Marius Niculae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marius Niculae
Personal information
Full name	Marius Constantin Niculae
Date of birth	May 16, 1981 (1981-05-16) (age 28)
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.84 m (6 ft +1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre forward
Club information
Current club	Dinamo Bucharest
Number	9
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–2001 2001–2005 2005–2006 2007 2007–2008 2008–	Dinamo Bucharest Sporting CP Standard Liège FSV Mainz Inverness Thistle Dinamo Bucharest	100 (44) 059 (14) 026 0(4) 006 0(0) 035 0(10) 017 0(11)
National team2
2000–	Romania	037 (13)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:29, 22 October 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 18:29, 06 June 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Marius Constantin Niculae (born 16 May 1981 in Bucharest) is a Romanian footballer who currently plays for FC Dinamo Bucharest, as a centre forward. He is also a Romanian international.

[edit] Club career

Niculae startd his professional career with FC Dinamo Bucureşti, making his first division debuts at age 15 (5-2 home win against FC Farul Constanţa, on November 22, 1996). In 2001, he joined Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he failed to settle during his four-season spell, barred by then-in form Mário Jardel, the 2003 signing of his compatriot Liédson and injuries.^[1][2][3]

After unassuming spells with Standard de Liège and 1. FSV Mainz 05, Niculae moved, on a two-year contract, to Scottish Premier League's Inverness Caledonian Thistle, following a brief trial in July 2007. His first application for a work permit was rejected, but Inverness appealed and asked fans to sign a petition to have the player's permit granted. After his appeal, Niculae was granted a work permit and became eligible. He was awarded the Clydesdale Bank Player of the Month award for his performances in the season in December.

Niculae became very popular with the fans, and was booked during a 3-1 home victory over Kilmarnock, after leaving the pitch to celebrate with the fans in the stand after scoring the final goal. After the resignation of chairman Alan Savage, it became clear Inverness could not afford Niculae's wages, and the club accepted an offer of €500,000 from Dinamo Buchareşti in the summer of 2008.^[4]Niculae left Inverness with a record of 10 goals in 37 games in all competitions.

[edit] International career

A Romanian international since February 2, 2000, in a friendly 2-0 win with Latvia, Niculae was part of the nation's squad in Euro 2008, appearing in two group stage matches.

[edit] International goals

Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first:

Marius Niculae: International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	February 2, 2000	Pafiako Stadium, Paphos, Cyprus	Latvia	1-0	2-0	Friendly
2	December 5, 2000	Stade 19 Mai 1956, Annaba, Algeria	Algeria	1-0	2-3	Friendly
3	December 5, 2000	Stade 19 Mai 1956, Annaba, Algeria	Algeria	2-3	2-3	Friendly
4	December 8, 2000	Stade 19 Mai 1956, Annaba, Algeria	Algeria	2-0	3-2	Friendly
5	December 8, 2000	Stade 19 Mai 1956, Annaba, Algeria	Algeria	3-1	3-2	Friendly
6	June 2, 2001	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Hungary	1-0	2-0	World Cup 2002 Qual.
7	June 2, 2001	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Hungary	2-0	2-0	World Cup 2002 Qual.
8	August 15, 2001	Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	Slovenia	1-0	2-2	Friendly
9	September 5, 2001	Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	2-0	2-0	World Cup 2002 Qual.
10	November 10, 2001	Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	Slovenia	1-0	1-2	World Cup 2002 Qual. Play-off
11	September 8, 2004	Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	3-0	5-1	World Cup 2006 Qual.
12	September 8, 2004	Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	4-1	5-1	World Cup 2006 Qual.
13	March 26, 2008	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Russia	3-0	3-0	Friendly

[edit] Honours

[edit] Team

• Dinamo Bucureşti:
  • Romanian League: 1999-00; Runner-up 1998-99, 2000-01
  • Romanian Cup: 1999-00, 2000-01

• Sporting CP:
  • Portuguese League: 2001-02
  • Portuguese Cup: 2001-02
  • Portuguese Supercup: 2002
  • UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2004-05

• Standard Liège:
  • Belgian League: Runner-up 2005-06

[edit] Individual

• Romanian League: Topscorer 2000-01 (20 goals)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• RomanianSoccer profile and stats
• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Bundesliga stats (German)
• Marius Niculae career stats at Soccerbase
• Official website (Romanian)

Romanian football portal

v • d • e Romania squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Lobonţ • 2 Contra • 3 Raţ • 4 Tamaş • 5 Chivu • 6 Rădoi • 7 Petre • 8 Codrea • 9 Marica • 10 Mutu • 11 Cociş • 12 Popa • 13 Săpunaru • 14 Ghionea • 15 Goian • 16 Nicoliţă • 17 Moţi • 18 M. Niculae • 19 Cristea • 20 Dică • 21 D. Niculae • 22 Radu • 23 Stăncioiu • Coach: Piţurcă

This biographical article related to Romanian football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.