Codreanu, nicknamed
Parpală, was born on 1 February 1941 in
Bucharest, Romania and began playing junior-level football in 1956 at
CCA București. In 1959, he went to play for
Rapid București where on 18 March 1962 he made his
Divizia A debut under coach
Ion Mihăilescu in a 1–1 draw against
Minerul Lupeni. Codreanu spent all 12 seasons of his career at Rapid, helping the club win the
1966–67 Divizia A, which was the first title in its history, being used by coach
Valentin Stănescu in 23 matches in which he scored two goals. He also won the
1971–72 Cupa României, playing four games in the campaign, including being used by coach
Bazil Marian as a starter in the 2–0 win over
Jiul Petroșani in the
final. Codreanu played 14 games and scored three goals in European competitions. He played five games in the
1971–72 UEFA Cup as the club reached the third round, eliminating
Napoli and
Legia Warsaw, being eliminated by the team who eventually won the competition,
Tottenham. Subsequently, he took part in the
1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, playing two games, helping the team reach the quarter-finals, eliminating
Landskrona BoIS and
Rapid Wien, being knocked out by
Leeds United who reached the final. Codreanu made his last Divizia A appearance on 20 June 1973 in a 2–1 away loss to
SC Bacău, totaling 258 appearances with 39 goals in the competition and 33 matches with seven goals in
Cupa României. ==International career==