[1] Although deployed as a forward, Cristea was better known for his pace and his range of passing instead of his goalscoring abilities, and represented the Romania national team from 2003 to 2010.
[2] Cristea started football in his home town and made his debut in the Divizia A in 2001, for local club FCM Bacău.
[4] However, he did not manage to earn a first-team place there, despite scoring two goals that eliminated Valencia CF in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup season.
[8] Cristea again went on loan to Politehnica Iași, in the winter transfer window, where he was very well received and scored seven times in 15 games, goals which proved crucial in helping the team continue in the first division.
[12] 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.
Initially, Cristea wanted to stay in Germany, where he had offers from Ingolstadt and Energie Cottbus,[13] but Dinamo approached him and he accepted to return to Bucharest where he had the chance to again work under Dario Bonetti.
[17] 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.