Ștefan Gabriel Preda (born 18 June 1970) 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 football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Preda was born on 18 June 1970 in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

, Romania, starting to play football in 1992 at Minerul Filipești in

Divizia C The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

. Shortly afterwards he went to play for Petrolul Ploiești where he made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut on 13 June 1993 in a 3–1 home win over Farul Constanța. He helped the club win the

1994–95 Cupa României The 1994–95 Cupa României was the 57th edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Petrolul Ploiești against Rapid București. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. First round pr ...

, playing all the minutes under the guidance of coach

Marin Ion Marin Ion (born 25 March 1955) is a Romanian professional football coach and a former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national under-19 team. Playing career Marin started his football career as a defender with the youth team ...

in the penalty shoot-out victory against

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

from the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He started the next season by playing in the 2–0 loss to Steaua București from the

1995 Supercupa României The 1995 Supercupa României was the second edition of Romania's season opener cup competition. The match was played in Bucharest at Stadionul Regie on 5 August 1995, and was contested between Divizia A title holders, Steaua București and Cupa R ...

, then he made four appearances in the 1995–96 Cup Winners' Cup campaign as ''The Yellow Wolves'' got past

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in the qualifying round, being eliminated by

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

in the following one. In the middle of the 1997–98 season, Preda left Petrolul to go 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 Yekaterin ...

. He helped his new club win The Double in the 1999–2000 season, playing 30 league games under the guidance of

Cornel Dinu Cornel Dinu (born 2 August 1948) is a Romanian retired professional footballer and manager who played as a sweeper or a defensive midfielder. He started out his playing career at hometown club Metalul Târgoviște in 1965, and went on to spen ...

, also he kept a clean sheet in the 2–0 victory against Universitatea Craiova from the Cupa României final. He then played in both legs of the 7–4 aggregate loss to

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw (, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing sports club in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, best known for its Association football, football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, Swimming (sport), swimm ...

from the 2000–01 Champions League second qualifying round. In the same season he won another

Cupa României The Cupa României () 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. It is the Romania ...

, but coach Dinu used Florin Prunea in the 4–2 victory from the

against Rocar București. For the second half of the 2000–01 season, Preda went to play for

Astra Ploiești Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian Association football, football Club (organization), club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ' ...

. In 2001 he signed with Universitatea Craiova. In 2002 when Craiova owner Gheorghe Nețoiu left the team to go at Dinamo, he took players Preda, Cosmin Bărcăuan, Dan Alexa,

Flavius Stoican Flavius Vladimir Stoican (born 24 November 1976) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga II club CSM Reșița. Club career Stoican started his career at FC Drobeta, but soon he left them for ...

Ovidiu Burcă Ovidiu Nicușor Burcă (born 16 March 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Club career Early career Burcă was born on 16 March 1980 in Slatina, Romania. His talent was noticed by coach Nicolae Zamfir who brough ...

, Ciprian Danciu,

Cornel Frăsineanu Cornel Dănuț Frăsineanu (born 20 August 1976, in Caracal) is a retired Romanian football player. He was also a manager at Atletic Bradu in the Romanian Liga IV. Honours Dinamo București *Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Associ ...

and Ștefan Grigorie with him. In the 2002–03 season he played in the first half for Dinamo and in the second for Argeș Pitești. In the following season, Preda helped ''The Red Dogs'' win another Double, being used by coach

Ioan Andone Ioan Andone (; born 15 March 1960) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player. Club career Corvinul Hunedoara Ioan Andone, nicknamed "Fălcosul" was born on 15 March 1960 in Șpălnaca , and when he was 14 years old, he playe ...

in 11 league matches. He also helped the club get past

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

in the

2003–04 UEFA Cup The 2003–04 UEFA Cup was won by Valencia in the final against Marseille. It wrapped up a league and UEFA Cup double for Valencia. Porto could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and a ...

, being eliminated in the following round by Spartak Moscow. In the same season he made three appearances in the second league for Dinamo's satellite team,

Poiana Câmpina Poiana Câmpina is a communes of Romania, 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 ...

. Afterwards he returned to Argeș Pitești where on 1 October 2005 he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 2–0 away loss to Farul Constanța, gaining a total of 290 matches in the competition, also having a total of 11 games in European competitions. Preda spent the last years of his career by playing for

Unirea Urziceni Fotbal Club Unirea Urziceni, commonly known as Unirea Urziceni (), was a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County. Unirea became Divizia A Final Tables, national champions ...

and Chimia Brazi in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

International career

Preda played three friendly games for

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

, making his debut on 1 June 1994 when coach

Anghel Iordănescu Anghel Iordănescu (; born 4 May 1950), is a Romanian former footballer and former manager, who played as a forward. In 2007, Iordănescu retired from football, and the following February, after his predecessor resigned, he became a member ...

sent him on the field in the 79th minute to replace Florin Prunea in a 0–0 against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. His following two games took place in February 1995, the results being a 1–0 loss to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and a 1–1 against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He was selected by Iordănescu to be part of the squad that went at the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

final tournament but he did not play in any games. For representing his country at that final tournament, Preda was decorated by then

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

on 25 March 2008, with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal of "Sportive Merit") Class III.

International stats

Managerial career

Preda started his managerial career in 2006, being head coach at

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

team, Chimia Brazi until 2007. In 2008 he returned to Chimia Brazi where he stayed until 2009. Since 2014, Preda started to work as a goalkeeper coach at teams like Steaua București, Viitorul Constanța or Farul Constanța.

Honours

Petrolul Ploiești *

: 1994–95 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), 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 Supe ...

runner-up:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Dinamo București *

: 1999–2000, 2003–04 *

: 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Preda, Stefan 1970 births Living people Footballers from Ploiești Romanian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers 1994 FIFA World Cup players Romania men's international footballers FC Petrolul Ploiești players FC Dinamo București players FCM Câmpina players FC Astra Giurgiu players FC U Craiova 1948 players FC Argeș Pitești players FC Unirea Urziceni players Liga I players Liga II players Liga III players Romanian football managers 20th-century Romanian sportsmen