Adrian Constantin Neaga (born 4 June 1979) is a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and retired player.

Playing career

Early career

Neaga was born in

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in the historical re ...

. Neaga signed his first professional contract with Argeș Pitești in 1997. He was then playing in the same team with

Adrian Mutu Adrian Mutu (; born 8 January 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder. Mutu star ...

. He played three games in his first season, scoring a goal, and then played two other games in the first half of the following season, before the club decided to loan him to

Dacia Pitești Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ...

, a club from the second league, where he played 20 games and scored 10 goals, therefore gaining the right to be part of Argeș Pitești again. In 2001 Neaga failed a

drug test A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug ...

which had been performed at the end of a

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

game. He tested positive for the anabolic steroid

metenolone Metenolone, or methenolone, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) which is used in the form of esters such as metenolone acetate (brand name Primobolan, Nibal) and metenolone enanthate (brand name Primobolan Depot, Nibal Injection). Meten ...

.Doping case not over, says Romanian Olympic Committee
espn.com, 21 July 2001 He was not sanctioned for it, however.

Return to Steaua

After he ended his contract with

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

, Neaga returned to Steaua București. During the 2003–04 season he scored 13 goals in 15 games.

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian manager (association football), football manager and former player who last managed Serie A club Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari. He was a long-time Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for In ...

was appointed head coach of Steaua București in the summer of 2004 and he soon made Neaga one of the two team leaders, alongside

Mirel Rădoi Mirel Matei Rădoi (born 22 March 1981) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Tai. A defensive midfielder or a centre-back, Rădoi began his playing career at Extens ...

, and in the first half of that season Neaga played 15 games in

, scoring six goals, while in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

he scored five times in eight games, finishing Steaua's top-scorer in Europe that season. In February 2005,

Gigi Becali George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman and former politician, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club. Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and December 2012, and a Memb ...

received a buying offer from the South Korean club

Chunnam Dragons The Jeonnam Dragons (Korean: 전남 드래곤즈) are a South Korean professional football club based in the city of Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. The Dragons play thei ...

for US$1.5 million. Becali accepted the offer, even though Neaga and the team were due to play a very important game against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

, then the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

champions and

winners, in the second round of the

South Korea

During his time at Chunnam Dragons, Neaga was selected in the ''Team of the Season'' and was awarded the Bronze Boot for finishing third in the goalscorers standings. After 18 months at Chunnam Dragons, Neaga made a statement saying that he would like to return to Steaua București. His club agreed to the transfer, on the condition that the Romanian club pay a US$1.5 million release fee. But Steaua București refused, and Neaga joined Korean club

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

instead. With his new team, Neaga won the Korean title for the first time and, also for the first time, played in the Asian Champions League, scoring a goal in his first game, against

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

's champions.

Second return to Steaua București

In June 2007, Neaga returned to Steaua București for a second time. Back at Steaua, he scored a goal in the 2–0 home victory against BATE Borisov, thus qualifying for the first time in his life for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, where he played against the likes of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

. In January 2009, Neaga was released by Steaua București and signed for

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i club Neftchi Baku.

Coaching career

After he ended his player career, Neaga started a career as coach, and his first job came at the beginning of 2013, when he signed a contract with

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia D into Liga IV before the start of play for the 2006–07 season. Current format Liga IV has 42 divisions. The divisions are regionalised a ...

team Unirea Bascov. In December 2013, Neaga signed a contract to manage Atletic Bradu, in

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C to Liga III before the start of the 2006–07 season. It was the first in this format (six series of 18 t ...

. In July 2014, Neaga signed a contract to coach ACS Urban Titu.

Honours

Steaua București *

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

: 2004–05 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma *

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...

: 2006

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neaga, Adrian 1979 births Sportspeople from Pitești Living people Romanian footballers Association football forwards Romania international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in South Korea Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine FC Argeș Pitești players FC Steaua București players Al Nassr FC players Jeonnam Dragons players Seongnam FC players FC Steaua II București players FC Unirea Urziceni players FC Volyn Lutsk players FC Dacia Pitești players Liga I players K League 1 players Ukrainian Premier League players Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Romanian football managers CS Național Sebiș managers FC Argeș Pitești managers Saudi Professional League players Neftçi PFK players