| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Ştefan Costescu | ||
| Date of birth | 14 July 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Câmpina, Prahova county, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| –1996 | Sterom Câmpina | ||
| 1996–1998 | Poiana Câmpina | 60 | (15) |
| 1998–2002 | Petrolul Ploieşti | 113 | (27) |
| 2002–2003 | Astra Ploieşti | 26 | (10) |
| 2003–2004 | Petrolul Ploieşti | 36 | (9) |
| 2004–2006 | Argeş Piteşti | 28 | (2) |
| 2006–2007 | Unirea Urziceni | 18 | (2) |
| 2007 | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ | 8 | (0) |
| 2007 | Dacia Mioveni | 13 | (2) |
| 2008 | Progresul Bucureşti | 16 | (6) |
| 2009 | Delta Tulcea | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Daniel Ştefan Costescu (born 14 July 1976) is a former Romanian footballer who usually played as a striker. He scored 44 goals in 222 matches in the Romanian First Division and 21 goals in 67 matches in the Romanian Second Division. His first match in Divizia A (Romanian First Division) was Olimpia Satu Mare - Petrolul Ploieşti 3-0 on 1 August 1998, while playing for Petrolul Ploieşti. He was selected once in the Romanian Divisionary National Team (comprising players playing only in the Romanian leagues).
Born in Câmpina, Prahova county, Costescu began playing football with Sterom Câmpina in Divizia D (Romanian Fourth Division), and in 1996 he moved to the representative team of the same town, Poiana Câmpina, in Divizia B, the Romanian Second Division. He played 2 years for Poiana Câmpina, scoring 15 goals in 60 games, helping the team getting a top 10 finish in both seasons.
He then attracted the interest of Petrolul Ploieşti in Divizia A, the best team from the Prahova county, three-time champions of Romania. At Petrolul Ploieşti he established himself as an important striker in the Romanian league, scoring 27 goals between 1999 and 2002. During his time at Petrolul Ploieşti he caught the eyes of Romanian greats Steaua Bucureşti and Dinamo Bucuresti.
After his experience at Petrolul Ploieşti, he changed the team but not the city, signing for Astra Ploieşti, where he had a prolific season, scoring 10 goals in 26 games, helping them to a record-high 9th position in Divizia A.
After his short spell at Astra Ploieşti, he returned to Petrolul Ploieşti, where he played for another 2 years, scoring 9 goals in 36 games.
In 2004 he transferred to a well-established club in Romania, FC Argeş Piteşti, 2-time champions of Romania and the team that gave players like Nicolae Dobrin, Adrian Mutu, Adrian Neaga, Dănuţ Coman and Paul Codrea. But, unfortunately for him, his time at FC Argeş was not one of the best, managing to score just 2 goals in 1 season.
He was transferred in 2006 by Divizia A newcomers Unirea Urziceni, who were in need of an experienced man upfront. Unirea proved to be a surprise-pack, finishing 10th in the league, and Daniel scored 2 goals for his new team.
After his season at Unirea he transferred to Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ.