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Dorinel Ionel Munteanu (; born 25 June 1968) is a Romanian football manager and former player.
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.
Afterwards, he signed with Inter Sibiu with which he won the 1990–91 Balkans Cup under coach Viorel Hizo. He also scored seven goals during the 1990–91 domestic league to help his side earn a fourth place.
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 FC Kuusysi in the first round of the 1992–93 Champions League, meeting Olympique Marseille in the second, where they drew 0–0 in the first leg but lost the subsequent game with 2–0, the French ultimately winning the competition.
During his time with The Billy Goats, he also participated in the Intertoto Cup. In 1995, he scored two goals against Tottenham in an 8–0 victory, helping his team reach the round of 16.
On 5 October 2003, Munteanu made his last Bundesliga appearance in Wolfsburg's 5–3 away loss to Werder Bremen, having a total of 198 matches with 22 goals scored in the competition.
He played his last three games as a professional footballer while he was at Universitatea Cluj during the 2008–09 Liga II season. Afterwards, even though he was registered as a player-coach at Steaua București 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.
He made his debut for Romania's main team on 23 May 1991 at the age of 22, under coach Mircea Rădulescu who used him the full 90 minutes of a friendly which ended with a 1–0 away loss to Norway, played at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo. He netted his first goal on 21 December 1991 in a friendly which ended with a 3–1 loss to Egypt.
At the final tournament, coach Emerich Jenei used him for the entirety of all four matches. He scored once in the 3–2 victory against England that helped them qualify to the quarter-finals where they lost 2–0 to Italy.
Afterwards, he scored his last goal for The Tricolours in a 5–2 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 2–1, 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 Pițurcă sent him in the 62nd minute to replace Paul Codrea in a 3–1 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 Băsescu on 25 March 2008, with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal of "Sportive Merit") Class III.
In the next season, Oțelul 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 1–0 victory against Steaua București.
In the championship, they finished sixth and didn't qualify for the European competitions. The 2012–13 season started badly for Oțelul, earning only five points in the first six rounds, as a consequence, Munteanu resigned.
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.
On 14 June 2014, Munteanu was appointed as manager of Gabala FK, bringing fellow Romanians Andrei Cristea, Adrian Ropotan and Alexandru Benga to the club.
In late December 2016, he signed with Iraqi side, Zakho FC and his spell was again short, leaving them about two months later.
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 Reșița, this time in the Liga II and as head coach, helping the team avoid relegation at the end of the season.
Munteanu left Oțelul in December 2024, citing the club's financial problems as the reason.
Club career
Early career
Munteanu, nicknamed "Neamțul" (The German), was born on 25 June 1968 in Grădinari, Caraș-Severin County, Romania. He started playing senior level football at age 13, in the Romanian lower leagues at the local club from his native Grădinari. About one year later he played in a friendly against Minerul Oravița which then decided to transfer him. At Oravița, Munteanu made his Liga III debut under the guidance of coach Eugen Pojoni. Four years later he went to play at Liga II level for Metalul Bocșa. In 1987 he was close to a move to Politehnica Timișoara but eventually stayed in Divizia B, going to CSM Reșița.
Olt Scornicești and Inter Sibiu
In 1988, Munteanu joined Olt Scornicești where on 21 August he made his Liga I debut in a 0–0 away draw against Victoria București.
Dinamo București
Munteanu's childhood favorite team Dinamo București 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 Bucharest side won the national championship undefeated. In the same season he helped Dinamo eliminate with a 2–1 victory on aggregate Luis Figo's Sporting CP in the first round of the UEFA Cup, their campaign ending in the following one as they lost to Genoa CFC against which he scored once.
Cercle Brugge
In 1993, Munteanu along with teammates Tibor Selymes, Marius Cheregi and Ovidiu Hanganu transferred from Dinamo to Cercle Brugge, which paid 2.7 million Deutsche Mark for his transfer.
He made his Belgian First Division debut on 7 August under coach Georges Leekens in a 2–0 away loss to Gent. On 17 October, he netted his first goal in a 4–2 defeat in the Bruges derby against Club Brugge. At the end of his first season he was named the Belgian league Man of the Season. On 20 May 1995 he made his last appearance in the Belgian First Division in a 1–1 draw against Eendracht Aalst, totaling 65 matches and netting 12 goals in the competition.
1. FC Köln
After two years in Belgium, he was transferred for a fee of Euro1.1 million to German side 1. FC Köln where he was teammates with compatriot Ion Vlădoiu. Munteanu made his Bundesliga debut on 12 August 1995 under coach Morten Olsen in a 1–0 home loss to Schalke 04. He scored his first goal on 15 October in a 2–2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen, and by the end of the season, he also managed a brace in a 3–0 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.
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.
VfL Wolfsburg
In 1999 he joined VfL Wolfsburg which paid Euro850,000 to Köln for him. He made his Bundesliga debut for them on 13 August under coach Wolfgang Wolf in a 2–1 home victory against TSV 1860 Munich. On 20 February he netted his first goal for The Wolves when he opened the score in a 2–0 home win over Arminia Bielefeld. In the 2003 Intertoto Cup he scored twice, in wins against Marek Dupnitsa and HNK 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.
Steaua București
In 2003, aged 35, he was released from his contract by VfL Wolfsburg and was convinced by coach Victor Pițurcă to sign with Steaua București where he was shortly injured in a game against Național București. In the 2004–05 season, Munteanu worked with coaches Walter Zenga and Dumitru Dumitriu who used him in 28 matches in which he netted one goal in a 1–0 win over Brașov 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 CF in the campaign, reaching the round of 16 where the journey ended in favor of Villarreal CF.
Late career
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-Étienne and Žalgiris, reaching the final where they were defeated 4–2 on aggregate by RC Lens in which he scored once.
In October 2006 he left CFR and joined Argeș Pitești where he made three league appearances. For the 2007–08 season, Munteanu worked at FC Vaslui where on 1 December 2007 he made his last Liga I appearance in a 1–0 away loss to Rapid București, having a total of 225 matches with 38 goals scored in the competition.
International career
Early years
Munteanu played three games for Romania's under-21 side between 1988 and 1990.
1994 World Cup
Munteanu played 10 matches in the successful 1994 World Cup qualifiers. At the final tournament, coach Anghel Iordănescu used him as a starter in all five games. Romania's "Golden Generation" advanced past the group stage and then eliminated Argentina with a 3–2 victory in the round of 16. They were subsequently defeated after a penalty shoot-out by Sweden in the quarter-finals.
Euro 1996
At the Euro 1996 qualifiers, he played eight games and scored two goals in victories against Israel and Slovakia. At the final tournament, Iordănescu 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.
1998 World Cup
At the 1998 World Cup qualifiers he made eight appearances, scoring a hat-trick in a 8–1 victory against Liechtenstein. Munteanu was used by Iordănescu 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 1–0 by Croatia in the round of 16 after a goal scored from a penalty by Davor Šuker.
Euro 2000
Munteanu played nine games and scored three goals in the Euro 2000 qualifiers. The first goal was in the 90th minute of a 1–0 win over Portugal as Ionuț Lupescu 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 2–0 victory against rivals Hungary and the third was from a penalty in a 4–0 win over Azerbaijan.
Final years
At the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Munteanu helped the team reach a play-off where they faced Slovenia, losing 3–2 on aggregate.
Managerial career
Player-coach period
In 2005, Munteanu went as a player-coach at CFR Cluj. He helped them get past Athletic Bilbao, Saint-Étienne and Žalgiris in the 2005 Intertoto Cup, reaching the final where they were defeated 4–2 on aggregate by RC Lens. The team also finished fifth in the 2005–06 Divizia A season. During the first half of the 2006–07 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 Argeș Pitești 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 Argeș, 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 1–0 loss to Steaua București.
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 ACF 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.
Oțelul Galați
On 1 July 2009, Oțelul Galați club official, Marius Stan confirmed that Munteanu signed with the club. In the first season under his command, the team finished eighth.
Afterwards, under Munteanu's guidance, The Steelworkers took part in the 2011–12 Champions League group stage, but failed to gain a single point as they lost all six games to FC Basel, Benfica and Manchester United.
Dinamo București and abroad spells
In November 2012, he was installed as head coach of Dinamo București.
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 Oprița to the team, but the spell was unsuccessful as Mordovia was relegated at the end of the season.
He helped the team eliminate Motherwell and Feyenoord in the 2013–14 Europa League campaign, reaching the group stage where they lost the first two games against St. Gallen and Valencia CF.
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.
Munteanu was relieved of his duties on 8 December 2014, following four wins in 16 matches.
Astra Giurgiu and Zakho
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.
CSMȘ Reșița and Concordia Chiajna
In April 2017 he went to work as technical director at Liga III club CSMȘ Reșița, while Leontin Doană was head coach.
Return to Oțelul Galați
In July 2021, Munteanu returned to Oțelul Galați, 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.
Sepsi OSK
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.
Career statistics
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year Romania 2 0 0 0 2 0 3 1 2 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
International goals
+ List of international goals scored by Dorinel Munteanu Exhibition game Friendly UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying World Cup 1998 Qualifying 6–0 7–1 UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying UEFA EURO 2000 Group A World Cup 2002 Qualifying Friendly UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying Friendly UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
Managerial statistics
CFR Cluj 1 July 2005 2 October 2006
Argeș Pitești 5 October 2006 26 April 2007
FC Vaslui 1 July 2007 5 April 2008
Universitatea Cluj 26 August 2008 26 October 2008
Steaua București 27 October 2008 15 December 2008
Universitatea Cluj 1 April 2009 30 June 2009
Oțelul Galați 8 July 2009 30 August 2012
Dinamo București 15 November 2012 27 December 2012
Mordovia Saransk 28 December 2012 10 June 2013
Kuban Krasnodar 11 June 2013 12 October 2013
Gabala FK 14 June 2014 8 December 2014
Astra Giurgiu 4 March 2015 28 April 2015
Zakho FC 30 December 2016 23 February 2017
Concordia Chiajna 18 September 2018 7 January 2019
CSM Reșița 10 November 2019 29 May 2020
Oțelul Galați 6 July 2021 30 December 2024
Sepsi OSK 18 March 2025 28 April 2025
Honours
Player
Inter Sibiu
Dinamo București
VfL Wolfsburg
Steaua București
CFR Cluj
Individual
Manager
CFR Cluj
Oțelul Galați
Individual
See also
External links
Categories: 1968 Births, Footballers From Caraș-severin County, Living People, Romanian Men's Footballers, Men's Association Football Midfielders, Csm Reșița Players, Fc Olt Scornicești Players, Fc Inter Sibiu Players, Fc Dinamo București Players, Cercle Brugge K.s.v. Players, 1. Fc Köln Players, Vfl Wolfsburg Players, Fcsb Players, Cfr Cluj Players, Fc Argeș Pitești Players, Fc Vaslui Players, Fc Universitatea Cluj Players, Liga I Players, Liga Ii Players, Liga Iii Players, Belgian Pro League Players, Bundesliga Players, 2. Bundesliga Players, Romanian Expatriate Men's Footballers, Expatriate Men's Footballers In Belgium, Expatriate Men's Footballers In Germany, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In Belgium, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In Germany, Romania Men's Under-21 International Footballers, Romania Men's International Footballers, Uefa Euro 1996 Players, Uefa Euro 2000 Players, 1994 Fifa World Cup Players, 1998 Fifa World Cup Players, Fifa Men's Century Club, Player-coaches, Romanian Football Managers, Romanian Expatriate Football Managers, Fc Argeș Pitești Managers, Fc Universitatea Cluj Managers, Cfr Cluj Managers, Fc Vaslui Managers, Fcsb Managers, Asc Oțelul Galați Managers, Fc Dinamo București Managers, Fc Mordovia Saransk Managers, Fc Kuban Krasnodar Managers, Gabala Sc Managers, Zakho Fc Managers, Fc Astra Giurgiu Managers, Cs Concordia Chiajna Managers, Csm Reșița Managers, Sepsi Osk Sfântu Gheorghe Managers, Russian Premier League Managers, Liga I Managers, Liga Ii Managers, Expatriate Football Managers In Russia, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In Russia, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In Azerbaijan, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In Iraq, Expatriate Football Managers In Iraq, People's Movement Party Politicians, 20th-century Romanian Sportsmen
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