Nicolae Constantin Dică (; born 9 May 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player.
Deployed as an attacking midfielder or a forward, Dică was known for his incisive passing, long balls and spectacular finishes. He played professionally in four countries, but spent most of his career in his native Romania representing Dacia Mioveni, Argeș Pitești, Steaua București, CFR Cluj and Viitorul Constanța. He was a Romanian international for seven years, and was selected for the UEFA Euro 2008.
Since his retirement as a player, Dică has had several stints as either an assistant, a caretaker or a head coach at his former club Steaua București. He also managed Argeș Pitești and was an assistant at the Romania national team.
Club career Dacia Pitești Dică started playing professional football when he was 18 years old at a local team Dacia Pitești.
In his first season, Dică played in 17 games and scored 5 times for Dacia. In the second, he became a first team player and had a very good season, with Dacia finishing fourth in the Divizia B. He was one of the top scorers in the league that season with 14 goals.
Argeș Pitești Dică was seen as an upcoming talent and the local Divizia A club, Argeș Pitești, signed him in 2000. He made his debut for Argeș Pitești in a 2–1 win against Gaz Metan Mediaș. He was soon awarded the captain's armband after the transfers of Adrian Mutu to Dinamo București and Adrian Neaga to Steaua București.
Steaua București Romanian giants Steaua București paid €250,000 to sign him from Argeș Pitești in December 2003. He was transferred to Steaua after the recommendation of Victor Pițurcă and Mihai Stoica.
He made his debut in Europe in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup season, when Steaua eliminated previous winners Valencia, en route to the Round of 16, where they were knocked out by another Spanish side Villarreal.
In 2005 after Dică lost the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League, due to Steaua being eliminated by Rosenborg BK, he had another successful season in the UEFA Cup. The Bucharest club defeated the likes of Lens, Heereenven, Real Betis and their Romanian rivals Rapid București, on their way to the UEFA CUP semi-final, where they were eliminated by English Premier League club, Middlesbrough.
On 13 September 2006, Dică scored twice in the 4–1 away win against Dynamo Kyiv in Steaua București's opening game in the UEFA Champions League, this being his first ever appearance in said tournament. He went on to score four goals and add one assist in six games against group opponents, Dynamo Kyiv, Real Madrid, and Lyon. After his performances in the Champions League, the daily newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor gave the Romanian Footballer of the Year 2006 award to Dică.
On 23 January 2007, he suffered a knee injury while playing in a friendly against AC Siena, and missed most of the season. On 9 May, for his birthday, Dică returned to the team and was introduced in the late stages of the 2–0 victory against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. This was his first official game in 2007.
Catania On 28 June 2008, Dică moved to Catania, mainly due to the desire of his former Steaua coach, Walter Zenga. He was expected to replace midfielder Juan Manuel Vargas who moved to ACF Fiorentina, but ended up being a flop, taking part in just 93 minutes of play during his first six months with Palermo. Although it seemed almost certain that he would leave during the January transfer market, coach Walter Zenga kept him at Catania until the end of the Serie A season.
In June 2009, Iraklis signed Dică on loan from Calcio Catania. He made his competitive debut on 23 August 2009 and scored twice in a 2–1 win over Panthrakikos.
In January 2010, CFR Cluj signed the midfielder on loan from Catania until June 2010. He won the Liga I and the Romanian Cup with them, scoring his first goal in a 2–1 victory against Dinamo București in the second leg of the Cup semi-final.
In July 2010, Manisaspor signed the midfielder on loan from Catania until June 2011. He rarely made it to the first team and then, on 14 December 2010, he agreed to cancel his contract with Manisaspor.
Later years In January 2011, Dică signed a one-year contract with his former team, Steaua București. He made his debut for the club, on 27 February 2011, in a 1–0 win at Universitatea Craiova. On 5 April, he scored his first goal after his return to Steaua in a 5–0 home win over Unirea Urziceni. On 11 May, Dică scored the equalizer against AS Brașov, which sent Steaua through to the Romanian Cup final. On 25 May, Dică scored from a trademark free kick in a 2–1 victory over rivals Dinamo București, and won his second consecutive Romanian cup.
In May 2011, Dică joined Liga I side Dacia Mioveni. He received the number 80 jersey. On 31 October, Dică scored a goal in a 3–1 defeat to Concordia Chiajna. In January 2012, after fifteen games for the Liga I squad, he terminated his contract with Mioveni.
Later that month he signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Liga II side Viitorul Constanța. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Viitorul earned promotion to the Liga I, in part due to Dică's performances, who scored six goals in the second half of the season.
International career
On 11 October 2003, Dică made his debut for the Romania national team in a friendly game against Japan. He scored his first goal in August 2006, in a friendly game against Cyprus and amassed a total of 32 appearances for Romania.
Managerial career On 15 May 2017, it was announced that Nicolae Dică will be the manager of FCSB for the 2017–18 season. He went undefeated in his first ten games in all competitions before losing to Portuguese club Sporting CP, in the 2017–18 Champions League play-off. In December 2018, after a year and a half at the helm of the club, Dică terminated his contract with FCSB by mutual consent.
On 26 July 2022, Dică returned to FCSB. On 1 November 2022, Dică terminated his contract with FCSB by mutual consent.
On 14 January 2023, he was presented as the new manager of his former club Mioveni. He left the team by mutual consent on 26 April 2023.
On 17 July that year, he took charge of another Liga I side FC U Craiova. After two losses in the opening games of the season, he recorded two wins, before suffering a 4–3 defeat to Petrolul Ploiești on 18 August. The following day, only 34 days into his tenure, he was dismissed from the club.
Personal life In November 2003, Dică married Corina Zimbroianu, after the two met in 1998. He has a son, Marco Ilie, who was baptized by his former Steaua teammate, Mirel Radoi.
In March 2007, he had a difficult period in his life as his father died due to cirrhosis. Dică was under treatment at the Isokinetic clinic, in Bologna, when he heard the news. His father was the one who encouraged him to become a footballer.
Playing statistics
Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsDacia Pitești (loan)1998–99Divizia B175——1751999–00Divizia B3314——3314Total501900—5019Argeș Pitești2000–01Divizia A19410——2042001–02Divizia A271121——29122002–03Divizia A281050——33102003–04Divizia A14832——1710Total883411300—9937Steaua București2003–04Divizia A149———1492004–05Divizia A291100112—40132005–06Divizia A2915101561146212006–07Liga I2310001050033152007–08Liga I30900101—4010Total125541046141117369Catania2008–09Serie A3031——61Iraklis (loan)2009–10Super League Greece13300——133CFR Cluj (loan)2009–10Liga I13031——161Manisaspor (loan)2010–11Süper Lig5021——71Steaua București (loan)2010–11Liga I11422——136Mioveni2011–12Liga I15100——151Viitorul Constanța2011–12Liga II136———1362012–13Liga I261000——26102013–14Liga I30310——313Total69191000—7019Career total392134238461411462157
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsRomania200320200470200530200652200754200883200900201020Total329
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dică goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Nicolae DicăNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 16 August 2006 Stadionul Farul, Constanța, Romania 1–0 2–0 Friendly2 6 September 2006 Qemal Stafa, Tirana, Albania 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying3 22 August 2007 Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania 1–0 2–0 Friendly4 8 September 2007 Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus 2–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying5 21 November 2007 Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania 1–0 6–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying6 6–1 7 31 May 2008 Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania 3–0 4–0 Friendly8 31 May 2008 Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania 4–0 4–0 Friendly9 20 August 2008 Stadionul Tineretului, Urziceni, Romania 1–0 1–0 Friendly
Managerial statistics
TeamFromToRecordG W D L GF GA GD Win %Steaua București (caretaker)1 December 20153 December 2015SCM Pitești29 December 201531 May 2017FCSB1 June 201723 December 2018Argeș Pitești6 June 20197 October 2019FCSB26 July 20221 November 2022Mioveni14 January 202326 April 2023FC U Craiova17 July 202319 August 2023Voluntari31 January 202412 March 2024Argeș Pitești4 June 202421 September 2024Concordia Chiajna19 March 202522 September 2025Total
Honours Player Steaua București Divizia A: 2004–05, 2005–06 Cupa României: 2010–11 Supercupa României: 2006
CFR Cluj Liga I: 2009–10 Cupa României: 2009–10
Individual Romanian Footballer of the Year: 2006
Coach SCM Pitești Liga III: 2016–17
References
External links