Nicolae Dica - Best moments - Part III

Nicolae Constantin Dica (born 9 May 1980 in Pitesti) 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. He is one of the most talented players of the last years in Romania, starting football in Pitesti, alongside other prodigies like Adrian Mutu and Adrian Neaga.

Dica started playing professional football when he was 18 years old at a local team in his birth town, Dacia Pitesti, in Divizia B. In his inaugural season, Dica played in 17 games and scored 5 times for Dacia Pitesti. 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. Dica was seen as an upcoming talent and the Divizia A team of his town, FC Arges Pitesti, signed him in 2000. Dica played for Dacia Pitesti a total of 50 times and scored 19 goals in Liga II.

Dica made his debut in Liga I for FC Arges Pitesti 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 Bucuresti. Dica's skill inevitably attracted interest from the top teams in the Romanian championship.
Dica played 89 matches and scored 34 goals for Arges Pitesti.

Romanian giants Steaua Bucuresti paid 250,000 Euro to sign him from Arges Pitesti 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 Bucuresti. At the next season, Dica 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 Bucuresti in the quarter finals, but were unfortunately eliminated in the semi-final by English Premier League side, Middlesbrough.

On 13 September 2006, Dica scored twice in the 4--1 away win against Dynamo Kiev in Steaua Bucuresti's opening game in the UEFA Champions League, this being his first ever appearance in said tournament. 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 Dica along with Claudiu Niculescu from Dinamo Bucuresti. Dica played 46 matches in the European cups scoring 14 times.

On 28 June 2008, Dica moved to Catania, mainly by the desire of Walter Zenga. After a poor season for the Italians, Iraklis Thesaloniki signed the player on loan from Calcio Catania. 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.

In January 2011, Dica signed a one-year contract with Steaua Bucharest, where he had his best days as a football player. He made his debut for the club on 27 February 2011, in a 1--0 win at Universitatea Craiova. On Aprilie 5th, he scored his first goal after his return to Steaua in a 5--0 home win over Unirea Urziceni. On 11 May, Dica scored the equalizer against FC Brasov, which sent Steaua through to the final of the Romanian Cup. On 25 May, Dica scored a trademark free kick in a 2--1 victory over rivals Dinamo Bucharest, winning his second consecutive cup. In June 2011, Dica left Steaua for Liga I new-comers Dacia Mioveni, where he holds the captaincy. Throughout his career, he has played a total of 358 games, scoring 130 goals, most of them for Steaua Bucharest.

NATIONAL TEAM

Dica debuted for the National Team of Romania in a friendly game against Japan, in October 2003. He won 32 caps for Romania, scoring 9 goals, his first in August 2006 in a friendly against Cyprus.