Constantin Gâlcă
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 8 March 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1989 | Progresul București | ||
| 1989–1991 | Argeș Pitești | 35 | (2) |
| 1991–1996 | Steaua București | 148 | (24) |
| 1996–1997 | Mallorca | 34 | (13) |
| 1997–2001 | Espanyol | 123 | (16) |
| 2001–2003 | Villarreal | 38 | (1) |
| 2003 | → Zaragoza (loan) | 24 | (0) |
| 2003–2006 | Almería | 98 | (4) |
| Total | 500 | (60) | |
| National team | |||
| 1993–2005 | Romania | 68 | (4) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2009–2010 | Almería B | ||
| 2013–2014 | Romania U17 | ||
| 2014–2015 | Steaua București | ||
| 2015–2016 | Espanyol | ||
| 2016–2017 | Al-Taawoun | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Constantin Gâlcă (born 8 March 1972) is a Romanian retired footballer, and the former manager of Saudi club Al-Taawoun FC.
Equally at ease as defensive or central midfielder with an accurate long-range shot, he first made a name for himself at Steaua București, then proceeded to spend one full decade in Spain, playing in 318 matches in both major levels combined and representing five clubs.
Additionally, Gâlcă appeared for Romania in two World Cups and as many European Championships, gaining 68 caps. In 2009, he started working as a manager.
Born in Bucharest, Gâlcă's senior career began at age 16 in the third division, with FC Progresul București. Only one year after he switched to the Liga I with lowly FC Argeș Pitești, for whom he played four times towards the end of the season, soon breaking into the Romanian national under-21 team.
After one more season with solid displays (31 games, two goals), Gâlcă signed with country giants FC Steaua București, immediately beginning to produce: in his debut campaign he scored five times in 26 matches, including twice from long-range.
Gâlcă stayed at Steaua two more seasons, netting 13 goals combined. After winning the cup and having appeared in nearly 200 official matches, he left for Spain where he would remain the next 11 years. First stop was RCD Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, for which he scored 13 times to help to a promotion to La Liga (that total was tied for squad best). He then experienced a steady period with Barcelona's RCD Espanyol, scoring five goals in his third season, which also ended with conquest of the Copa del Rey.
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