Spanish football club RCD Espanyol Barcelona named former Romanian footballer Costel Galca to take over as the team’s manager, on Monday, December 15, after they fired former manager Sergio Gonzalez for poor results.

Espanyol Barcelona currently ranks 12th in the Spanish top league Primera Division, with only 5 victories and 2 draws after 15 rounds.

Costel Galca, a former Romanian international footballer, managed Steaua Bucharest in the 2014-2015 season, managing to win the Romanian league, Romania’s Cup and Romania’s League Cup. However, the club didn’t prolong his contract.

Galca, 43, previously managed Romania’s Under 17 national team, and Spanish club Almeria B.

In his footballer career, he played defensive or central midfielder for Steaua Bucharest (1991 to 1996), and then for Spanish clubs Mallorca (1996-1997), Espanyol (1997-2001), Villareal (2001-2003), and Almeria (2003-2006). He played a total of 500 official games and scored 60 goals.

He also played 68 matches for Romania’s national team for which he scored 4 goals.

Galca is only the second Romanian to coach a Primera Division team, after Cosmin Contra, who managed Getafe in the 2014-2015 season.

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editor@romania-insider.com