he managed to reestablish himself as Vaslui's first choice left back, on 13 September he received a red card against Rapid Bucuresti, making him Vaslui's third choice left back. On 1 February 2010, he was loaned out to Universitatea Craiova, for the rest of the season. When asked about Vaslui and Timișoara's quest to claim their first national title, Bălace said that "I would rather Timișoara won the national title, although I'm still under contract with Vaslui". He missed a single match for Universitatea, due to the yellow card accumulation, and helped his team to avoid the relegation. At the end of the season, despite his expressed wish to remain in Craiova, he eventually returned to Vaslui. Once with Juan López Caro's appointment, Bălace didn't get a single chance to play in the first team. On 4 September 2010, Bălace led his team's training program, following Caro's conflict with the team's owner. Bălace has been reinstated as Vaslui's first choice left back, after the arrival of new manager Viorel Hizo, in his third sting as Vaslui boss. On 15 May 2011, Bălace scored his first league goal since September 2007, in a match against Sportul Studențesc at Municipal. The final score was 4–2, with Bălace scoring Vaslui's first with a header from Nemanja Milisavljević's cross. In his fourth season in Vaslui, he finished third with his team, for the second year in a row. On 3 August 2011, Bălace was considered Vaslui's best player by Twente's manager, who stated "I enjoyed how Vaslui's Bălace played, thus being our number one danger. He won many one-on-one duels with our Ruiz". On 19 August, following Cânu and Wesley's injuries, Bălace captained Vaslui for the first time, leading his team to a 2–0 win in Europa League against Sparta Prague. Following Vaslui's qualification into the Group Stages, Porumboiu raised each player's wage up to 50%, meaning that Bălace's contract is now up to €180,000 per year. Career honours Dinamo București Liga I: 2006–07 FC Vaslui UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008 ACS Poli Timișoara Liga II: 2014–15 References External links 1978 births Living people People from Caracal, Romania Romanian footballers Association football fullbacks Liga I players Liga II players FC U Craiova 1948 players AFC Rocar București players CSM Reșița players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC Dinamo București players FC Vaslui players CS Turnu Severin players ACS Poli Timișoara players Romanian football managers ACS Poli