Daniel George Niculae (Romanian pronunciation: [daniˈel ˈdʒe̯ordʒe nikuˈla.e]; born 6 October 1982) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played mainly as a striker.
 Niculae with Romania in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel George Niculae | ||
| Date of birth | 6 October 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1995 | Dinamo București | ||
| 1996–2001 | Rapid București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2006 | Rapid București | 107 | (33) |
| 2001 | → Electromagnetica București (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2006–2010 | Auxerre | 130 | (19) |
| 2010–2012 | Monaco | 17 | (4) |
| 2011–2012 | → Nancy (loan) | 31 | (6) |
| 2012–2013 | Kuban Krasnodar | 11 | (2) |
| 2014 | Rapid București | 15 | (7) |
| 2015 | Rapid București | 14 | (3) |
| 2015–2017 | Astra Giurgiu | 41 | (8) |
| 2017–2018 | Rapid București | 31 | (40) |
| Total | 404 | (122) | |
| International career | |||
| 2002–2003 | Romania U21 | 4 | (0) |
| 2003–2012 | Romania | 39 | (9) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021–2024 | Rapid București (president) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He has made 39 appearances for Romania since his debut in 2003.[1]
Club career
editRapid București
editDaniel "Nico" Niculae started his professional career at Rapid București in 2000. Despite a period playing for the B team in 2001, Nico proved he is one of the most gifted players of the club, and helped his club to win the championship in the 2002–03 season – his first as a first-team regular.
Niculae was Rapid's leading scorer in the 2004–05 season, with 14 goals – the third highest total in Romania's Liga 1.
In the 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign, he and Mugurel Buga formed one of the most powerful striker pairs of the competition, with Niculae scoring 8 goals, as Rapid reached the Quarter-Finals of the competition. The season also saw Rapid claim the 2006 Romanian Cup, with Niculae scoring the winning goal in the first minute of extra-time, against Național București.
Auxerre
editNiculae was transferred to French club AJ Auxerre in the summer of 2006, for €3.3 million. His first season with the club saw him score 4 goals in the UEFA Cup, but he struggled for goals in Ligue 1. However, the following season his form improved, as he scored 11 goals to help keep the club in Ligue 1.
The 2008–09 season was one to forget for Niculae. He was deeply affected by the loss of his father, and despite threatening to score on several occasions, he failed to find the net in 32 games.
Things got back on track in 2009–10 however. Jean Fernandez initially wanted to loan out Niculae for the season, but the latest signing Alexandre Licata was ruled out for most of the season with a serious ankle injury. Daniel Niculae found a new role in the Auxerre side, as a creator of goals rather than a scorer of them. As of April 2010, he lies third in the table for assists in Ligue 1 with a total of 8. He has a brilliant entente with Polish goalscorer Ireneusz Jeleń and has helped the Burgundian side to reach second in the table and to thus push for the Champions League places.
Monaco
editAfter the expiration of his contract with AJ Auxerre on 15 June 2010, Niculae signed a three-year deal with Ligue 1 rivals AS Monaco.[2]
On 31 August 2011, Niculae signed for French side AS Nancy on a season-long loan. In a game against his former club, AJ Auxerre, on 30 January 2012, Nicuale scored a double giving his team the win.[3] Although, before the game started, Auxerre's supporters booed him, at the end he got a standing ovation for his impressive performance.[4]
Kuban Krasnodar
editOn 6 June 2012, he joined the Russian club Kuban Krasnodar, on a two-year contract. Here he will be coached by Yuri Krasnozhan.[5]
International career
editNiculae won his first international cap for Romania in 2003, but did not become a regular squad member until the 2005–06 season.[1]
He was selected for Romania's Euro 2008 squad, and started his country's first two matches. He came on as a substitute for their final group game against the Netherlands, but could not help Romania to a win, which would have taken the country into the Quarter-Finals.[1][6]
Other than the fact that they share birthplace, he has no connection with namesake and fellow international Marius Niculae.
Career statistics
edit| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 2003 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 39 | 9 | |
- Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Niculae goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 November 2005 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Nigeria |
1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 26 May 2006 | Soldier Field, Chicago, United States |  Northern Ireland |
2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 21 November 2007 | Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania |  Albania |
3–0 | 6–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 4 | 4–0 | |||||
| 5 | 26 March 2008 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Russia |
2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 6 | 14 November 2009 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland |  Poland |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 7 | 29 May 2010 | Ukraina Stadium, Lviv, Ukraine |  Ukraine |
2–1 | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 8 | 5 June 2010 | Jacques Lemans Arena, Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia, Austria |  Honduras |
1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 11 November 2011 | Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège, Belgium |  Belgium |
1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
Honours
editRapid București
- Divizia A: 2002–03
- Cupa României: 2001–02, 2005–06
- Supercupa României: 2002, 2003
- Liga IV – Bucharest: 2017–18
Auxerre
Astra Giurgiu
- Liga I: 2015–16
- Cupa României runner-up: 2016–17
- Supercupa României: 2016
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Daniel Niculae". European Football. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ^ Daniel Niculae s’engage avec l’AS Monaco FC Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Niculae dubla
- ^ Niculae aplaudat[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Niculae becomes Kuban". Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ a b Daniel Niculae at National-Football-Teams.com
External links
edit
- Daniel Niculae at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
- Daniel Niculae at National-Football-Teams.com
- Daniel Niculae – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Daniel Niculae at ESPN FC
- Daniel Niculae at Soccerway
