Munteanu takes Steaua baton from Lăcătuş

FC Steaua Bucureşti have appointed Dorinel Munteanu as their head coach on a two-year contract.

Change of leadership
The 40-year-old former Romanian international midfielder replaces Marius Lăcătuş who resigned last Wednesday in the wake of Steaua's 5-3 home defeat by Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Champions League. Munteanu left his job at second division CFM Universitatea Cluj on Saturday, having been in charge for four months only. His coaching experience also includes spells with CFR 1907 Cluj, FC 2005 SA Arges and SC Vaslui.

Record holder
Lăcătuş had guided Steaua to second place last season but they are currently fourth in the Liga 1 table and bottom of UEFA Champions League Group F – where they have one point from three games. Munteanu is Romania's record cap holder, having played 134 times for his country. He appeared at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups as well as at EURO 96™ and UEFA EURO 2000™. During a long playing career, he represented FC Inter Sibiu, FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti and Steaua – winning the league title in 2004/05 – in addition to spells abroad with Belgium's Cercle Brugge KSV, and 1. FC Köln and VfL Wolfsburg in Germany. In summer 2005 he was appointed CFR coach and immediately reached the UEFA Intertoto Cup final in his first campaign, the club's European debut.