Daniel Ștefan Costescu (born 14 July 1976) is a

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

n former

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 ...

who usually played as a striker. He scored 46 goals in 235 matches in the Romanian First Division, 47 goals in 141 matches in the Romanian Second Division and 8 goals in 19 matches in the Swiss Third Division. His first match in

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 ...

(Romanian First Division) was Olimpia Satu Mare – Petrolul Ploiești 3–0 on 1 August 1998, while playing for Petrolul Ploiești. He was selected once in the Romanian Divisionary National Team (comprising players playing only in the Romanian leagues).

Career

Born in

Câmpina Câmpina () is a city in Prahova County, Romania, north of the county seat Ploiești, located on the main route between Wallachia and Transylvania. Its existence is first attested in a document of 1503. It is situated in the historical region of Mu ...

Prahova county Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/km². It is Romania's third most ...

, Costescu began playing football with ''Sterom Câmpina'' in

Divizia D 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 ...

(Romanian Fourth Division), and in 1996 he moved to the representative team of the same town,

Poiana Câmpina Poiana Câmpina is a commune in Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Bobolia, Pietrișu, Poiana Câmpina and Răgman. The commune is located in the western part of the county, northwest of the county seat, Ploieș ...

, 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. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting ...

, the Romanian Second Division. He played 2 years for

, scoring 15 goals in 60 games, helping the team getting a top 10 finish in both seasons. He then attracted the interest of Petrolul Ploiești in

, the best team from the

, three-time champions of

. At Petrolul Ploiești he established himself as an important striker in the Romanian league, scoring 27 goals between 1999 and 2002. During his time at Petrolul Ploiești he caught the eyes of

n greats

Steaua București Steaua or Steaua București may refer to: * CSA Steaua București, a Romanian multi-sports club * CSA Steaua București (football), the football team of the multi-sports club * Fotbal Club FCSB, a football team that used this name between 2003 ...

and Dinamo Bucuresti. After his experience at Petrolul Ploiești, he changed the team but not the city, signing for

Astra Ploiești Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent the ...

, where he had a prolific season, scoring 10 goals in 26 games, helping them to a record-high 9th position in Divizia A. After his short spell at

, he returned to Petrolul Ploiești, where he played for another 2 years, scoring 9 goals in 36 games. In 2004, he transferred to a well-established club in Romania,

FC Argeș Pitești Asociația Clubul Sportiv Campionii Fotbal Club Argeș, commonly known as FC Argeș or Argeș Pitești (), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Pitești, Argeș County, which competes in the Liga I. The team was origi ...

, 2-time champions of Romania and the team that gave players like

Nicolae Dobrin Nicolae Dobrin (; 26 August 1947 – 26 October 2007) was a Romanian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and a manager. Nicknamed ''Gâscanul'' ("The Gander") or ''Prințul din Trivale'' ("The Prince of Trivale"), he is considered o ...

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 ...

Adrian Neaga Adrian Constantin Neaga (born 4 June 1979) is a Romanian football manager and retired player. Playing career Early career Neaga was born in Pitești. Neaga signed his first professional contract with Argeș Pitești in 1997. He was then pl ...

Dănuț Coman Dănuț Dumitru Coman (born 28 March 1979) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Coman started out as a senior at FC Argeș in the 1997–98 season and also played for Rocar București, Rapid București, Brașov and Vaslu ...

and Paul Codrea. But, unfortunately for him, his time at

FC Argeș FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...

was not one of the best, managing to score just 2 goals in 1 season. He was transferred in 2006 by

newcomers

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

, who were in need of an experienced man upfront. Unirea proved to be a surprise-pack, finishing 10th in the league, and Daniel scored 2 goals for his new team. After his season at Unirea he transferred to Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costescu, Daniel 1976 births Living people Romanian footballers Men's association football forwards Liga I players Liga II players FC Astra Giurgiu players FC Argeș Pitești players FCM Câmpina players FC Unirea Urziceni players CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț players CS Mioveni players FC Progresul București players FC Delta Tulcea players FC Baulmes players Swiss 1. Liga (football) players Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland People from Câmpina Sportspeople from Prahova County