Manta was born on 2 June 1943 in
Bucharest, Romania. He began playing football in 1964 at
Divizia B club
Sportul Studențesc București. The team was relegated at the end of the
1968–69 season, but Manta stayed with the club, helping it gain promotion back to the first league after
one year. This outcome led poet
Adrian Păunescu to nickname Craiova as "Campioana unei mari iubiri" (The Champion of a great love). That was also the last season of his career, making his last Divizia A appearance on 8 May 1974 in a 1–0 away loss to Dinamo București, totaling 69 matches in the competition. ==Death==