Born in
Craiova, Stîngă began his football career at Viitorul Craiova. In 1990, he made his league debut for
Universitatea Craiova at the age of 17, in a match against
Corvinul Hunedoara. By the end of the season he was loaned to Jiul IELIF Craiova, and returned in the summer of 1991 to U Craiova. In the 1992–93 season he was the team's best player and took third place in the
league and his side won the
Cupa României. In summer 1995, he went abroad to
Spain at
UD Salamanca. He debuted in
Primera División on 3 September against
Espanyol winning 3–1. At Salamanca he scored 11 goals, being the second leading scorer in the team, but the club finished last and were relegated to
Segunda División. In 1996, Stîngă joined Dutch side
PSV Eindhoven. In his first season in the
Eredivisie, he played only seven matches. In the 1997–98 season, he was one of the key players for PSV as they finished runners-up in the
Dutch Championship. In 1998, he suffered a serious injury, which resulted a year break in the 1998–99 season and appeared once on the pitch. In 2000 and 2001, with PSV Stîngă won two consecutive
Dutch Championship titles as well the
Dutch Super Cup. In summer of 2001 he returned to Romania signing with
Dinamo București with whom he won
league title. The next two seasons he spent at Universitatea Craiova, returning after 7 years. He was loaned for the 2004–05 season to the Dutch
Eerste Divisie side
Helmond Sport. In 2006, he was player and manager for Universitatea Craiova in the Romanian second division. He helped his team to get promoted in the first league in the 2006–07 season, before ending his career. ==International career==