In the summer of 1989, Timofte had offers from Dinamo București and Steaua București.[2] He chose to play for the first, because they were building a team composed of mainly young players like himself, and also the coach that promoted him to the senior squad at Jiul, Mulțescu, advised him to do so.[1][2] In his first season at Dinamo, the club won The Double, with Timofte being used by coach Mircea Lucescu in 20 league matches in which he scored eight goals, including one in a 3–0 derby win over Steaua.[1][2][4][5] He was also introduced in the 57th minute to replace Anton Doboș in the 6–4 victory in the Cupa României final against Steaua.[1][2][6] In the same season he played eight games in the 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign as the club reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated after 2–0 on aggregate by Anderlecht.[1][2][7]
In the middle of the following season, Timofte left Dinamo and joined Bayer Uerdingen, making his Bundesliga debut on 23 February 1991 when coach Friedhelm Konietzka used him the entire match in a 0–0 draw against Nürnberg.[1][8] The team was relegated at the end of his first season, but he stayed with the club, helping it gain promotion back after one year.[1] During his period spent in Germany he was teammates with fellow Romanian Michael Klein.[9]
Timofte returned to Dinamo for the 1992–93 season, finishing runner-up in the league.[1] Afterwards he went to play in Turkey at Samsunspor along compatriots Bogdan Stelea, Marius Cheregi, Ovidiu Hanganu, Silvian Dobre and Luca Constantin, being coached by Gheorghe Mulțescu.[1][10] In his six-season spell there, he made a total of 132 Süper Lig appearances with 18 goals scored, and won the 1993–94 Balkans Cup.[1] Subsequently, he returned for a third and final spell at Dinamo, with whom he managed to win The Double in the 1999–2000 season, being used by coach Cornel Dinu in six league games.[1][4] Timofte has a total of 98 matches with 15 goals in Divizia A and 24 games (including seven matches in the Intertoto Cup) in European competitions.[1]
International career
Timofte has 22 appearances with two goals scored for Romania, making his debut on 28 March 1990 under coach Emerich Jenei in a friendly that ended with a 3–1 away victory against Egypt in which he scored once.[11][12]
Jenei used him in three games in the 1990 World Cup final tournament, as the team reached the round of 16 where the campaign ended after a 0–0 (5–4, after penalty kicks) loss to Ireland in which at the penalty shootout his strike was the only one defended by goalkeeper Packie Bonner.[11][13][14][15][16] That penalty miss followed him when he went with Dinamo to play against Irish club St Patrick's Athletic in the 1990–91 European Cup, the Irish fans gave him mocking cheers for his shootout miss.[13] After he ended his career, Timofte opened a number of bars in Petroșani, the first being named "Penalty", and also Packie Bonner named his boat "Timofte".[13][14][15]
For representing his country at the 1990 World Cup, Timofte was decorated by President of RomaniaTraian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.[18]
↑"Timofte, secundul lui "Munti""[Timofte "Munti's" assistant] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2025. "FC Vaslui are suporter de lux"[FC Vaslui has a luxury supporter] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 25 August 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
123"Timofte, confirmat la Brăila"[Timofte, confirmed la Brăila] (in Romanian). Liga2.prosport.ro. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
