from Inter Sibiu in 1991. In his first season he managed to score 12 goals in the 33 league games coach Florin Halagian used him as the capital side won the national championship undefeated. In the same season he helped Dinamo eliminate with a 2âÂÂ1 victory on aggregate Luis Figo's Sporting Lisbon in the first round of the UEFA Cup, their campaign ending in the following one as they lost to Genoa against which he scored once.
In the next season, Munteanu netted a personal record of 15 league goals as The Red Dogs finished in second place. He also helped them get past Kuusysi Lahti in the first round of the 1992âÂÂ93 Champions League, meeting Olympique Marseille in the second, where they drew 0âÂÂ0 in the first leg but lost the subsequent game with 2âÂÂ0, the French ultimately winning the competition.
In 1993, Munteanu along with teammates Tibor Selymes, Marius Cheregi and Ovidiu Hanganu transferred from Dinamo to Cercle Brugge, which paid 2.7 million deutschmarks for his transfer. He made his Belgian First Division debut on 7 August under coach Georges Leekens in a 2âÂÂ0 away loss to Gent. On 17 October, he netted his first goal in a 4âÂÂ2 defeat in the Bruges derby against Club Brugge. At the end of his first season he was named the Belgian league . On 20 May 1995 he made his last appearance in the Belgian First Division in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Eendracht Aalst, totaling 65 matches and netting 12 goals in the competition.
After two years in Belgium, he was transferred for a fee of â¬1.1 million to German side 1. FC Köln where he was teammates with compatriot Ion VlÃÂdoiu. Munteanu made his Bundesliga debut on 12 August 1995 under coach Morten Olsen in a 1âÂÂ0 home loss to Schalke 04. He scored his first goal on 15 October in a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen, and by the end of the season, he also managed a brace in a 3âÂÂ0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt. At the end of his third season, Köln was relegated but Munteanu stayed with the club for one more year in 2. Bundesliga.
During his time with The Billy Goats, he also participated in the Intertoto Cup. In 1995, he scored two goals against Tottenham in an 8âÂÂ0 victory, helping his team reach the round of 16. Then, in the 1997 edition, the team reached the semi-finals, Munteanu scoring two goals in group stage wins against Maccabi Petah Tikva and Cork City.
In 1999 he joined VfL Wolfsburg which paid â¬850,000 to Köln for him. He made his Bundesliga debut for them on 13 August under coach Wolfgang Wolf in a 2âÂÂ1 home victory against TSV 1860 Munich. On 20 February he netted his first goal for The Wolves when he opened the score in a 2âÂÂ0 home win over Arminia Bielefeld. In the 2003 Intertoto Cup he scored twice, in wins against Marek Dupnitsa and Cibalia in the group stage and semi-finals respectively, as the team reached the final where he did not play in the aggregate loss to Perugia.
On 5 October 2003, Munteanu made his last Bundesliga appearance in Wolfsburg's 5âÂÂ3 away loss to Werder Bremen, totaling 198 matches with 22 goals in the competition.
In 2003, aged 35, he was released from his contract by VfL Wolfsburg and was convinced by coach Victor PiÃÂurcàto sign with Steaua BucureÃÂti where he was shortly injured in a game against NaÃÂional BucureÃÂti. In the 2004âÂÂ05 season, Munteanu worked with coaches Walter Zenga and Dumitru Dumitriu who used him in 28 matches in which he netted one goal in a 1âÂÂ0 win over BraÃÂov and the team won the title. In the same season, he played 11 games in the UEFA Cup as Steaua managed to eliminate title holders Valencia in the campaign, reaching the round of 16 where the journey ended in favor of Villarreal.
In 2005, Munteanu went as a player-coach at CFR Cluj. He played seven games in the 2005 Intertoto Cup campaign as CFR got past Athletic Bilbao, Saint-ÃÂtienne and à ½algiris, reaching the final where they were defeated 4âÂÂ2 on aggregate by Lens in which he scored once. In October 2006 he left CFR and joined ArgeàPiteÃÂti where he made three league appearances. For the 2007âÂÂ08 season, Munteanu worked at Vaslui where on 1 December 2007 he made his last Liga I appearance in a 1âÂÂ0 away loss to Rapid BucureÃÂti, totaling 225 matches with 38 goals in the competition.
He played his last three games as a professional footballer while he was at Universitatea Cluj during the 2008âÂÂ09 Liga II season. Afterwards, even though he was registered as a player-coach at Steaua BucureÃÂti and during his second spell at "U" Cluj, he eventually did not make any appearances. Throughout his career, Munteanu was placed several times among the top five in the Romanian Footballer of the Year ranking, finishing third in both 1992 and 2005.
Munteanu played three games for Romania's under-21 side between 1988 and 1990.
He made his debut for Romania's main team on 23 May 1991 at the age of 22, under coach Mircea RÃÂdulescu who used him the full 90 minutes of a friendly which ended with a 1âÂÂ0 away loss to Norway, played at the Ullevaal stadium in Oslo. He netted his first goal on 21 December 1991 in a 3âÂÂ1 friendly loss to Egypt.
Munteanu played 10 matches during the successful 1994 World Cup qualifiers. In the final tournament, coach Anghel IordÃÂnescu used him as a starter in all five games. Romania's "Golden Generation" advanced past the group stage and then eliminated Argentina with a 3âÂÂ2 victory in the round of 16. They were subsequently defeated after a penalty shoot-out by Sweden in the quarter-finals.
During the Euro 1996 qualifiers, he played eight games and scored two goals in victories against Israel and Slovakia. In the final tournament, IordÃÂnescu used him in all three games which were losses to France, Bulgaria and Spain, as Romania failed to progress from their group. In the game against the Bulgarians, Munteanu's powerful 25-meter shot defeated goalkeeper Borislav Mihaylov, hitting the crossbar and falling approximately 20 centimeters beyond the goal line, but referee Peter Mikkelsen wrongfully disallowed the goal.
During the 1998 World Cup qualifiers he made eight appearances, scoring a hat-trick in a 8âÂÂ1 victory against Liechtenstein. Munteanu was used by IordÃÂnescu for the entirety of all four games in the final tournament. In the group stage, Romania earned victories in the first two rounds against Colombia and England, thus mathematically being qualified before the last group match against Tunisia. In order to celebrate, the players dyed their hair blonde and presented themselves like that at the game. They were defeated with 1âÂÂ0 by Croatia in the round of 16 after a goal scored from a penalty by Davor à  uker.
Munteanu played nine games and scored three goals in the Euro 2000 qualifiers. The first goal was in the 90th minute of a 1âÂÂ0 win over Portugal as IonuàLupescu moved the ball towards him at a free kick and he netted the goal with a powerful 25-meter shot. The next one was in a 2âÂÂ0 victory against rivals Hungary and the third was from a penalty in a 4âÂÂ0 win over Azerbaijan.
In the final tournament, coach Emerich Jenei used him for the entirety of all four matches. He scored once in the 3âÂÂ2 victory against England that helped them qualify to the quarter-finals where they lost 2âÂÂ0 to Italy.
In the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Munteanu helped the team reach a play-off where they faced Slovenia, losing 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Afterwards, he scored his last goal for The Tricolours in a 5âÂÂ2 home loss to Denmark in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. During the second leg against the Danes, while Romania was leading in the final minutes of the game with 2âÂÂ1, Munteanu executed a corner kick which was recovered by the opponents who eventually equalized, thus qualifying instead of Romania to the final tournament. After the game he was criticized for the way he executed the corner.
In the following years, Munteanu played in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and Euro 2008 qualifiers. His last appearance for the national team took place on 12 September 2007, when coach Victor PiÃÂurcàsent him in the 62nd minute to replace Paul Codrea in a 3âÂÂ1 friendly loss to Germany that was played at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne.
He has a total of 134 matches and 16 goals for Romania, his number of caps being the national record.
For representing his country at four final tournaments, Munteanu was decorated by then President of Romania, Traian BÃÂsescu on 25 March 2008, with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" â (The Medal of "Sportive Merit") Class III.
In 2005, Munteanu went as a player-coach at CFR Cluj. He helped them get past Athletic Bilbao, Saint-ÃÂtienne and à ½algiris in the 2005 Intertoto Cup, reaching the final where they were defeated 4âÂÂ2 on aggregate by Lens. The team also finished fifth in the 2005âÂÂ06 Divizia A season. During the first half of the 2006âÂÂ07 season, despite a good start with CFR Cluj, Munteanu announced his resignation, due to club management's interference with his decisions and lack of support. Munteanu had a pending offer from ArgeàPiteÃÂti and he decided to accept it, despite the team being bottom of the first league after 10 games. Towards the end of the season, due to impossibility of avoiding the relegation of ArgeÃÂ, he was sacked, only to be confirmed shortly thereafter as the new manager of fellow first league team FC Vaslui. He was pressed by the owner to leave Vaslui in March 2008, following a 1âÂÂ0 loss to Steaua BucureÃÂti. Munteanu became head coach of Universitatea Cluj in September 2008, but only after seven games he quit to join Steaua. He led Steaua in five league games in which the team was undefeated. However, he lost all three games in the Champions League group stage to Lyon, Bayern Munich and Fiorentina, being dismissed by the club's president, Gigi Becali. Shortly afterwards he returned to "U" Cluj in the second league, helping it avoid relegation to the third.
On 1 July 2009, OÃÂelul GalaÃÂi club official, Marius Stan confirmed that Munteanu signed with the club. In the first season under his command, the team finished eighth.
In the next season, OÃÂelul managed to produce one of the biggest surprises in Romanian football by becoming champion for the first time in its history. Munteanu was seen as the primary factor for this success. He started the following season by winning the Supercupa României after a 1âÂÂ0 victory against Steaua BucureÃÂti. Afterwards, under Munteanu's guidance, The Steelworkers took part in the 2011âÂÂ12 Champions League group stage, but failed to gain a single point as they lost all six games to Basel, Benfica and Manchester United.
In the championship, they finished sixth and didn't qualify for the European competitions. The 2012âÂÂ13 season started badly for OÃÂelul, earning only five points in the first six rounds, as a consequence, Munteanu resigned.
In November 2012, he was installed as head coach of Dinamo BucureÃÂti. After only one month and four games in charge at Dinamo, Munteanu resigned at the end of 2012, citing his desire to coach abroad. Just a day later, on 28 December 2012, Munteanu signed a contract for one and a half years with Russian Premier League team, Mordovia Saransk. He brought Romanian forward Daniel OpriÃÂa to the team, but the spell was unsuccessful as Mordovia was relegated at the end of the season.
On 1 August 2013, Munteanu took charge of Russian side Kuban Krasnodar where among his players were compatriot Gigel Bucur and French international Djibril Cissé. He helped the team eliminate Motherwell and Feyenoord in the 2013âÂÂ14 Europa League campaign, reaching the group stage where they lost the first two games against St. Gallen and Valencia. He was sacked on 12 October 2013 while the team was in 10th place, because the club's officials were not satisfied with the results.
On 14 June 2014, Munteanu was appointed as manager of Gabala, bringing fellow Romanians Andrei Cristea, Adrian Ropotan and Alexandru Benga to the club. Munteanu was relieved of his duties on 8 December 2014, following four wins in 16 matches.
On 4 March 2015, Munteanu was presented as the head coach of Astra Giurgiu, but late in April he left the team due to poor results.
In late December 2016, he signed with Iraqi side, Zakho and his spell was again short, leaving them about two months later.
In April 2017 he went to work as technical director at third league club CSMÃÂ ReÃÂiÃÂa, while Leontin DoanÃÂ was head coach.
In September 2018, Munteanu returned to first league football, going to Concordia Chiajna, being dismissed in January 2019 as the club's officials were not satisfied with the results.
In November 2019 he made a comeback to ReÃÂiÃÂa, this time in the second league and as head coach, helping the team avoid relegation at the end of the season.
In July 2021, Munteanu returned to OÃÂelul GalaÃÂi, then in the third league, helping them earn promotion to the second at the end of his first season at the club. In the following season, he managed another promotion, helping the club return to the first league after eight years. His next performance was reaching the 2024 Cupa României final which was lost at the penalty shoot-out to Corvinul Hunedoara.
Munteanu left OÃÂelul in December 2024, citing the club's financial problems as the reason.
On 18 March 2025, Munteanu was presented as the head coach of Sepsi OSK. However, in late April he was dismissed following four losses and one draw in the five games he was in charge.
In 1994, Munteanu was named Honorary Citizen of Bucharest.
Sports commentator Ilie Dobre wrote a book about him titled Dorinel Munteanu - metronomul de la mijlocul terenului (Dorinel Munteanu - the metronome in the midfield), which was released in 2001.
Inter Sibiu
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
VfL Wolfsburg
Steaua BucureÃÂti
CFR Cluj
CFR Cluj
OÃÂelul GalaÃÂi
Individual