Edward Iordănescu (; born 16 June 1978), sometimes known as Iordănescu Jr., is a Romanian former footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of the Romania national team. He represented nine teams during a rather uneventful playing career, of which

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club ( Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'' ...

and Alki Larnaca abroad. Like his father Anghel, he started both his playing and coaching career at

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 ...

. Iordănescu has found more success after his retirement as a player, earning a reputation in his country of being a studious manager who prepares matches in great detail. During his two stints at CFR Cluj he guided the team to three domestic trophies, and in 2022 was appointed at the helm of the Romania national team.

Playing career

Iordănescu's connection with

began in early 1984, at the age of six. His father Anghel Iordănescu, who was an assistant coach at the time, took him along with him to attend games on the Ghencea Stadium. He sat next to Alin Stoica, also the son of a club legend, and they began playing together during warm ups and half-time breaks. After playing for Steaua's youth teams, Iordănescu was promoted to the first team in 1996 along with Stoica. He failed to impose himself at the ''Roș-albaștrii'' and left for Sportul Studențesc in 1997. Iordănescu spent the rest of his career with several teams in Romania—

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 ...

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascad ...

, Rocar București, Petrolul Ploiești and Vaslui. He also had spells abroad in Greece and Cyprus with

and Alki Larnaca, respectively.

Managerial career

Iordănescu retired from playing football in 2004, in order to begin his managerial studies. He took courses in Italy, Spain and England. In 2010, after Ilie Dumitrescu announced his resignation from his role as

manager, Iordănescu took over as interim coach. On 20 June 2013, Iordănescu signed a contract with Liga II side ASA Târgu Mureș with the clear target to promote to Liga I. In October 2013, he resigned. In December 2014, Iordănescu was named head coach of Pandurii Târgu Jiu. He guided his side to the final of the

2014–15 Cupa Ligii The 2014–15 Cupa Ligii was the first official season of the Cupa Ligii. The winner, Steaua București, was not granted a place in the UEFA Europa League, but received €265,000. ''All times are CEST (UTC+2).'' Schedule * Play-off round: 1 ...

competition. On 24 August 2016, Iordănescu was unveiled as the new head coach of Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia. Polish side

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

were also interested in hiring Iordănescu. On 27 November 2016, following a 1–1 home draw against Vereya, he resigned from his duties. On 8 June 2017, he was appointed manager of Liga I club Astra Giurgiu. On 2 April 2018, his contract with the club was terminated after a mutual agreement. On 13 June 2018, Iordănescu signed a three-year deal with CFR Cluj, replacing Dan Petrescu who left for Guizhou Hengfeng. He won his first trophy as a manager on 15 July, as his new side defeated Universitatea Craiova 1–0 in the

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994, ...

. On 12 September 2021, Iordănescu coaching FCSB, managed the biggest score victory in the history of the Eternal derby, 6–0. On 25 January 2022, Iordănescu was appointed as the new manager of the

Romania national football team The Romania national football team ( ro, Echipa națională de fotbal a României) represents Romania in international men's football competition and is administered by the Romanian Football Federation ( ro, Federația Română de Fotbal), al ...

Personal life

Iordănescu dated Romanian singer-songwriter Delia Matache from 2005 to 2006. He is now married to a woman with whom he has three children.

Career statistics

Managerial

Honours

Player

Steaua București *

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 ...

: 1995–96 *

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 ...

: 1995–96 Petrolul Ploiești * Divizia B: 2002–03

Manager

Pandurii Târgu Jiu * Cupa Ligii runner-up: 2014–15 CFR Cluj * Liga I: 2018–19,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual *''Gala Fotbalului Românesc'' Romanian Coach of the Year: 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iordanescu, Edward 1978 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian footballers FC Steaua București players FC Sportul Studențesc București players FC Rapid București players CSM Focșani players FC Petrolul Ploiești players AFC Rocar București players FC Vaslui players Panionios F.C. players Alki Larnaca FC players Liga I players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Romanian football managers FC Astra Giurgiu managers CFR Cluj managers FC Steaua București assistant managers CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu managers ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș managers PFC CSKA Sofia managers CS Gaz Metan Mediaș managers Romania national football team managers Romanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Bulgaria Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Association football midfielders