Dică playing for CFR Cluj |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicolae Constantin Dică | ||
| Date of birth | 9 May 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Piteşti, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Free Agent | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2000 | Dacia Piteşti | 50 | (19) |
| 2000–2004 | Argeş Piteşti | 89 | (34) |
| 2004–2008 | Steaua Bucureşti | 124 | (54) |
| 2008–2010 | Catania | 3 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | → Iraklis (loan) | 13 | (3) |
| 2010 | → CFR Cluj (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Manisaspor (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2011 | Steaua Bucureşti | 11 | (4) |
| 2011 | Mioveni | 14 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003– | Romania | 32 | (9) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Nicolae Constantin Dică (born 9 May 1980 in Piteşti) is a Romanian football attacking midfielder. He is a playmaker or forward known for his incisive passing and long balls. He is on 2nd place top scorer for Steaua with 14 goals in European competitions.
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Dică started playing professional football when he was 18 years old at a local team in his birth town, Dacia Piteşti, in Divizia B.
In his inaugural season, Dică played in 17 games and scored 5 times for Dacia Piteşti. In the second, he played in almost all the games and had a very good period, with his side finishing fourth. He was one of the top scorers in the league that season with 14 goals. Dică was seen as an upcoming talent and the Divizia A team of his town, FC Argeş Piteşti, signed him in 2000. Dică played for Dacia Piteşti a total of 50 times and scored 19 goals in Liga II.
Dică made his debut in Liga I for FC Argeş Piteşti in a 2–1 win against Gaz Metan Medias. He was soon awarded captaincy of the team after Adrian Mutu went to Dinamo and Adrian Neaga departed for Steaua Bucureşti. Dică's skill inevitably attracted interest from the top teams in the Romanian championship.
Dică played 89 matches and scored 34 goals for Argeş Piteşti.
Romanian giants Steaua Bucureşti paid €250,000 to sign him from Argeş Piteşti in December 2003. He was brought to Steaua by Victor Piturca and Mihai Stoica.
In the first season for Steaua he scored 9 times in 14 games, helping the side to a runners-up spot to eventual champions and bitter rivals, Dinamo Bucureşti. At the next season, Dică had some disputes with the fans and was anxious to leave but remained at Steaua and in the next season, helping them to the championship title with a total of 11 goals. The following season, Steaua won the league again and Dica's value grew. He contributed with 15 goals, finishing the top scorer for Steaua.
He debuted in European competition in the 2004–2005 season when Steaua qualified for the UEFA Cup, eliminating previous winners Valencia en route to the Round of 16, where they were knocked out by another Spanish side, Villareal.
In 2005 after they lost the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League groups due to elimination by Rosenborg BK, they had another fairly successful season in the UEFA Cup. They defeated the likes of Lens, Heereenven, Real Betis and their traditional Romanian rivals Rapid Bucureşti in the quarter finals, but were unfortunately eliminated in the semi-final by English Premier League side, Middlesbrough.[2]
On 13 September 2006, Dica scored twice in the 4–1 away win against Dynamo Kiev in Steaua Bucureşti's opening game in the UEFA Champions League, this being his first ever appearance in said tournament.[3] He went on go on to score four goals and add one assist in six games against group opponents, Dynamo Kiev, Real Madrid, and Olympique Lyonnais.
The daily newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor gave the Romania's player of the year 2006 honour to Dică along with Claudiu Niculescu from Dinamo Bucureşti.[4]
On 23 January 2007, he suffered a knee injury during a friendly against Siena 2 and missed most on the season.[5] On May 9, for his birthday, Dica returned to Steaua Bucureşti and was introduced in the late stages of the 2–0 victory against Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt, even gaining the captain's band before running on to the Ghencea field again. This was his first official game in 2007. Dica played 46 matches in the European cups scoring 14 times.
On 28 June 2008, Dică moved to Catania, mainly by the desire of his past and actual coach, Walter Zenga. He is expected to replace midfielder Juan Manuel Vargas who moved to AC Fiorentina.[6] Since moving to Sicily he has been a big flop, taking part in just 93 minutes of play during his first six months. It seemed almost certain that he would leave during the January transfer market, but coach Walter Zenga claimed that he would not leave Catania until next summer.
During the month of June 2009, Iraklis signed the player on loan from Calcio Catania.[7] 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 Calcio until June 2010. He won the Romanian League with them, and the Romanian Cup scoring his first goal in a 2–1 victory against Dinamo Bucharest in the second leg of the Romanian Cup semi-final.
In July 2010, Manisaspor signed the midfielder on loan from Catania Calcio until June 2011. He rarely made it to the first team and then, agreed to cancel his contract with Manisaspor at 14 December 2010.[8]
On January 2011, Dică signed a one-year contract with his former team. 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 FC Braşov which sent Steaua through to the final of the Romanian Cup. On 25 May, Dică scored a trademark free kick in a 2–1 victory over rivals Dinamo Bucharest, winning his second consecutive cup.
In June 2011, Dică left Steaua.
Later that month he joined Liga I side Dacia Mioveni. He received the number 80 jersey.[9]
(Correct as of 30 October 2011)
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dacia Piteşti | |||||||||
| 1998–99 | 17 | 5 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 | |
| 1999–00 | 33 | 14 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 33 | 14 | |
| Total | 50 | 19 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 50 | 19 | |
| FC Argeş | |||||||||
| 2000–01 | 19 | 4 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 19 | 4 | |
| 2001–02 | 27 | 11 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 27 | 11 | |
| 2002–03 | 28 | 10 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 28 | 10 | |
| 2003–04 | 14 | 8 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 14 | 8 | |
| Total | 89 | 34 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 89 | 34 | |
| Steaua | |||||||||
| 2003–04 | 14 | 9 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 14 | 9 | |
| 2004–05 | 29 | 11 | ? | ? | 11 | 2 | 40 | 13 | |
| 2005–06 | 29 | 15 | ? | ? | 15 | 6 | 44 | 21 | |
| 2006–07 | 23 | 10 | ? | ? | 10 | 5 | 33 | 15 | |
| 2007–08 | 30 | 9 | ? | ? | 10 | 1 | 40 | 10 | |
| Total | 125 | 54 | ? | ? | 46 | 14 | 171 | 68 | |
| Catania | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | 3 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Iraklis | |||||||||
| 2009–10 | 13 | 3 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | |
| Total | 13 | 3 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | |
| CFR Cluj | |||||||||
| 2009–10 | 13 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Manisaspor | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | 5 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 5 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Steaua | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | |
| Total | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | |
| Mioveni | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Career total | 319 | 114 | 2 | 2 | 46 | 14 | 367 | 130 | |
Dică debuted on 11 October 2003 at the national Romanian team in a friendly game against Japan.
Dică won 25 caps for Romania, scoring his first goal in August 2006 in a friendly against Cyprus. After his injury suffered in a club-team friendly in January 2007 Dică will rejoin the "tricolorii" in qualifying for the Euro 2008 with the Romanian national team.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 August 2006 | Stadionul Farul, Constanţa, Romania | Cyprus | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 6 September 2006 | Qemal Stafa, Tirana, Albania | Albania | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying |
| 3 | 22 August 2007 | Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania | Turkey | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 4 | 8 September 2007 | Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus | Belarus | 2–1 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying |
| 5 | 21 November 2007 | Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania | Albania | 1–0 | 6–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying |
| 6 | 21 November 2007 | Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania | Albania | 6–1 | 6–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying |
| 7 | 31 May 2008 | Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania | Montenegro | 3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 8 | 31 May 2008 | Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania | Montenegro | 4–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 20 August 2008 | Stadionul Tineretului, Urziceni, Romania | Latvia | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
In November 2003, Dică married Corina Zimbroianu. The two met in 1998 and since then they never stood apart. He has a son, Marco Ilie, who was baptized by his teammate from Steaua Bucureşti, Mirel Radoi.
On 8 March 2007, Dică suffered a difficult period of 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 football player.
Each time he scores a goal Dică, being very spiritual, makes the sign of the cross, kisses his hands and points two fingers to the sky, one for God and the other for his late father.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Adrian Neaga |
Steaua Top Scorer 2004–2005 2005–2006 |
Succeeded by Valentin Badea |
| Preceded by Valentin Badea |
Steaua Top Scorer 2007–2008 |
Succeeded by Pantelis Kapetanos Bogdan Stancu |
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