Alin Stoica

Alin Tudor Adi Stoica (born 10 December 1979) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Alin Stoica
Personal information
Full name Alin Tudor Adi Stoica
Date of birth (1979-12-10) 10 December 1979
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1996 Steaua București 1 (0)
1996–2002 Anderlecht 128 (23)
2002–2004 Club Brugge 34 (6)
2005 Siena 0 (0)
2005 Național București 6 (0)
2006 Politehnica Timișoara 4 (1)
2006–2008 Gent 33 (2)
2008 Mouscron 5 (0)
2009 Braşov 1 (0)
2009 Vojvodina 4 (0)
2013 ASU Politehnica 6 (1)
2014–2015 Standaard Wetteren
2015 Concordia Chiajna 0 (0)
National team
1998–2003 Romania 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Played nearly one decade in his professional career in Belgium, winning almost ten major titles with Anderlecht and Club Brugge combined. In his mid-20s – since leaving the latter team in late 2004 – however, he did not settle with any team until his retirement.

Club career

Stoica was born in Bucharest, Romania. In 1996, as a 16-year-old, he arrived in Belgium signing with first division club R.S.C. Anderlecht, from local side FC Steaua București. He quickly became a fan favorite (being nicknamed "Le Petit Prince du Parc Astrid"). From 1999 to 2001, as the Brussels outfit won back-to-back national championships, he contributed with 44 games and 13 goals combined, winning the Young Football of the Year award in the latter season.

However, after Anderlecht chairman Roger Vanden Stock refused to award him a new contract with a huge pay rise, Stoica left Anderlecht and signed with league rivals Club Brugge KV, just before the beginning of the 2002–03 campaign. After 19 matches and five goals to help Brugge clinch the league title in his debut season, he gradually fell out of favour and left the club in January 2005, playing with a further two outfits that season, Serie A's A.C. Siena (no appearances) and FC Naţional București.

In the winter of 2006, Stoica moved to FC Timişoara, at the request of Gheorghe Hagi, the team's manager. After a good debut, he caused a bit of turmoil and was sent to the second team due to what was deemed as unprofessional behavior. Ultimately he parted company with Poli and returned to Belgium in the following summer, starting the season with K.A.A. Gent on a "performance-based" contract.[1]

In Stoica's first game for Gent, against R. Charleroi SC, a superb pass from him resulted in the 2–1 winning goal. Afterwards, manager Georges Leekens left the club, being replaced by Trond Sollied, who had already coached the player at Bruges. However, Stoica fell out of favour once again and, during the winter break he agreed to end his contract and became a free agent.

On 31 January 2008, Stoica signed a contract with another side in the country, R.E. Mouscron, which was terminated three months later.[2] In February of the following year, he returned to Romania, joining FC Braşov on a one-year deal.

On 2 July 2009, Stoica moved clubs – and countries – again, signing for two years with Serbian club FK Vojvodina. His contract there was terminated due to injury problems.[3]

In 2014, Stoica joined Belgian fourth-tier side Standaard Wetteren.[3]

In January 2015, he moved to Liga I club Concordia Chiajna where he was to play for the club's reserves.[4][5]

International career

Stoica's debut for Romania came on 18 March 1998, in a friendly with Israel. During five years with the national team, he won a further twelve caps, going scoreless in the process.[6]

Personal life

Stoica's father, Tudorel, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He also represented Steaua and the Romanian national team, with more individual and team success however, helping the former win the 1986 European Cup.[7][8]

After retiring from football, Tudorel Stoica served as scout for Anderlecht, and subsequently settled in Belgium.

Honours

Club

Anderlecht

Club Brugge

Individual

References
  1. Stoica unlucky with AA Gent (Stoica ongelukkig bij AA Gent); Voetbal Primeur, 26 October 2007 (in Dutch)
  2. Lucescu: Alin Stoica ramane la noi si va juca doar pe prime Archived 10 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine; Sport365, 8 February 2009 (in Romanian)
  3. "Alin Stoica vindt onderdak bij Belgische vierdeklasser". De Standaard (in Dutch). 12 June 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. Marian, Florin (16 January 2015). "Revenire de senzație în Liga 1. Alin Stoica a fost luat de Concordia Chiajna". Prosport (in Romanian). Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  5. "Revenire spectaculoasă a lui Alin Stoica în Liga I, la Concordia. Ce spune Şumudică". telekomsport.ro (in Romanian). 17 January 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  6. "Alin Stoica national team matches". EU-Football.
  7. "În numele tatălui! Alin Stoica se autopropune la Steaua Armatei. "Chiar și la 37 de ani, nu că joc, ci sunt cel mai bun!" Ironic cu FCSB" [In the name of the father! Alin Stoica self-proposed at the Army's Steaua. "Even at 37, I'm the best!" Ironic with FCSB] (in Romanian). digiport.ro. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  8. "SPECIAL Situaţie de gradul I în Liga 1. Ce a realizat Silviu Lung jr. prin câştigarea titlului cu Astra. De la fraţii Vâlcov, la fraţii Costea şi familia Piţurcă" [SPECIAL First grade situation in Liga 1. What Silviu Lung jr. accomplished by winning the title with Astra. From the brothers Vâlcov to the brothers Costea and the Piţurcă family] (in Romanian). prosport.ro. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.