Daniel Costescu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (August 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (August 2007)

Daniel Ştefan Costescu is a Romanian football player currently playing for FC Progresul Bucureşti in the Romanian 2nd Division. He usually plays as a striker. He can play by himself in attack due to his well-known strength and speed. He was born on July 14, 1976 in the city of Campina, Prahova county. He is 180cm tall and he weighs 75 kg.

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 August 1, 1998, while playing for Petrolul Ploieşti. He was selected once in the Romanian Divisionary National Team (comprising players playing only in the Romanian leagues), but it did not count as an official selection.

He started his career with Sterom Campina in Divizia D (Romanian Fouth Division), and in 1996 he moved to the representative team of the same town, Poiana Campina, in Divizia B (Romanian Second Division). He played 2 years for Poiana, scoring 15 goals in 60 games, helping the team getting a top 10 finish in both seasons.

He then attracted the interest of Petrolul Ploiesti in Divizia A, the best team in Prahova county and three-time champions of Romania. At Petrolul he established himself as an important striker in the Romanian league, scoring 27 goals between 1999 and 2002. During his time at Petrolul he caught the eyes of Romanian greats Steaua Bucharest, but their interest never materialized.

After his experience at Petrolul, he changed the team but not the city, signing for SC Astra Ploiesti, 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, he returned to his beloved team, Petrolul, 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 Arges Pitesti, 2-time champions of Romania and the team that gave players like Nicolae Dobrin, Adrian Mutu, Adrian Neaga, Daniel Coman and Paul Codrea. But, unfortunately for Daniel, his time at Arges wasn't one of the best, managing to score just 2 goals in 2 seasons.

Despite his bad form, 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, but Daniel only scored 2 goals for his new team.

After his season at Unirea he transferred to Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt, with which he was relegated for the first time in his career. The president of Ceahlaul, Gheorghe Stefan (nicknamed Pinalti), well-known in Romania for his outspoken style and rash decisions, accused Costescu and 2 other players of non-combat and released them from the club.