Florin Constantinovici

Florin Constantinovici
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-02-12) 12 February 1968
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position Defender
Youth career
CSȘ 2 București
Mecanică Fină București
–1988 Aversa București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1993 Rapid București 133 (30)
1993–1994 Dinamo București 46 (5)
1995–1997 Rapid București 74 (10)
1997–1999 Heerenveen 29 (2)
2000 FC Brașov 13 (1)
2000–2001 Rapid București 18 (1)
2001–2002 Tzafririm Holon 16 (1)
2002–2003 Politehnica Timișoara 23 (0)
Total 352 (50)
International career
1991–1997 Romania B 12 (0)
1991–1992 Romania 3 (0)
Managerial career
2004–2019 Romania U21 (assistant)
2019–2026 Romania (assistant)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Florin Constantinovici (born 12 February 1968) is a former Romanian footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Constantinovici was born on 12 February 1968 in Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club CSȘ 2 București.[1][2] He completed his youth development with spells at Mecanică Fină București and Aversa București.[1] He started his senior career at Rapid București, making his Divizia A debut under coach Ion Motroc on 28 May 1989 in a 2–0 away loss to Corvinul Hunedoara.[1][2][3] Subsequently, he made five appearances in the 1989 Intertoto Cup, scoring a goal in a 5–0 victory against Spartak Varna.[4] The team was relegated at the end of the 1988–89 season, but Constantinovici stayed with the club, helping it gain promotion back to the first league after one year.[1]

In 1993, Constantinovici joined Dinamo București.[1][2] There, he played in four UEFA Cup matches over the course of two seasons, but on both occasions the team was eliminated in the first round by Cagliari and Trabzonspor respectively.[1][5] In the middle of the 1994–95 season, he made a comeback to Rapid.[1][2] Constantinovici helped The Railwaymen reach the 1995 Cupa României final, where he played the entire match under coach Sorin Cârțu in the loss to Petrolul Ploiești.[2][6][7] Afterwards, he played three games in the 1996–97 UEFA Cup in which they got past Lokomotiv Sofia in the qualifying round, but were eliminated by Karlsruhe in the following round.[8] He then played three games during the 1997 Intertoto Cup, scoring once in a 2–0 home win over Žilina.[1][9]

In 1997, Constantinovici went to play for Heerenveen where he became teammates with compatriots Dumitru Mitriță and Mugur Gușatu, and a young Ruud van Nistelrooy.[1][2][10] He made his Eredivisie debut on 20 August 1997 under coach Foppe de Haan in a 3–1 home win over NAC Breda.[11][12] Constantinovici scored his first goal in the competition on 4 April 1998 in a 2–1 away victory against MVV Maastricht.[11] On 10 May, he scored once again in a 3–2 home win over RKC Waalwijk.[11]

In the middle of the 1999–2000 season, Constantinovici returned to Romania, signing with FC Brașov.[1][2] Subsequently, he went for a third spell to Rapid.[1][2] He played two matches in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup, helping his side eliminate Mika, but they were defeated in the following round 1–0 on aggregate by Liverpool.[13] For the 2001–02 season, Constantinovici went to play for Tzafririm Holon in the Israeli second league.[1][2] Afterwards, he joined Politehnica Timișoara, making his last Divizia A appearance on 24 May 2003 in a 2–1 away loss to Dinamo București, totaling 275 matches with 38 goals in the competition.[1][2]

International career

From 1991 to 1997, Constantinovici was consistently featured for Romania's B side.[14] He helped them win the 1991 Nehru Cup, where he played five matches, including the 3–1 win over rivals Hungary in the final.[14][15]

Constantinovici played three friendly games for Romania, making his debut on 21 December 1991 under coach Mircea Rădulescu in a 3–1 away loss to Egypt.[16][17] Three days later, he played in another match against Egypt, which ended in a 1–1 draw.[16] His last appearance took place on 12 February 1992 in a 1–0 loss to Greece.[16]

Coaching career

From 2004 to 2019, Constantinovici served as an assistant coach for Romania's under-21 national team.[18][19] The highlight of this tenure was reaching the semifinals of the 2019 European Championship alongside head coach Mirel Rădoi.[20] In 2019, Constantinovici joined Rădoi to coach Romania's senior team.[19][21] He worked there until 2026, and the highest achievement was reaching the Euro 2024 round of 16 under head coach Edward Iordănescu.[18][22]

Honours

Rapid București

Romania B

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Florin Constantinovici at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Florin Constantinovici: "Campionatul olandez e perfect pentru un fotbalist român!"" [Florin Constantinovici: "The Dutch Championship is perfect for a Romanian footballer!"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  3. ^ "Corvinul Hunedoara 2 – 0 Rapid București". Labtof. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  4. ^ "Florin Constantinovici, fost coleg cu Ilie, Aprodu şi Ciolponea, fugiţi în Suedia în 1989, s-a temut pentru soarta celor de acasă: "Familia ar fi avut de suferit"" [Florin Constantinovici, a former colleague of Ilie, Aprodu and Ciolponea, who fled to Sweden in 1989, feared for the fate of those at home: "The family would have suffered"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "Povestea celor trei fotbaliști rapidiști rămași în Suedia în 1989: Aprodu, Ilie și Ciolponea. Cu ce se ocupă ei azi și cum l-au păcălit pe securistul lotului vișiniu" [The story of the three footballers of Rapid who remained in Sweden in 1989: Aprodu, Ilie and Ciolponea. What are they doing today and how they tricked the Securitate officer who was with Rapid' squad] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  5. ^ "Florin Constantinovici. UEFA Cup 1993/1994". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "Florin Constantinovici. UEFA Cup 1994/1995". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  6. ^ a b "Romanian Cup - Season 1994 - 1995". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  7. ^ "Fantasticele culise ale "lupilor"! Amintiri inedite de la celebra finală a Cupei României din '95, Petrolul - Rapid" [The fantastic behind-the-scenes of the "wolves"! Unpublished memories from the famous Romanian Cup final of '95, Petrolul - Rapid] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  8. ^ "Florin Constantinovici. UEFA Cup qual 1996/1997". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "Florin Constantinovici. UEFA Cup 1996/1997". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "European Competitions 1996-97". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  9. ^ "Florin Constantinovici. Intertoto Cup 1997". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  10. ^ ""Am venit cu un tir plin cu cadouri de la Heerenveen"" ["I came back with a truck full of gifts from Heerenveen"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 15 February 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "Scurta carieră la Heerenveen a lui Mugur Gușatu, românul supărat că era rezerva lui Ruud van Nistelrooy" [Mugur Gușatu's short career at Heerenveen, the Romanian angry that he was Ruud van Nistelrooy's reserve] (in Romanian). Theplaymaker.ro. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  11. ^ a b c "Florin Constantinovici. Eredivisie 1997/1998". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  12. ^ "Heerenveen 3:1 NAC Breda". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  13. ^ "Florin Constantinovici. UEFA Cup qual 2000/2001". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "Florin Constantinovici. UEFA Cup 2000/2001". WorldFootball. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "European Competitions 2000-01". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  14. ^ a b c "Florin Constantinovici profile". 11v11. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  15. ^ a b "Nehru Cup 1991". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  16. ^ a b c "Florin Constantinovici". European Football. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  17. ^ "Egypt 3–1 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  18. ^ a b "Părăsește FRF după 22 de ani" [He leaves FRF after 22 years] (in Romanian). Golazo.ro. 16 April 2026. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  19. ^ a b "Secundul lui Nicolo Napoli și un asistent de meserie vor conduce echipa națională" [Nicolo Napoli's assistant and a professional assistant will lead the national team] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 30 March 2026. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  20. ^ "Mirel Rădoi dezvăluie marea sa nemulțumire după Europeanul de tineret: "Știți ce m-a deranjat?"" [Mirel Rădoi reveals his great dissatisfaction after the European Youth Championship: "Do you know what bothered me?"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  21. ^ "Mirel Rădoi şi-a completat staff-ul cu încă un antrenor secund" [Mirel Rădoi has completed his staff with another assistant coach] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  22. ^ "Staff-ul complet al echipei naționale la EURO 2024" [The full staff of the national team at EURO 2024] (in Romanian). Frf.ro. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "Cod portocaliu la Munchen: România surprinsă de furtună în "optimi", 0-3 cu Olanda" [Code orange in Munich: Romania surprised by storm in the "round of 16", 0-3 with the Netherlands] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
    "Florin Constantinovici a reacționat după ce s-a vehiculat că a fost dat afară de la FRF și nu o să fie oprit în staff-ul lui Gică Hagi: "Am avut o discuție cu Mihai Stoichiță"" [Florin Constantinovici reacted after it was reported that he was fired from the FRF and will not be allowed to stay on Gică Hagi's staff: "I had a discussion with Mihai Stoichiță"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 17 April 2026. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
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