Tudorel Stoica

Tudorel Stoica is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for the most club appearances for Steaua București.
He is one of the most decorated players in Romanian First League history. He is tied for second place in all-time championship wins, alongside Giedrius Arlauskis, Ciprian Deac, Adrian Bumbescu, Mircea Lucescu, and Dumitru Stângaciu, each with seven titles, while Marius Lăcătuș leads the ranking with ten championships.

Club career

Stoica made his Romanian first division debuts with FCM Galaţi in 1974, having previously played for CSU Galaţi in the second league.
After only one season, he transferred to country giants Steaua București where, safe for his first year, he was a nuclear midfield element as the team won – that season included – seven league titles and five domestic cups. He was a main player and captain of the squad that won the first European title in Romanian football's history, the European Cup, even though he did not play in [1986 UEFA Champions League|European Cup Final|the final] against FC Barcelona, because of accumulation of yellow cards.
In 1989, 35-year-old Stoica moved abroad for the first time, playing one season in France with second level side RC Lens, returning to Steaua where he finished his career at the age of 37. The longtime team captain amassed totals of 369 games and 43 goals in his country's top division, over the course of 15 professional seasons; in the early 1990s, he had brief spells as assistant manager with Steaua București and as head coach Romania U21.
On 25 March 2008, Stoica was decorated by Romanian president Traian Băsescu with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – class II, for his part in the winning of the 1986 European Cup.

During eight years, Stoica was capped 15 times for the Romania national team, but did not attend any major international tournament.
He made his debut on 14 October 1979 in a 1–3 friendly loss with the Soviet Union.

Steaua București

After retiring from football, Stoica served as scout for Belgian club Anderlecht. His son, Alin, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He also represented Steaua and the Romania national team, and played mainly in Belgium, representing four clubs.