Nicolae "Nae" Constantin (born 9 December 1973) 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 Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player. Mainly deployed as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he spent most of his playing career at Petrolul Ploiești, Astra Ploiești,

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 '' cascade' ...

and FC Brașov, among other brief stints. Although uncapped by the

Romania national team 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, and ...

, he was regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation.

Playing career

Constantin started his playing career with Victoria Florești, a local club in from his native

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 mos ...

. After one season, he moved to Petrolul Ploiești. In spite of being a central defender, he would often go up front and score goals for his teams, as he proved so while on loan at Danubiana Ploiești, where he totalled six goals from 21 games. Upon his return to Petrolul, he managed seven goals in 69 matches, before moving to rival

in 1999. Constantin was loaned out during his first years in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

to former clubs Danubiana—renamed Astra—and Petrolul, but became a notable figure in his later years at Rapid. Following

Răzvan Lucescu Răzvan Lucescu (; born 17 February 1969) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club PAOK. As a player, he operated as a goalkeeper and spent most years of his career ...

's resignation at Rapid, he joined Cypriot side

Digenis Akritas Morphou Digenis Akritas Morphou ( el, Διγενής Ακρίτας Μόρφου) is a Cypriot sports club from Morphou, founded on 23 April 1931.

. Constantin only made seven appearances for Digenis, as he quickly returned to his home country to rejoin Lucescu and other Rapid players at FC Brașov. Reunited with his former coach and teammates, Constantin spent three seasons with "the Yellow-Blacks", before joining third division club Chimia Brazi in 2010. At the end of the season, Chimia missed out a promotion to the

Liga II 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 c ...

by only two points.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Constantin took up several positions as an assistant coach; notably, he collaborated with Răzvan Lucescu at Petrolul Ploiești in 2014 until the dismissal of the former, and between 2017 and 2019 assisted

Daniel Isăilă Daniel Ionuț Isăilă (born 29 June 1972) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Ajman. A former defender, Isăilă played 149 matches in Liga I, scoring seven goals. He ...

during spells with the Romania under-21 national team and Saudi Arabian team Al-Hazem. Constantin's first contracts as a head coach came in 2020 at

Filiași Filiași () is a town in Dolj County, Oltenia, 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 ...

and Comuna Recea, in the third and second divisions, respectively. In the summer of 2021, he returned to Petrolul as a head coach, which he stated it was one of his biggest wishes, and earned it promotion to the top flight after finishing the 2021–22 Liga II season in the first place.

Honours

Player

Rapid 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 ...

: 2002–03 * Cupa României: 2005–06 * Supercupa României: 1999,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, 2003 FC Brașov *

: 2007–08

Coach

Petrolul Ploiești *Liga II: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantin, Nicolae 1973 births Living people People from Prahova County Romanian footballers Association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players Cypriot First Division players FC Petrolul Ploiești players FC Astra Giurgiu players FC Rapid București players Digenis Akritas Morphou FC players FC Brașov (1936) players Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Romanian football managers CS Academica Recea managers FC Petrolul Ploiești managers Liga I managers Liga II managers