Mario Marinică (born 13 December 1964) is a Romanian football manager and former player who is currently the Head Coach of the Malawi national football team. He holds the UEFA Pro Licence, the highest football coaching qualification. He has coached at Romanian clubs Rapid București, Gloria Buzău, Sportul Studenţesc, Argeş Piteşti, Rocar București, and Cimentul Fieni. He has also coached at Kerala Blasters in India, Azam F.C. in Tanzania, Black Leopards in South Africa, Zakho FC in Iraq, and Kaposvári Rákóczi FC in Hungary. In England, he has worked at Crystal Palace FC and Arsenal FC's Academies as well as Leyton Orient FC's School of Excellence. His playing career included spells at Rocar București, Dinamo București and Steaua București. Playing career Mario Marinică featured most notably in the youth and reserve teams at Rocar București, Dinamo București and Steaua București, eventually retiring from playing in 1993. In a 2009 interview with Sport Magazine he commented "I started at Dinamo, then I moved to Steaua. I played as a central midfielder. I also played for Rocar, Mecon and Girueta" Coaching career His coaching career commenced in 1993 at Leyton Orient FC. In a varied coaching role, he directed "Football in the Community" courses, and developed players both at the School of Excellence and first team; working closely with Grant Cornwell, John Sitton and Chris Ramsey. During the 1998–1999 season he coached Haringey Borough FC. He was both Head of Youth Development and First Team Coach as well as the club's Fitness Trainer. He would later return to the club as first team Manager for a brief spell at the end of the 2005–2006 season. Winning 6 out of the last 7 games, he saved the club from relegation together with his assistant Ged Searson. From 1999 to 2001, Marinică was a coach at the Arsenal F.C. Academy, primarily in charge of the under-15 team. During this period, as part of an exchange programme he spent a short time assisting Massimo Pedrazzini within the technical department of Internazionale. In the 2001–2002 season he returned to Rocar București as Assistant Manager. Here he helped to develop a number of players including Cristian Neamtu, Cristian Silvasan, Ionut Rada, and Silviu Balace, that have since been capped by their country. During 2002–2003, he became a development coach at the Crystal Palace FC Academy. He managed the U15 side, and coached from U14 to U19 levels.