Nicolae Mitea facts for kids

Nicolae Mitea, born on March 24, 1985, is a former professional footballer from Romania. He played as a winger, which means he played on the sides of the field. From 2003 to 2005, he played eight games for the Romanian national team and scored two goals.

Nicolae Mitea's Football Journey

Starting in Youth Teams

Nicolae Mitea was born in Bucharest, Romania. He started playing football at a young age in 1994. His first club was FRB Titan. In 1997, he moved to Juventus București. A year later, he joined Dinamo București. In 2001, he switched teams again to Rapid București.

In 2002, Mitea and another player, Roberto Iancu, had a tryout at FC Barcelona. They did well, but they could not sign a contract. This was because of some issues with their sports agent. Mitea also tried out for Mircea Lucescu's Galatasaray team. He impressed them too, but again, he did not sign a contract.

Playing for Dinamo București

In 2002, Nicolae Mitea returned to Dinamo București. This is where he began his professional career. He played his first game in Romania's top league, Divizia A, on November 24. Coach Cornel Dinu put him in the game for the last few minutes. Dinamo won that game 1–0 against FC Brașov.

In 2003, Dinamo București won the Cupa României (Romanian Cup). Mitea played in one Cup game, a 3–0 win against Steaua București. However, he did not play in the final match. During the same season, Mitea also played for Poiana Câmpina. This was a team connected to Dinamo. He helped them move up from the third league to the second league.

Time at Ajax

After playing only nine games in Romania, Mitea moved to the Dutch club Ajax. Ajax paid $720,000 for him. He played his first game in the Eredivisie (Dutch league) on September 13, 2003. Coach Ronald Koeman put him in the game for the last few minutes. Ajax won 4–1 at home.

Mitea scored his first goal on October 5 in a 3–1 win against FC Groningen. He also scored the winning goal in a 2–1 game against their rivals, PSV Eindhoven. He started playing in European competitions too. He played four games in the Champions League that season. His first season at Ajax was very good. At just 18 years old, he played in 23 league games and scored seven goals. He helped Ajax win the league title.

In the next season, he played in the Champions League again. He played six games and scored one goal against Bayern Munich. Because of his great performances, he won the "2004 Ajax Talent of the Year" award.

However, Mitea's career faced a challenge when he got a knee injury. This injury kept him from playing for a long time. He only played one game for Ajax in the 2005–06 season. In the next season, he did not play regularly either. The manager, Henk ten Cate, did not choose him often. He was no longer the first choice for the left-wing position.

Even though he did not play much, he still won the 2006–07 KNVB Cup (Dutch Cup). He played three games in that competition and scored once. He was on the bench for the final game, which Ajax won. Due to more small injuries and not being chosen by the coaches, Mitea did not play any games for Ajax in the 2007–08 season. The new coach, Marco van Basten, told him to find a new club.

During his time at Ajax, he played with other Romanian players, Bogdan Lobonț and George Ogăraru. He also became good friends with Zlatan Ibrahimović. Mitea really liked coach Ronald Koeman. He later said that Koeman was like a "father in football" to him. He felt Koeman supported him a lot.

Back to Dinamo București

In August 2008, Mitea went back to Dinamo București. Coach Mircea Rednic thought Mitea would make the team faster. However, Mitea did not become a key player for the team. One year later, he ended his contract with the club.

Later in His Career

In August 2010, Mitea signed with Ionikos, a team in the Greek second league. But he did not play any games for them. The next summer, he returned to Romania to play for Petrolul Ploiești. He worked with coach Valeriu Răchită there.

He played his first game for Petrolul Ploiești after more than two years away from football. He came on as a substitute in a 1–0 loss. In his second and final game for the club, Mitea scored his only goal in Romania's top league. This was in a 5–1 loss against his old team, Dinamo.

In July 2013, his youth coach, Ionuț Chirilă, brought Mitea to Concordia Chiajna. But in February 2014, Mitea left the club without playing any games. He had problems with his physical fitness. He stopped playing football at the age of 28.

Playing for His Country

From 2002 to 2006, Nicolae Mitea often played for Romania's under-19 and under-21 national teams.

He played eight games and scored two goals for the main Romanian national team. His first game was on August 20, 2003. Coach Anghel Iordănescu put him in the game for the last few minutes. Romania won 2–0 against Ukraine.

His last three games for the national team were in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. In the first of these games, he scored two goals. This helped Romania win 2–1 against Macedonia. The other two games were a loss to Netherlands and a win against Armenia.

Career Statistics

Here are the details of Nicolae Mitea's games and goals for his clubs and national team.

Club Games and Goals

International Stats

International Goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mitea goal.

List of international goals scored by Nicolae Mitea

#	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	30 March 2005	Stadion Gradski Park, Skopje, Macedonia	6	Macedonia	1–0	2–1	2006 World Cup qualifiers
2					2–1

Awards and Trophies

Dinamo București

• Cupa României: 2002–03

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 2003–04
• KNVB Cup: 2006–07

See also

In Spanish: Nicolae Mitea para niños