 He then opened the scoring in a 2–2 draw against Hajduk Split in their first European game.On 14 december 2018, in a game against Concordia Chiajna, Cristea scored a brace and reached 100 goals scored in the Romanian Liga I.

Cristea made his debut for the Romanian national team on 11 October 2003, in a 1–1 draw against Japan.Over the years he made ten appearances for the national team, until his retirement in 2010.