Mircea Axente has decided to end his professional playing career during this competitive break. The 34-year-old former Politehnica striker started his senior career in our city, where he also settled.

“There are several reasons, but mainly it’s the wear and tear I’ve reached, after a career full of training camps, I haven’t had a missed season. I’ve played year after year, over 25-30 games everywhere I’ve been and that’s been felt a lot lately. I decided it was better to call it a day now. I also thought about the fact that it’s during the championship, but it’s this break and there might still be time for the club to fill in at striker. After all, even if they don’t, there are players who can play there and do well. There are a lot of young players. I thought about this aspect as well, to give them their place, because from what I have seen they are good players, who can be very good and not only for League 2,” said Mircea Axente.

“I think that all the choices I made have proved to be good. There is a regret that I didn’t manage to win the championship at Timisoara (2010-11 season) and then with ASA, where it was a team with many colleagues that I also had at Timisoara. It was a nice period when we finished 2nd and I think that if we were supported more, I don’t mean here by the supporters, but by the club, the management, at least that’s how I felt, we could have quietly won the title that year… At Tg. Mures was a very good period, the same at Mediaș, there was the best statistically… At Viitorul I worked with Mr. Hagi and I ate football on bread. It was a year that was useful for me, I formed the best, I found my identity as a striker”, Axente added.

The striker also talked about the last two years of his career, spent with Politehnica in League 2: “I am grateful that I managed to be part of the Politehnica family. The first year was a good year, unfortunately because of the pandemic the championship stopped, I think we had formed a good team and we were in a good period. There was still a lot to play… Then the second year was very condensed and demanding, but it was good because it was the best ranking of the current team. A nice year really, as a team, teammates, all the people around the team. We had a lot of great moments.”

As a high schooler on Bega, Mircea didn’t choose the “easy” path. In parallel with his sports activity, he was a student first at CD Loga and then at the Technical College in Timisoara. Moreover, he continued his studies and graduated from an economics university. This year he also completed a master’s degree in management and does not exclude that in the near future he will work in the offices of our club. “It remains to be seen, in the future I would like to work in administration. Not a coach … I just finished this year my master’s degree at Politehnica University in management. I think I would like this field. I think that besides having experience over the years. I’ve had a lot of clubs, a lot of presidents, coaches I’ve worked with. Everywhere I’ve tried to take the good things. There’s nothing for sure, it’s just thoughts. At this moment I want to disconnect a little bit, a short break. The important thing is that I will still be at the games, next to the team, I am in contact especially with the young players. I have a good relationship with them and I always like to talk to them, advise them, they are open and we always consult each other,” Axente stressed.

Mircea Ionuț Axente was born on 14 March 1987 in Tulcea. A forward by trade, he started playing football at LPS Galați and was transferred to Timisoara at the age of 17. He played in the country for FC Politehnica (formerly FC Timișoara), CFR Timișoara, FCM Reșița, CS Buftea, Gloria Buzău, Oțelul Galați, Dinamo București, Viitorul Constanța, ASA Tg. Mureș, Gaz Metan Mediaș, FC Botoșani, “U” Cluj and Politehnica Timișoara. He has also played for the following foreign clubs: PGS Ermis Aradippou (Cyprus), Maccabi Netanya (Israel) and Al-Faisaly Football Club (Saudi Arabia).

At first division level he scored 41 goals in 191 matches played. He has played nine times in the preliminary rounds of the Europa League and scored twice (both goals in the double between FC Timișoara and Finnish side MYPA).

He won the Romanian Super Cup with Dinamo (2011-12) and ASA Tg. Mureș (2015-16), as well as the Cyprus Super Cup with Ermis Aradippou (2014-15). On two occasions he was runner-up of Romania. With FC Timișoara (2010-11) and ASA Tg. Mures (2014-15).

He joined Politehnica in mid-July 2019. In his first season he was the top scorer of the white-violet, with eight goals in the interrupted championship after only 22 matches. In official games he has 59 games and 11 goals scored in our team’s jersey.

Thanks for everything, Mircea!