27 February, he scored the last goal of the game in the 1–4 loss against FC Ingolstadt 04, after coming from bench. On 11 March, Cristea scored the first goal of the match in Karlsruhe-Duisburg, 3–1 final score. On 15 May, in the last round of the Second Bundesliga, the Romanian striker saved his club from relegation, scoring a brace in the 3–2 win against Union Berlin. The next season Karlsruhe were relegated after a play-off and Cristea became a free agent. Initially, Cristea wanted to stay in Germany, where he had offers from Ingolstadt and Energie Cottbus, but Dinamo approached him and he accepted to return to Bucharest where he had the chance to again work under Dario Bonetti. On 22 June 2014, Cristea signed a one-year contract with Azerbaijan Premier League side Gabala FK. In December of the same year Cristea had his contract with Gabala terminated. Following his release he signed with Lega Pro side U.S. Salernitana 1919 until the end of the season. Politehnica Iași After playing for Salernitana and Martina Franca in the Italian Serie C, in February 2016, Cristea returned to Romania to join his former team, Liga I club Politehnica Iași. He subsequently signed a one and a half-year contract with the Moldavian squad. He scored 7 goals in 17 games in the second half of the 2015–16 Liga I and helped Politehnica Iași qualify for the 2016–17 Europa League qualifying phase for the first time in their history. He then opened the scoring in a 2–2 draw against Hajduk Split in their first European game. On 14 December 2018, in a game against Concordia Chiajna, Cristea scored a brace and reached 100 goals scored in the Romanian Liga I. On 27 September 2020, Cristea scored a hat-trick in a 5–2 league win over FCSB. International career Cristea made his debut for the Romania national team on 11 October 2003, in a 1–1 draw against Japan. Over the years he made ten appearances for the national team, until his retirement in 2010. Career statistics Club International Honours Club Steaua București Divizia A: 2004–05, 2005–06 Dinamo București Supercupa României: 2012 US Salernitana Serie C: 2014–15 Individual Liga I top scorer: 2009–10 References External links 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Bacău Romanian footballers Association football forwards Liga I players FC Steaua București players FCM Bacău players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC Politehnica Iași (1945)