Eugen Trică (born 5 August 1976) is a Romanian football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Eugen Trică
Eugen Trică in August 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1976-08-05) 5 August 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth Teslui, Romania
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
Sohar (head coach)
Youth career
1988–1993 Universitatea Craiova
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1998 Universitatea Craiova 91 (14)
1998–2003 Steaua București 130 (21)
2003–2005 Litex Lovech 54 (22)
2005–2006 Maccabi Tel Aviv 10 (1)
2006–2007 CSKA Sofia 34 (17)
2007–2008 CFR Cluj 46 (15)
2009 Anorthosis 12 (1)
2009 CFR Cluj 1 (0)
2009–2010 Universitatea Craiova 16 (2)
2010–2011 Concordia Chiajna 22 (6)
Total 416 (99)
International career
1996–1998 Romania U21 20 (6)
1999–2007 Romania 4 (0)
Managerial career
2010 Universitatea Craiova (sporting director)
2010 Universitatea Craiova (caretaker)
2011 Concordia Chiajna (sporting director)
2012–2013 Juventus București
2013 CFR Cluj
2013 Al-Nahda (assistant)
2013–2014 UTA Arad
2014 Juventus București
2015 CFR Cluj
2015 Metalul Reșița
2015–2016 Ittihad (assistant)
2017–2018 Politehnica Iași (assistant)
2019 Sportul Snagov
2019–2020 FC U Craiova
2020–2021 Turris Turnu Măgurele
2021 FC U Craiova
2021 Viitorul Târgu Jiu
2021 FC U Craiova
2022 Viitorul Târgu Jiu
2022 Metaloglobus București
2022–2023 Concordia Chiajna
2023 Gloria Băneasa
2023–2024 CSM Alexandria
2024 FC U Craiova
2024 Sohar
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Eugen Trică was born on 5 August 1976 in the village of Teslui from Romania where he spent the first years of his life, being raised mainly by his grandparents until age 7 when he had to move to Craiova in order to go to school.[1] Shortly after arriving in Craiova, his father noticed his talent while seeing him play football in the neighborhood so he took him to local club Universitatea where he started his career as a youth, being promoted in the first team in 1995, making his Liga I debut on 17 June 1995 in a 5–4 loss against Electroputere Craiova.[1][2] He played 91 Liga I games for "U" Craiova in which he scored 14 goals, managing to reach the 1998 Cupa României final in 1998 which was lost in front of Rapid București, also during this period he earned the nickname José after teammate Ionel Gane compared him to José Mari Bakero.[1][2][3] He then joined Steaua București in 1998, winning in his first season the 1998–99 Cupa României, being introduced by coach Emerich Jenei to replace Cristian Ciocoiu in the overtime of the final against Rapid București which was won at the penalty shoot-out where he scored a goal.[2][4] He also won a championship with The Military Men in the 2000–01 season, being used by coach Victor Pițurcă in 30 games in which he scored 7 goals, also scoring two goals in Steaua's 2–1 victory against Dinamo București in the 2001 Supercupa României.[2][5][6][7] Litex Lovech was the third club Trică played for after being transferred in 2003, where he scored 22 goals in 54 league matches, winning the Bulgarian Cup in 2004.[2] He joined the squad of Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005, but after only a few months he returned to Bulgaria, this time at CSKA Sofia where he played alongside fellow Romanians Florentin Petre and Alexandru Pițurcă, managing to win the 2005–06 Bulgarian Cup and the 2006 Bulgarian Supercup.[2][8][9] Trică was one of the highest scoring foreign players in the Bulgarian league as in the 98 appearances made in the competition he had 39 goals to his name.[2][10] In 2007, Trică returned to Romania, signing with CFR Cluj, where he was part of the team that won for the first time in the club's history the championship and the cup in 2008 with Trică being the team's top scorer, netting the goal 13 times in the 31 league matches coach Ioan Andone used him.[2][5][11] He also played five games in the 2008–09 Champions League group stage with The Railway Men, in the first one providing Emmanuel Culio with two assists for the goals that obtained the team a historical 2–1 victory on Stadio Olimpico against AS Roma.[2][12] Trică moved in 2009 to Anorthosis in Cyprus, but after the end of the season, he returned to CFR Cluj where he won the 2009 Supercupa României.[2][13] In 2009, Trică came back to his first club, Universitatea Craiova, but after a year, in 2010, he joined Concordia Chiajna, a team from the second Romanian division which he helped promote to Liga I for the first time in history and after a few games in the first division for Concordia, in October 2011, Trică decided to end his playing career.[2][14][15] Through his career, Eugen Trică earned a total of 289 matches with 51 goals scored in Liga I and 30 appearances with 7 goals in European competitions.[2]

International career

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Eugen Trică played four games for Romania, making his debut on 3 March 1999 when coach Victor Pițurcă introduced him in the 74th minute to replace Dennis Șerban in a friendly which ended with a 2–0 victory against Estonia.[16][17] His following game was a 1–0 victory in a friendly against Ukraine and the last two were appearances at the successful Euro 2008 qualifiers, a 3–1 victory against Belarus and a 1–0 loss against Bulgaria.[16]

International stats

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Romania national team
Year Apps Goals
1999 1 0
2001 1 0
2007 2 0
Total 4 0

Managerial career

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Eugen Trică started his coaching career in 2012 at Juventus București, after which he coached various other teams, including as an assistant coach, his biggest performances being a runner-up position in a Cupa României final with CFR Cluj and two promotions from the third league to the second and from the second to the first with FC U Craiova.[7][18][19][20]

On 22 September 2022, he became the head coach of Liga II side Concordia Chiajna.[21]

Personal life

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Eugen Trică was married to Lorena, daughter of Ilie Balaci, one of the best Romanian football players from the past.[22] They divorced in 2015.[23] Their son, Atanas Trică is also a footballer.[24]

Honours

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Player

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Universitatea Craiova

Steaua București

Litex Lovech

CSKA Sofia

CFR Cluj

Manager

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CFR Cluj

FC U Craiova

References

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  1. ^ a b c ""Mergeam cu vacile și caprele! Culegeam lădițe de mere, prune" Are 3 campionate în Liga 1 și face dezvăluiri tulburătoare: "Regret că am doar 4 meciuri la națională"" ["I was walking with the cows and goats! I was picking boxes of apples, plums" He has 3 championships in Liga 1 and makes disturbing revelations: "I regret that I only have 4 matches in the national team"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Eugen Trică at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  3. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1997–1998". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1998–1999". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  6. ^ "Romanian Supercup – Season 2001". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Interviu EXCLUSIV cu Eugen Trică: "Steaua a făcut o prostie cu Alibec! Vrei d-ăia cuminți, yes men, care te duc pe locul 2?" + Ce se întâmplă cu Florin Tănase: "Și pe mine mă forțau"" [EXCLUSIVE interview with Eugen Trică: "Steaua did something stupid with Alibec! Do you want those good guys, yes men, who take you to the 2nd place?" + What happens to Florin Tănase: "They were forcing me too"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Trica si Florentin Petre au castigat Supercupa Bulgariei" [Trica and Florentin Petre won the Bulgarian Super Cup] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Adevărul i-a vizitat pe românii de la ŢSKA Sofia" [Adevărul visited the Romanians from ŢSKA Sofia] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Топ 20 за чуждестранни футболисти голмайстори". bgfootball.eu. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  11. ^ "CFR 2008 Ce s-a intamplat cu cei care ii aduceau, acum 10 ani, primul titlu din istorie lui CFR Cluj" [CFR 2008 What happened to those who brought, 10 years ago, the first title in the history of CFR Cluj] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Eugen Trică a rememorat duelul cu AS Roma din perioada când juca pentru CFR. "Pe teren ne-am înjurat, dar pe tunel a venit să schimbăm tricourile!"" [Eugen Trică recalled the duel with AS Roma from the time he played for CFR. "On the pitch we swore, but in the tunnel he came to change shirts!"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Romanian Supercup – Season 2009". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  14. ^ "CFR i-a stricat cheful de fotbal! Eugen Trică și-a anunțat retragerea definitivă, după doar 5 meciuri de la revenire" [CFR ruined his football spirit! Eugen Trică announced his final retirement, after only 5 matches since his return] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Liga I e mai săracă: S-a retras Trică" [CFR ruined his football spirit! Liga I is poorer: Trică has retired] (in Romanian). Evz.ro. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Eugen Trică". European Football. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Romania – Estonia 2:0". European Football. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Ce se întâmplă cu Eugen Trică la CFR după ce clujenii au pierdut Cupa României în faţa lui Petrolul Ploieşti" [What happens to Eugen Trica at CFR after Cluj lost the Romanian Cup to Petrolul Ploiesti] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  19. ^ a b c "A semnat! Eugen Trică este noul antrenor de la FCU Craiova" [He signed! Eugen Trica is the new coach of FCU Craiova] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Eugen Trică a revenit în Liga 2 și va fi adversarul lui U Craiova 1948" [Eugen Trica returned to Liga 2 and will be the opponent of U Craiova 1948] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  21. ^ Adrian Ţone. "Eugen Trică numit antrenor la Concordia Chiajna" [Eugen Trică, named head coach of Concordia Chiajna] (in Romanian). agerpres.ro. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Liana, fata cea mica a lui Ilie Balaci, duce mai departe traditia sportiva a familiei!" [Liana, the little girl of Ilie Balaci, carries on the sporting tradition of the family!] (in Romanian). wowbiz.ro. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  23. ^ Eugen Trică, sprijinul Lorenei, la înmormântarea lui Ilie Balaci. Cei doi au divorţat de trei ani!, spynews.ro, 23 October 2018
  24. ^ "Atanas Trică, nepotul lui Ilie Balaci, semnează cu CS Universitatea Craiova. EXCLUSIV Reacția emoționantă a Lorenei: "Și eu sunt o povară pentru el!"" [Atanas Trica, Ilie Balaci's nephew, signs with CS Universitatea Craiova. EXCLUSIVE Lorena's emotional reaction:"I'm a burden to him too!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
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