Bogdan Stelea facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bogdan Stelea

Stelea in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Bogdan Gheorghe Stelea
Date of birth	(1967-12-05) 5 December 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.88 m
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1980–1986	Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1991	Dinamo București	98	(0)
1987	→ Politehnica Iași (loan)	0	(0)
1992–1993	Mallorca	52	(0)
1993	Standard Liège	3	(0)
1994	Rapid București	13	(0)
1994–1995	Samsunspor	31	(0)
1995–1997	Steaua București	47	(0)
1997–2004	Salamanca	183	(0)
2002	→ Rapid București (loan)	10	(0)
2004–2005	Dinamo București	13	(0)
2005	Akratitos	14	(0)
2006	Oțelul Galați	0	(0)
2006–2008	Unirea Urziceni	37	(0)
2008–2009	FC Brașov	23	(0)
Total		524	(0)
National team
1988–2005	Romania	91	(0)
Teams managed
2009–2011	Romania (assistant)
2012	Astra Ploiești
2013–2014	Romania U21
2014	Viitorul Constanța
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Bogdan Gheorghe Stelea (born December 5, 1967) is a famous Romanian footballer. He played as a goalkeeper. He played professionally until he was over 40 years old!

Bogdan played for all three major Liga I clubs in his home country's capital, Bucharest. He also spent a big part of his career in Spain, mostly with Salamanca. Stelea played almost 100 games for the Romanian national team. He represented his country in three World Cups and two European Championships.

Club Career Highlights

Bogdan Stelea was born in Bucharest and started playing football at age 12. He joined the youth team of Dinamo București. There, he trained with Iosif Varga and was teammates with Florin Prunea, who would also become a national team player.

He made his first professional appearance in Romania's top league, Liga I, on November 20, 1986. This was for Dinamo București. Soon after, he was loaned to Politehnica Iași. When he returned to Dinamo, he became the main goalkeeper in 1988.

• Success with Dinamo:
  • In the 1988–89 season, he helped Dinamo reach the quarter-finals of the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup. They only let in two goals in six games!
  • The next season, he helped the club win "The Double." This means they won both the league title and the national cup in the same year. They also reached the semi-finals of the 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup.
  • During a training camp, he was nicknamed "Arnold" because his haircut looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger's in the movie Red Heat.
  • In the 1991–92 season, Dinamo won the national championship again. Stelea then moved to Mallorca in Spain.

• Playing in Spain and Belgium:

After two seasons in Spain, he moved to Standard Liège in Belgium. He didn't play much there. To make sure he could be part of Romania's team for the 1994 World Cup, he quickly returned to Romania. He played for Rapid București for half a year.

• Time in Turkey and Return to Romania:

After the 1994 World Cup, Stelea played for a year in Turkey with Samsunspor. He was the first-choice goalkeeper there. Then, he came back to Romania and joined Steaua București.

• More Trophies with Steaua:
  • At Steaua, he helped the team win "The Double" two seasons in a row.
  • He played 11 games in the Champions League group stage during his time there.
  • He also helped Steaua win the Romanian Supercup in 1995.

• Long Spell at Salamanca:

In 1997, Stelea moved back to Spain to play for UD Salamanca. This was his longest time with one team, staying for seven years. During this time, he was loaned back to Rapid București for a short period. He played 191 games for Salamanca. The club was even nicknamed "Salamanca Rumana" because of all the Romanian players there!

• Later Career:
  • In 2004, Stelea returned to Dinamo București. He helped them win the Romanian Cup in 2005.
  • He then played in Greece for Akratitos in 2005.
  • In 2006, he returned to Romania to play for Oțelul Galați, but a serious injury kept him from playing.
  • He then moved to Unirea Urziceni for two seasons.
  • Bogdan Stelea finished his amazing 23-year career at age 41. His last club was FC Brașov in 2009.

International Career

Bogdan Stelea played 91 games for the Romanian national team. He made his first appearance on November 23, 1988, in a friendly game against Israel.

• World Cup and Euro Appearances:
  • He was part of the Romanian squad for the 1990 World Cup, but he didn't play.
  • He was a key player in Romania's "Golden Generation" team. This team reached the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup. He played in two games during that tournament.
  • He also played in the 1996 European Championship.
  • In the 1998 World Cup, he played in all four of Romania's games as they reached the Round of 16.
  • He also played in all four games at the 2000 European Championship, where Romania reached the quarter-finals.

• Later International Games:

In his final years with the national team, Stelea played in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. He was even the team's captain for one game against Armenia, where he played very well. His last game for Romania was on February 9, 2005, in a friendly match against Slovakia.

For his great contributions to Romanian football, especially in World and European Cups, Bogdan Stelea received a special medal from the President of Romania in 2008.

Managerial Career

After retiring as a player, Bogdan Stelea started coaching in 2009.

• He worked as an assistant coach for the Romanian national team.
• In 2012, he became the head coach of Astra Ploiești. However, he only stayed for two months.
• From 2013 to 2014, he coached Romania's under-21 national team.
• In June 2014, he took over as coach for Viitorul Constanța. He resigned after not winning any games in the first four matches of the season.

Personal Life

Bogdan Stelea's son, Bogdan Ionuț Stelea, also became a footballer. He played as a defender in the lower leagues of Romania.

Career Statistics

Club

International

Honours

Dinamo București

• Divizia A: 1989–90, 1991–92
• Cupa României: 1989–90, 2004–05

Standard Liège

• Belgian Super Cup runner-up: 1993

Steaua București

• Divizia A: 1995–96, 1996–97
• Cupa României: 1995–96, 1996–97
• Supercupa României: 1995

Rapid București

• Cupa României: 2001–02

Unirea Urziceni

• Cupa României runner-up: 2007–08

See also

In Spanish: Bogdan Stelea para niños