Cosmin Contra · Biography

The first trophy of Cosmin Marius Contra’s career was the 1994-95 Divizia B title, won with Politehnica Timișoara, his hometown club. He was born in Timișoara, Romania, on 15 December 1975 and played at right-back and occasionally in midfield. As a player he spent time in Romania, Spain, Italy and England and won 73 caps for Romania. After retiring he moved into coaching and has led teams in Romania, Spain, China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Early years in Timișoara

He came through CSȘ Timișoara between 1982 and 1988 before joining the Politehnica Timișoara academy, where he stayed until 1993. He made his first-team debut in 1994 and played 51 league games over two seasons. On 24 April 1996 he won his first senior cap, in a 5-0 win over Georgia. Later that year he moved to Dinamo București, making 101 league appearances and scoring 8 goals before leaving in 1999.

Alavés and Milan

In 1999 he moved to Spain with Deportivo Alavés. In Vitoria he was a regular in the side that reached the 2001 UEFA Cup final, lost 5-4 to Liverpool after extra time, on a golden goal, in Dortmund. Contra played in that final. That year he was named Romanian Footballer of the Year and was included in the UEFA Team of the Year. In the summer of 2001 he joined AC Milan. On 21 October 2001 he came on at half-time in the derby against Inter, scoring once and setting up another goal in a 4-2 win for the rossoneri. He made 29 league appearances in Italy and scored 3 goals.

Atlético Madrid and Getafe

He joined Atlético Madrid in September 2002. An ankle injury limited him to very few minutes in 2003-04, and in 2004 he went on loan to West Bromwich Albion, where he played only a handful of games. In 2005 he returned to Politehnica Timișoara on loan, and that summer he moved to Getafe, first on loan and later permanently. At the club from Madrid’s southern suburbs he was a fixture at right-back and was part of the squad that reached two consecutive Copa del Rey finals: in 2007, lost 1-0 to Sevilla, and in 2008, lost 3-1 to Valencia. In the 2007-08 UEFA Cup he scored in both legs of the quarter-final against Bayern Munich, a tie that finished 4-4 on aggregate after extra time. In 2010 he went back to Politehnica Timișoara, where his playing career came to an end.

Romania national team

For the senior side he won 73 caps and scored 7 goals between 1996 and 2010. Earlier he had played at the 1998 European Under-21 Championship, hosted by Romania. At Euro 2000 he started all three group games, but a suspension for yellow cards ruled him out of the quarter-final, a 2-0 defeat to Italy. At Euro 2008 he played every minute for Romania, who went out in the group stage. He announced his international retirement in 2009 but was recalled in August 2010. His final appearance was a 1-1 draw with Albania in qualifying for Euro 2012.

First coaching jobs

He began coaching in 2010 as player-manager of Politehnica Timișoara. In July 2012 he took charge of Fuenlabrada, in the Spanish third tier, and in October that year he moved to Petrolul Ploiești, winning the 2012-13 Romanian Cup with a 1-0 victory over CFR Cluj in the final. On 10 March 2014 he replaced Luis García Plaza at Getafe, with the team one point above the relegation zone. He secured survival on 18 May 2014, the closing matchday of the league, with a 2-1 away win at Rayo Vallecano. He left in January 2015 to coach Guangzhou R&F in China, where he stayed until July of that year.

Alcorcón, Dinamo and Romania

In June 2016 he signed for Alcorcón, in the Spanish second division, who dismissed him in October. In February 2017 he took over Dinamo București and won the 2016-17 Romanian League Cup. In September 2017 he was appointed Romania head coach, succeeding Christoph Daum. He started with a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan and left in November 2019 after Romania finished fourth in their Euro 2020 qualifying group, behind Spain, Sweden and Norway. Between August and December 2020 he had a second spell at Dinamo.

Middle East

In August 2021 he joined Saudi club Al-Ittihad, finishing runner-up in the 2021-22 league, two points behind Al-Hilal. He was named Manager of the Month for February 2022. In March 2023 he took over Damac, whom he coached until December 2024. In July 2025 he spent only a few weeks at Al-Kholood, and on 15 October 2025 he was appointed head coach of Qatari club Al-Arabi.