having offers from Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, and other two French clubs such as Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain. In a match against Maccabi Haifa, on 14 December, Marica scored one goal, to help his team to a 3–0 win. On 29 January 2012, Marica scored a double against 1. FC Köln Although Lukas Podolski opened the score in the first half, Marica made it 2–1 for FC Schalke 04, with the game eventually ending in a 4–1 win for his team. Towards the end of his contract with the team he received interest from teams such as Shakhtar, Lazio and Inter. Getafe On 27 September 2013, Marica signed a contract with Spanish La Liga side Getafe. He made his Getafe debut on 6 October as a substitute in the 3–1 win against Betis Sevilla. On 31 October, Marica scored his first league goal in a 2–0 away win against Villarreal. In May 2014, he scored twice in a 2–1 win over Rayo Vallecano, keeping Getafe out of the relegation zone. Konyaspor In the summer of 2014, Marica signed a two-year contract with Turkish side Konyaspor. On 15 October 2015, he was released by Konyaspor. Marica played only seven games in 14 months for the Turkish side, mainly because of his injuries. FCSB On 14 January 2016, Marica reached an agreement with FCSB, thus returning to Romania after twelve years. He became the 59th footballer to play for both big Bucharest rivals, Dinamo and FCSB. In his first match with FCSB, a 2–0 victory against Concordia Chiajna, he played from the start and was replaced after 84 minutes. His performance was deemed weak and conservative, as he only managed to get two opportunities in a game in which he was otherwise unremarkable. International career Marica scored 25 goals in 71 caps. He made his debut on 16 November 2003, in a friendly game with Italy played in Ancona and won by Squadra Azzurra 1–0. Marica was introduces in the 81st minute, replacing Daniel Pancu. His first goal for the national team came on 17 November 2004, in a match against Armenia. On 25 March 2008, he was awarded the "Meritul Sportiv", class III medal, by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for the results on Qualifying to EURO 2008 and qualification to UEFA Euro 2008 Group C. He scored his first double for Romania in a 2012 European championship qualifying