Cosmin Contra

Cosmin Contra

Contra as a Getafe player
Personal information
Full name	Cosmin Marius Contra
Date of birth	(1975-12-15) 15 December 1975
Place of birth	Timişoara, Romania
Height
Position(s)	Right back / Midfielder
Youth career
1988–1993	Politehnica Timișoara
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1995	Politehnica Timișoara	51	(1)
1996–1999	Dinamo Bucureşti	101	(8)
1999–2001	Alavés	66	(5)
2001–2002	Milan	29	(3)
2002–2006	Atlético Madrid	34	(0)
2004–2005	→ West Bromwich (loan)	4	(0)
2005	→ Politehnica Timișoara (loan)	14	(0)
2005–2006	→ Getafe (loan)	24	(0)
2006–2010	Getafe	60	(3)
2010–2011	Politehnica Timișoara	22	(4)
Total		405	(24)
International career
1996–2010	Romania	73	(7)
Managerial career
2010	Politehnica Timișoara
2012	Fuenlabrada
2012–2014	Petrolul Ploiești
2014–2015	Getafe
2015	Guangzhou R&F
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cosmin Marius Contra (born 15 December 1975) is a Romanian retired footballer who played mainly as a right back, and a current manager.

Offensively minded, he could also operate as a midfielder, and played professionally in four countries (his own included), but mainly in Spain where he is best known for his time at Getafe, whom he helped consolidate in La Liga. He played a total of 188 league games in Spain, and scored eight goals over the course of a decade, which also included spells with Alavés and Atlético Madrid.

A Romanian international for nearly 15 years, Contra represented the nation in two European Championships.

Playing career

Club

Early years / Alavés

Born in Timişoara, Contra started his professional career at local club FC Politehnica, and moved in January 1996 to arch-rivals FC Dinamo Bucureşti.

After three and a half seasons with the Bucharest team, he was signed for $800.000 by Spain's Deportivo Alavés, where he became an important player in the Basque side's runner-up run in the UEFA Cup, his performances earning him in a place in the season's UEFA Team of the Year; he also scored five La Liga goals in his two years at the club.

Milan / Atlético

In the summer of 2001 Contra moved to Italian giants A.C. Milan, but his spell there lasted only one season. In September 2002 he returned to Spain, signing for Atlético Madrid. He stayed with the Colchoneros for two seasons, though he played very little in his second year due to a serious ankle condition. While at Milan, he was suspended after a scuffle with Juventus FC's Edgar Davids.

Contra signed for West Bromwich Albion on loan in August 2004, and he made his debut for the Baggies in a 2–1 defeat at Colchester United in the campaign's Football League Cup on 21 September. His maiden Premier League appearance came almost two months later, when Albion lost 2–1 at home against Middlesbrough.

Overall the loan was not particularly successful, with Contra playing just six games and receiving a red card in the last game of his spell, a 5–0 home defeat to Liverpool. He then returned to his country and Liga I, to the club which brought him up as a player, Politehnica Timisoara. He went on to earn a recall to the national side due to his good performances in Romania.

Getafe / Late career

In August 2005 Contra returned to Spain, agreeing to a season-long loan with Getafe CF which was subsequently made permanent. He was used regularly by the Madrid side, battling for a first-team slot with David Cortés.

In the 2007–08 UEFA Cup Contra netted in both legs in an end-to-end quarterfinal tie against FC Bayern Munich, which finished 4–4 on aggregate after extra time. Earlier in the competition he scored a penalty kick against AEK Athens FC, appearing in that match even though his father had died just hours before. In September 2006, he became a naturalized Spanish citizen.

In late January 2010, after being ousted from the starting eleven by manager Míchel, Contra left Getafe and returned to his country, rejoining his hometown club FC Timișoara initially until June. On 26 February 2010 he made his debut in his second spell for the club, netting from a 30-yard a free kick against FC Politehnica Iaşi; two months later, against FC Steaua Bucureşti, he again found the net from two set pieces, one from a penalty kick. During his second stint, he played mainly as a central midfielder.

On 29 August 2010, Contra scored again from a free kick against Steaua, scoring a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw. The day after, his contract expired. On 9 September he signed a new contract with the club, and only six days later, was announced as Timișoara's new player-manager.

International

Over 14 years Contra earned 73 caps for Romania, scoring seven goals. He appeared for his country at UEFA Euro 2000 and 2008.

On 1 April 2009, after a match with Austria, Contra announced his retirement from international football. On 30 August 2010, however, the 34-year-old was recalled for two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Albania and Belarus.

International goals

Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first:

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 March 2001	Boris Paichadze, Tbilisi, Georgia	Georgia	2–0	2–0	2002 World Cup qualification
2	14 November 2001	Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Slovenia	1–1	1–1	2002 World Cup qualification – Playoffs
3	16 October 2002	Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	4–0	7–0	Euro 2004 qualifying
4	16 October 2002	Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	5–0	7–0	Euro 2004 qualifying
5	16 October 2002	Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	7–0	7–0	Euro 2004 qualifying
6	28 March 2007	Stadionul Ceahlăul, Piatra Neamţ, Romania	Luxembourg	2–0	3–0	Euro 2008 qualifying
7	6 June 2007	Dan Păltinişanu, Timişoara, Romania	Slovenia	2–0	2–0	Euro 2008 qualifying

Managerial career

Early career

Contra made his Timişoara debut as a manager in September 2010, with a win against FC Sportul Studențesc București. Even though the club never lost a game under his guidance, he was sacked after 11 matches (six wins, five draws) because of a conflict with the team's owner.

In July 2012 Contra returned to Spain, being appointed at Segunda División B side CF Fuenlabrada. He started the campaign well and, after ten rounds, the team found itself in a play-off position; however, after an offer from FC Petrolul Ploieşti in his homeland arrived, he asked to be released from his contract.

Petrolul

Contra took over at Petrolul in October 2012, replacing Mircea Rednic. In his first season in charge he reached the final of the Romanian Cup, defeating CFR Cluj 1–0; additionally, the club finished third in the domestic league, thus securing qualification to the Europa League after an 18-year-absence.

Petrolul managed to knock-out Víkingur Gøta in the Europa League second qualifying round and Vitesse Arnhem in the third, but were eliminated in the play-offs by Swansea City after being defeated 1–5 in Wales and winning 2–1 at home.

Getafe

On 10 March 2014, Contra returned to Getafe and the Spanish top flight after four years, replacing Luis García who was sacked after a long run of bad results which led the club to only a point above the relegation zone, and without a league win since November. His first match in charge came four days later, a 3–3 home draw to Granada CF; on the 30th the team finally won a game, emerging victorious at Valencia CF 3–1.

On 19 May 2014 Contra managed to leave his team above the relegation zone, after a 2–1 win at Rayo Vallecano.

Guangzhou R&F

On 18 December 2014 Contra was named as the new manager of Guangzhou R&F FC, replacing Sven-Göran Eriksson. He began working officially for the club on 4 January of the following year.

Honours

Player

Club

Alavés

• UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2000–01

Getafe

• Copa del Rey: Runner-up 2006–07, 2007–08

Individual

• Romanian Footballer of the Year: 2001
• UEFA Team of the Year: 2001

Manager

Petrolul Ploiești

• Cupa României: 2012–13

Managerial statistics

As of 22 July 2015

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win %
FC Timișoara		15 September 2010	5 December 2010	14	8	5	1	25	16	57.14
Fuenlabrada		21 July 2012	29 October 2012	10	5	3	2	19	14	50.00
Petrolul Ploiești		29 October 2012	10 March 2014	58	33	20	5	99	48	56.90
Getafe		10 March 2014	4 January 2015	30	10	8	12	30	35	33.33
Guangzhou R&F		4 January 2015	22 July 2015	30	9	7	14	37	45	30.00
Total				142	65	43	34	210	158	45.77

External links

• RomanianSoccer profile and stats
• Cosmin Contra profile at BDFutbol
• Cosmin Contra manager profile at BDFutbol
• Cosmin Contra career statistics at Soccerbase
• Cosmin Contra at National-Football-Teams.com