Prunea was born on 8 August 1968 inBucurești, Romania.[1][2][3] He began playing junior-level football in 1977 when he went to play forSteaua București, but was rejected there and shortly afterwards went torivals,Dinamo București.[1][2][3][4] There, coach Fane Stănculescu used him as astriker in his first three years and then he worked with Gheorghe Timar who started using him as agoalkeeper.[2][4] Later in his youth career he was coached byIosif Varga, and also during these years he was teammates with future national team competitorBogdan Stelea.[2][3][4][5]
In the following years he switched many teams, first returning for a second spell at "U" Cluj.[1] Then Prunea had his first experience abroad by playing for Turkish sideErzurumspor.[1] He made hisSüper Lig debut on 9 August 1998 under coachSadi Tekelioğlu in a 5–1 away loss toGençlerbirliği, totaling 11 matches in the competition.[1][11] Subsequently, Prunea returned to Romania and played just one game in the1999–2000 season forAstra Ploiești.[1] He then joined "U" Craiova for the rest of the season, managing not to concede any goals for 633 consecutive minutes.[1][12] Prunea had his second experience abroad, when he went toLitex Lovech inBulgaria where he was teammates with fellow RomanianValeriu Răchită.[1][13] There, he was in the center of a controversy, being accused ofmatch fixing after a game againstLevski Sofia.[14]
He returned to Dinamo in the middle of the2000–01 season, helping them win theCupa României, being used by coachCornel Dinu in the 4–2 victory in thefinal againstRocar București.[1][15] In thefollowing season he helped the club win the title, but coaches Dinu andMarin Ion used him in only six games, as the team's first choice goalkeeper wasBogdan Lobonț.[1][9] In the last years of his career, Prunea had two spells atFCM Bacău which were separated by a period spent atFC Brașov.[1] Afterwards he had his third and final spell abroad atSuper League Greece teamSkoda Xanthi, where he was colleagues with compatriotStelian Carabaș.[1][16] Prunea ended his career atNațional București where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 5 November 2005 in a 3–2 loss toOțelul Galați, having a total of 383 matches in the competition, also totaling 17 games in European competitions (including three in theIntertoto Cup).[1]
He made another three appearances during the successful1994 World Cup qualifiers.[17] He was part of the "Golden Generation" that went to thefinal tournament.[17][19] CoachAnghel Iordănescu used him in only one game in the group stage, where he kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 victory againstUSA, whereasBogdan Stelea was preferred in the first two.[17][20] Prunea played from the round of 16 onwards, as they got pastArgentina with a 3–2 win, reaching the quarter-finals where they facedSweden.[17][21] There, with five minutes remaining in extra time, his side was leading 2–1.[17][20][22] However, Prunea failed to intercept a 40-meter cross in time, allowing strikerKennet Andersson to level the score at 2–2.[17][20][22] As a result, the game went to penalties, where Sweden won 5–4.[17][20][22]
He played two games during the successful1998 World Cup qualifiers and was selected by Iordănescu to be part of thefinal tournament squad, but did not play there.[17][24] Prunea was also selected by coachEmerich Jenei to be part of theEuro 2000 final tournament squad, but again without playing there.[17][25] On 25 April 2001 he made his last appearance for the national team in 0–0 friendly draw againstSlovakia.[17]
For representing his country during 1990–2000 at the World and European Cups final tournaments, Prunea was decorated byPresident of RomaniaTraian Băsescu on 25 March 2008 with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.[26]
