Costel Orac (born 22 January 1959) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and current coach.

Club career

Costel Orac was born on 22 January 1959 in

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut on 22 August 1976, playing for

FCM Galați The word FCM may refer to: Science and technology * FCM (chemotherapy), a chemotherapy regimen * Flow cytometry * Food contact materials * Fuel-containing material * Flight control module, a computer that assists in the control of an aircraft Co ...

in a 1–0 loss against

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est * A village in Țuglui Țuglui is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroad ...

. He played 5 seasons in the first two leagues for

, after which he was transferred at

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

together with teammate

Nicușor Vlad Nicușor Vlad (born 12 June 1960) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a central defender. Honours FCM Galați *Divizia B: 1978–79 Dinamo București *Divizia A: 1981–82, 1982–83 *Cupa României: 1981–82 Petrolul Ploiești * ...

. In his first three seasons spent at the club, he won the

title in all of them, in the first he contributed with 9 goals scored in 32 matches, in the second he played 30 games and scored 4 goals and in the third he made 23 appearances and scored 5 goals. Orac also won three

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

with the '' The Red Dogs'', scoring the decisive goal in the 2–1 victory against rival Steaua București from the 1984 final and appeared in 26 matches in which he scored 5 goals in European competitions, including helping the team eliminate

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

by scoring the decisive goal of the 3–2 victory from the second leg in the

1981–82 UEFA Cup The 1981–82 UEFA Cup was won by IFK Göteborg on aggregate over Hamburger SV. Association team allocation A total of 64 teams from 32 UEFA member associations participate in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup. The association ranking based on the UEFA coun ...

season and appeared in 7 games in which he scored two goals against

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the

1983–84 European Cup The 1983–84 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for a fourth time by Liverpool in a penalty shootout in the final against Roma. The game had finished 1–1. Phil Neal had scored for Liverpool and Roberto Pruzzo for Roma ...

as the club reached the semi-finals. In 1989, Orac alongside teammates

Dumitru Moraru Dumitru Moraru (born 8 May 1956) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1972 until 1991. Club career Dumitru Moraru was born in București, growing up in the Pantelimon neighborhood, where he started play ...

and

Alexandru Nicolae Alexandru Nicolae (born 17 March 1955) is a Romanian former football Defender (association football), defender. Club career Alexandru Nicolae was born on 17 March 1955 in Bucharest where he started playing football at junior level in 1968 at Ș ...

were transferred from

Dinamo A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

Victoria București Victoria București was a Romanian football club, dissolved right after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. History The club was sponsored by the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs (the "Miliția", Police). In 1985 Victoria played for the first ...

where because of a conflict he had with coach

Florin Halagian Florin Vașken Halagian (7 March 1939 – 12 August 2019) was a Romanian football player and manager of Armenian descent, hence the nickname ''Armeanul'' (The Armenian). He is the manager who has the most matches in Liga I with 878 games consist ...

, he played only two

games in which he scored one goal and made one appearance in the

1989–90 UEFA Cup The 1989–90 UEFA Cup was won by Juventus on aggregate over Fiorentina. This was the first final between two Italian sides in the UEFA competitions history and the third between two clubs of the same country. It was the last season for which E ...

in which he gave an assist in a 1–1 against

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

. After the

1989 Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

, Orac went to play in the Nationalliga B where he was recommended by coach Mircea Lucescu to Étoile Carouge's coach

Radu Nunweiller Radu Nunweiller (born 16 November 1944) is a former Romanian central midfield football player and manager. Club career Radu Nunweiller was born in Bucharest on 16 November 1944. He had an Austrian father named Johann Nunweiller, who settled in ...

. In

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, after a injury, Orac found out at a medical control that he has problems with his back, he returned to play at

for a short while, making his last appearance in

on 11 May 1991 in a 1–1 against Universitatea Craiova after which he went to play in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

Unirea Focșani Unirea may refer to: Places in Romania * Unirea, Alba, a commune * Unirea, Brăila, a commune * Unirea, Călărași, a commune * Unirea, Dolj, a commune and village * General Berthelot, a commune in Hunedoara, called ''Unirea'' from 1965 to 200 ...

where he retired after playing one season. During his whole career, Costel Orac played 308

matches in which he scored 54 goals and made 27 appearances in which he scored 5 goals in European competitions.

International career

Costel Orac played three friendly games at international level for

, making his debut on 29 July 1984 under coach Mircea Lucescu in a 4–2 victory against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in which he scored one goal. His following two games were a 1–1 and a 0–0 against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

International stats

International goals

:''Romania's goal tally first.''

Managerial career

Costel Orac started his coaching career while he was still an active player, being an assistant at

in the

1991–92 Divizia B The 1991–92 Divizia B was the 52nd season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The format has been maintained to three series, each of them having 18 teams. At the end of the season, the winners of the series promoted to D ...

. From the

1992–93 Divizia B The 1992–93 Divizia B was the 53rd season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The format has been changed from three series to only two series, both of them having 18 teams. At the end of the season, the winners of the se ...

season, he began his career as a head coach at

and in 1996 he had his only coaching experience outside Romania, for one season and a half in the Cypriot First Division at Alki Larnaca. He spent most of his career coaching in

, having a total of 356 games, managing to win four promotions to the first league with Selena Bacău, Baia Mare,

Unirea Urziceni Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Urziceni, commonly known as FC Urziceni (), is a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County which currently plays in fourth division, Ialomi ...

and

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

. Costel Orac has a total of 73 matches managed in

and in 2009 he was

Dario Bonetti Dario Bonetti (; born 5 August 1961) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is the elder brother of Ivano Bonetti. Club career Born in San Zeno Naviglio, Brescia, Italy, Bonetti made his professional debut during the 1978–79 sea ...

's assistant at

for a few months.

Personal life

His nephew,

Daniel Orac Daniel Orac (born 6 April 1985) is a former Romanian professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American ...

was also a footballer.

Honours

Player

FCM Galați *

: 1978–79 Dinamo București *

: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 *

: 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86

Coach

Selena Bacău *

: 1994–95

References

External links

* *
Costel Orac manager profile
at Labtof.ro {{DEFAULTSORT:Orac, Costel 1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Galați Romanian footballers Association football forwards Romania international footballers Liga I players Liga II players FCM Dunărea Galați players FC Dinamo București players Victoria București players Étoile Carouge FC players CSM Focșani players Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Romanian football managers FCM Bacău managers Alki Larnaca FC managers FC Brașov (1936) managers FC Bihor Oradea managers CS Minaur Baia Mare (football) managers ASC Oțelul Galați managers FC Botoșani managers FC Unirea Urziceni managers CS Otopeni managers CS Concordia Chiajna managers Romanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus