Cosmin Olăroiu

Club career

As a player, Olăroiu's best-known clubs he played for are Universitatea Craiova and Naţional București. However, he also played with success in K League for Suwon Samsung Bluewings where he helped the club to win two K League titles in 1998 and 1999. He also won the Korean League Cup and twice the Super Cup. He finished his playing career with JEF United Ichihara in 2000.

Coaching career

Early years

He started his coaching career during the 2000–01 season at Naţional București, leading them to a respectable 7th place in his first season.

In the summer 2002, Olăroiu signed for Steaua București. He resigned after only seven league games, blaming the decision on a lack of support from the board and players. The club president Viorel Păunescu re-appointed Victor Piţurcă, former manager before 2002 who wanted to return to head-coaching and was still highly regarded by the players.

After leaving Steaua București, Olăroiu returned to Național București, this time as a general manager. In 2003, he was named head coach again, replacing Walter Zenga.

In the winter of 2004, Olăroiu joined FCU Poli Timişoara and brought with him the best players from Național București. He led them to a near historical fourth-place finish in Divizia A, but in November 2005 he was sacked by the club's owner Marian Iancu.

Steaua Bucharest

Just some days after, Olăroiu was appointed manager by Gigi Becali, the new president, and this time owner, of Steaua București, to replace Oleh Protasov. His first championship title as coach came in June 2006 and then one month later, he led the club to the conquest of the Supercupa României. In May 2006, Olăroiu's side reached the semi-finals of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. He also helped Steaua to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stages, where they played against Dynamo Kyiv, Real Madrid and Olympique Lyon. Steaua secured a third place and a spot in the UEFA Cup knockout rounds.

Al-Hilal

In June 2007, Olăroiu signed for Al-Hilal. In 2008, he again proved his coaching worth, winning the Saudi Premier League and the Crown Prince Cup in his first season in charge. He led his side to a second Crown Prince Cup title before leaving the club in February 2009, while leading them to the first position in the league.

Al-Sadd

In April 2009, he signed a two-year contract with Al-Sadd. In December 2010, Olăroiu announced his resignation as club boss immediately after leading his side to the Qatari Stars Cup.

On 5 May 2011, Olăroiu was named supervisor for Steaua București for the last three matches of Liga I in the 2010–11 season and the 2011 Cupa României Final. Steaua's assistant coach, Gabriel Caramarin took charge of the team as caretaker manager, for the last remaining games.

Al Ain

In the summer of 2011, Cosmin Olăroiu was hired as Al Ain manager on a two-year contract. He steered the club away from the relegation zone, before leading them to the UAE Pro-League title in the 2011–12 season. On 18 September 2012, he also won the UAE Super Cup with Al Ain.

He then repeated the performance the following season, winning a consecutive title for Al Ain. In June 2013, Olăroiu signed a contract extension with Al Ain reportedly worth €4 million a season after penning new two-year deal. However, the contract was terminated on 1 July 2013.

Al Ahli

On 6 July 2013, it was announced that Olăroiu signed a three-year contract with Dubai side Al Ahli. On 30 August, Olăroiu won his first match in charge of Al Ahli against his former club Al Ain in the Super Cup final. In April 2014, Cosmin Olăroiu mathematically won his third consecutive league title as Al Ahli won over arch rivals Al Wasl 2–1. During his first season in charge, Olăroiu won three domestic titles and was awarded as Coach of the Year by the UAE Pro League in 2014.

He guided the club to their first AFC Champions League final in 2015, where they lost 1–0 on aggregate to China's Guangzhou Evergrande.

In the 2016–17 season, Olăroiu became one of the highest paid managers in world football, earning a sum of €6.5 million annually.

Saudi Arabia

On 15 December 2014, it was announced that he will train the Saudi Arabia national football team for 2015 AFC Asian Cup as temporary coach. His first match in charge was a 4–1 loss to Bahrain in a friendly match. Olăroiu's side also lost two next matches, including a 1–0 loss to China in 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia's first match at the tournament. They won their next match 4–1 against North Korea but lost 3–1 their final match against Uzbekistan and were eliminated in the group stages. The results is a consequence of his not knowing his players well, having only been appointed in a hurriedly temporary agreement. At the end of the tournament, Olăroiu returned to his club position.

Jiangsu Suning

On 28 March 2018, Olăroiu was appointed at Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Super League, replacing Fabio Capello. He took charge of his first match on 1 April in a home game against Tianjin Teda, which Jiangsu won 2–1.

In his third season, Jiangsu Suning won the Super League title for the first time in the club's history. However, the club folded before the start of the 2021 season.

Sharjah

On 10 November 2021, Olăroiu returned to the United Arab Emirates to help an out of form Sharjah stay competitive in the UAE Pro League. On 18 May 2025, Olăroiu won the inaugural AFC Champions League Two with the club, the successor to the former AFC Cup. He became the fourth Romanian coach after Costică Ștefănescu, Valeriu Tița and Marin Ion, to win the competition.

United Arab Emirates

On 18 April 2025, Olăroiu was appointed as the new head coach of United Arab Emirates national team replacing Paulo Bento.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

• K League: 1998, 1999
• Korean League Cup: 1999, 2000
• Korean Super Cup: 1999, 2000
• Daehan Fire Insurance Cup: 1999
• Asian Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1997–98

Manager

Steaua București

• Divizia A: 2005–06
• Supercupa României: 2006

Al Hilal

• Saudi Pro League: 2007–08
• Saudi Crown Prince Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09

Al Sadd

• Qatari Stars Cup: 2010

Al Ain

• UAE Pro League: 2011–12, 2012–13
• UAE Super Cup: 2012

Shabab Al Ahli

• UAE Pro League: 2013–14, 2015–16
• UAE President's Cup runner-up: 2013–14, 2014–15
• UAE League Cup: 2013–14, 2016–17
• UAE Super Cup: 2013, 2014, 2016
• AFC Champions League runner-up: 2015

Jiangsu Suning

• Chinese Super League: 2020
• Chinese FA Cup runner-up: 2020

Sharjah

• UAE President's Cup: 2021–22, 2022–23
• UAE League Cup: 2022–23
• UAE Super Cup: 2022
• AFC Champions League Two: 2024–25

Individual

• Gazeta Sporturilor Romania Coach of the Year: 2006, 2020 (joint with Răzvan Lucescu)
• AGL Coach of the Year: 2014, 2016, 2017
• : 2015

References

References

1. "United Arab Emirates Football Association". FIFA.
2. (5 May 2011). "Portretul lui Olăroiu, antrenorul adus de Becali să salveze Steaua: cifre, culise, imagini". [[Gazeta Sporturilor]].
3. (1 June 2002). "Romania round-up: Dinamo snatch title on final day". [[UEFA]].
4. (25 June 2002). "Olaroiu makes capital move". [[UEFA]].
5. (18 October 2002). "Unhappy Olaroiu quits Steaua". [[UEFA]].
6. (10 September 2003). "All change at National". [[UEFA]].
7. (8 March 2006). "Romania gears up for restart". [[UEFA]].
8. (11 April 2006). "Steaua's tower of strength". [[UEFA]].
9. (24 August 2006). "Steaua fulfil Becali's dream". [[UEFA]].
10. (7 June 2011). "Al Ain appoint Romanian Cosmin Olaroiu as coach". [[The National (Abu Dhabi).
11. (17 April 2009). "Qatar: Al Sadd appoint Cosmin Olaroiu as Coach". Goal.com.
12. (23 December 2010). "Trio of coaches leave Middle East". [[FIFA]].
13. (28 April 2012). "Al Ain coach Cosmin Olaroiu hails 'perfect' players after clinching UAE Pro-League title". Goal.com.
14. (18 September 2012). "Super Cup: Goalkeeper is hero for Al Ain after penalty drama". [[The National (Abu Dhabi).
15. (18 April 2013). "Asamoah Gyan hat-trick wins Al Ain an 11th Etisalat Pro League title". [[Gulf News]].
16. (9 June 2013). "Cosmin Olaroiu extends Al Ain contract". gulfnews.com.
17. (6 July 2013). "Cosmin Olaroiu confirmed as Al Ahli coach on three-year deal". alahliclub.ae (official website).
18. (30 August 2013). "Majed Nasser the penalty shootout hero for Al Ahli". gulfnews.com.
19. (10 April 2014). "Al Ahli clinch Arabian Gulf League title with win over Al Wasl". [[The National (Abu Dhabi).
20. (18 May 2014). "Al Hammadi, Grafite and Olaroiu rewarded for Al Ahli's fine season". Sport 360.
21. (15 June 2016). "Al Ahli's coach is paid higher than every single coach of Euro 2016 teams.". Goal.com.
22. (26 September 2017). "Olăroiu, salariu uriaş la arabi! Câştigă mai bine decât Simeone". Fanatik.
23. (16 December 2014). "Saudi Arabia opt for Olaroiu ahead of AFC Asian Cup". [[Asian Football Confederation.
24. link. [[Jiangsu Suning]]. (28 March 2018)
25. (1 April 2018). "Jiangsu Suning FC 2–1 Tianjin Teda". [[Sky Sports]].
26. (12 November 2020). "Teixeira shines as Jiangsu Suning edge Guangzhou Evergrande for first CSL title". The AFC.
27. (10 November 2021). "كوزمين في الإمارات للمرة الثالثة عبر الشارقة".
28. (18 May 2025). "Sharjah edge Sailors to savour glory". The AFC.
29. (18 May 2025). "Sharjah crowned champions of AFC Champions League 2".
30. (19 April 2025). "United Arab Emirates turn to Olaroiu".
31. (2020-11-12). "Inspired Teixeira drags Jiangsu to first Chinese Super League title".