Cosmin Olăroiu

1.1. Background

Aurelian Cosmin Olăroiu was born on June 10, 1969, in Bucharest, Romania. During his playing career, he primarily played as a defender, often as a centre-back. In South Korea, where he played for Suwon Samsung Bluewings, his registered name was 올리_Oli^Korean. When he played in Japan for JEF United Ichihara, his registered name was オラロイ_Olaroi^Japanese.

2.1. Club career

Olăroiu began his playing career in Romania. He played for Gloria Buzău FC in the 1989-1990 season, followed by MECON București in 1990-1991, and Jirul București (also known as Gilueta București) in 1991-1992. From 1992 to 1995, he was with Național București, making 80 appearances and scoring 8 goals. He then moved to Universitatea Craiova, where he played from 1995 to 1997, featuring in 37 matches and scoring 2 goals. These two clubs are considered among his best-known playing destinations in Romania.

In 1997, Olăroiu transitioned to Asian football, joining Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the K League in South Korea. He played for Suwon until 2000, making 98 appearances and helping the club secure two K League titles. In 2000, he finished his playing career with a loan spell at JEF United Ichihara in Japan, making 10 appearances and scoring no goals in the J1 League, and 1 appearance in the J.League Cup.

2.2. Player honours

Cosmin Olăroiu achieved several titles during his playing career:

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

3.1. Early coaching roles in Romania

Olăroiu began his coaching career in the 2000-01 season with Național București. In his first season, he led the club to a respectable 7th-place finish. In the following season, he guided Național București to a second-place finish in the league, surpassing notable clubs like Steaua București and Rapid București.

In the summer of 2002, Olăroiu signed with Steaua București. However, he resigned after only seven league games, citing a lack of support from both the board and the players. The club president, Viorel Păunescu, subsequently re-appointed Victor Piţurcă, who had previously managed the team before 2002 and maintained high regard among the players.

After his brief stint at Steaua București, Olăroiu returned to Național București, initially taking on a general manager role. In 2003, he was re-appointed as head coach, succeeding Walter Zenga. In the winter of 2004, Olăroiu moved to FCU Poli Timişoara, bringing with him several key players from Național București. He led the team to a near-historic fourth-place finish in the Divizia A (now Liga I), but was sacked by the club's owner, Marian Iancu, in November 2005.

3.2. Return to Steaua București

Just days after his departure from Politehnica Timişoara, Olăroiu was appointed manager of Steaua București by the new president and owner, Gigi Becali, replacing Oleh Protasov. His first championship title as a coach came in June 2006, when he led Steaua to win the Divizia A. One month later, in July 2006, he guided the club to conquer the Supercupa României. In May 2006, Olăroiu's team reached the semi-finals of the 2005-06 UEFA Cup. He also successfully helped Steaua qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stages, where they competed against prominent clubs such as Dynamo Kyiv, Real Madrid, and Olympique Lyon. Steaua secured a third-place finish in their group, earning a spot in the UEFA Cup knockout rounds.

3.3. Al-Hilal

In June 2007, Cosmin Olăroiu moved to Saudi Arabia, signing with Al-Hilal. In 2008, he once again demonstrated his coaching prowess, winning the Saudi Premier League and the Saudi Crown Prince Cup in his debut season. He led his side to a second consecutive Saudi Crown Prince Cup title before departing the club in February 2009, at which point Al-Hilal was leading the league standings.

3.4. Al-Sadd

In April 2009, Olăroiu signed a two-year contract with Qatari club Al-Sadd. In December 2010, he announced his resignation as the club's manager immediately after leading his team to victory in the Qatari Stars Cup. On May 5, 2011, Olăroiu briefly returned to Steaua București as a supervisor for the final three matches of the 2010-11 Liga I season and the 2011 Cupa României Final. During this period, Steaua's assistant coach, Gabriel Caramarin, served as caretaker manager.

3.5. Al Ain

In the summer of 2011, Cosmin Olăroiu was appointed manager of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, signing a two-year contract. He successfully steered the club away from the relegation zone and subsequently led them to win the UAE Pro-League title in the 2011-12 season. On September 18, 2012, he also secured the UAE Super Cup with Al Ain.

Olăroiu continued his success, repeating the league-winning performance in the following season, clinching a consecutive title for Al Ain in the 2012-13 season. In June 2013, he signed a contract extension with Al Ain, reportedly valued at 4.00 M EUR per season for a new two-year deal. However, this contract was terminated on July 1, 2013, just a month after it was signed.

3.6. Al Ahli

On July 6, 2013, it was announced that Olăroiu had signed a three-year contract with Dubai-based club Al Ahli. On August 30, he won his first match in charge of Al Ahli against his former club, Al Ain, in the UAE Super Cup final. In April 2014, Cosmin Olăroiu mathematically secured his third consecutive league title in the UAE as Al Ahli defeated their arch-rivals Al Wasl 2-1, clinching the Arabian Gulf League title. During his inaugural season with Al Ahli, Olăroiu won three domestic titles and was recognized as the 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 ultimately lost 1-0 on aggregate to Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. In the 2016-17 season, Olăroiu became one of the highest-paid managers in world football, reportedly earning an annual salary of 6.50 M EUR. He departed Al Ahli on December 2, 2017.

3.7. Saudi Arabia national team (temporary)

On December 15, 2014, it was announced that Cosmin Olăroiu would temporarily coach the Saudi Arabia national football team for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. His debut match in charge was a 1-4 loss to Bahrain in a friendly match. Olăroiu's side subsequently lost two more matches, including a 0-2 friendly loss to South Korea and a 0-1 defeat to China in Saudi Arabia's opening match of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. They managed a 4-1 victory against North Korea in their next fixture but were eliminated from the group stages after a 1-3 loss to Uzbekistan in their final match. The limited results were largely attributed to his short appointment and insufficient time to familiarize himself with the players. At the conclusion of the tournament, Olăroiu returned to his club position.

3.8. Jiangsu Suning

On March 28, 2018, Olăroiu was appointed manager of Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Super League, taking over from Fabio Capello. He oversaw his first match on April 1, a home game against Tianjin Teda, which Jiangsu won 2-1.

In his third season with the club, Jiangsu Suning achieved a historic milestone by winning their first-ever Super League title. However, the club unfortunately folded before the commencement of the 2021 season. Jiangsu Suning also finished as runner-up in the 2020 Chinese FA Cup.

3.9. Sharjah FC

On November 10, 2021, Olăroiu returned to the United Arab Emirates for his third stint in the country, taking on the role of manager for Sharjah. He joined the club when it was struggling to remain competitive in the UAE Pro League. Under his guidance, Sharjah has achieved notable success, including winning the UAE President's Cup in both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, the UAE League Cup in 2022-2023, and the UAE Super Cup in 2022.