Cristian Șchiopu
Romanian footballer (born 1974)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cristian Șchiopu (born 19 January 1974) is a Romanian former football player who played as a central back for Foresta Fălticeni, Mureșul Toplița and Farul Constanța.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 19 January 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Fălticeni, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Centre back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Foresta Fălticeni | ||
| 1995–1996 | Mureșul Toplița | ||
| 1996–2002 | Foresta Fălticeni | 176 | (14) |
| 2002–2010 | Farul Constanța | 189 | (4) |
| Total | 365 | (18) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011 | Callatis Mangalia (assistant) | ||
| 2011 | Callatis Mangalia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 September 2024 | |||
Playing career
Șchiopu was born on 19 January 1974 in Fălticeni, Romania and began playing football in 1992 at local club Foresta in Divizia B.[1] Two years later the team was relegated to Divizia C, but he stayed with the club, helping it get promoted back after one season.[1] Then he went for one season at Mureșul Toplița in Divizia B.[1] Subsequently, he returned to Foresta which he helped earn promotion to the first league in 1997.[1] He made his Divizia A debut on 2 August under coach Marin Barbu in a 2–1 home loss to Argeș Pitești.[1][2] In 1999, Foresta was relegated, but Șchiopu helped it gain promotion back after one year.[1] On 11 November 2000, he was used the entire match by coach Barbu in the historical 5–4 away win over Dinamo București after Dinamo at one point led with 4–0.[3][4] However, at the end of the season, the team was relegated once again.[1]
After staying one season with Foresta in Divizia B, Șchiopu returned to first league football when he signed in 2002 with Farul Constanța.[1] In his first season he scored two goals, the first one being the victory goal of a 2–1 success against Argeș Pitești and the second was in a 1–0 win over UTA Arad.[1][5] He reached the 2005 Cupa României final, where coach Petre Grigoraș used him the entire match in the 1–0 loss to Dinamo București.[6][7] In 2006 he started to play in European competitions, appearing in both legs of the 4–2 loss on aggregate to Auxerre in the third round of the Intertoto Cup.[1][8] In the 2007–08 season, Șchiopu scored his last first league goals from penalty kicks in two 1–0 wins over Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț and Gloria Bistrița.[1][9] In the following season, on 25 October 2008, he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 1–0 away loss to Unirea Urziceni, totaling 272 matches with eight goals in the competition.[1][10] Șchiopu wanted to play one more season for Farul in the second league, to help it get promoted back to the first league.[1][3][10] However, after he suffered a ligament injury in the first round of the 2009–10 season in a game against Dunărea Giurgiu, Șchiopu decided to retire.[1][3][10]
Coaching career
Șchiopu coached mostly at junior level, at Farul Constanța and Gheorghe Hagi's Football Academy, with the latter working three years and winning one national title.[3][11] He also coached seniors, being Marin Barbu's assistant at Callatis Mangalia in 2011.[3][11][12] Subsequently, after Barbu was dismissed, Șchiopu was head coach for a while.[3][11][13] In 2016 together with another coach, Cătălin Agafiței, he set up the Constanța Marina 2015 Sports Association, where children were trained in football.[11][14]