Daniel Pancu

Daniel Pancu

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Gabriel Pancu
Date of birth	17 August 1977 (1977-08-17) (age 34)
Place of birth	Iaşi, Romania
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Central Midfielder/Second striker
Club information
Current club	Rapid Bucureşti
Number	11
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994–1997	Politehnica Iaşi	55	(4)
1997–1999	Rapid Bucureşti	77	(23)
1999–2000	Cesena	34	(3)
2000–2002	Rapid Bucureşti	44	(28)
2002–2006	Beşiktaş	100	(24)
2006	→ Rapid Bucureşti (loan)	13	(2)
2006–2007	Bursaspor	20	(3)
2008	Rapid Bucureşti	7	(3)
2008–2009	Terek Grozny	33	(10)
2010	CSKA Sofia	6	(2)
2010	Vaslui	5	(0)
2011–	Rapid Bucureşti	21	(7)
National team‡
2001–2005	Romania	27	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 November 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 January 2005

Daniel Gabriel Pancu (born 17 August 1977 in Iaşi) is a Romanian footballer who currently plays for Liga I club Rapid Bucureşti.

Career

Pancu began his playing career at FC Politehnica Iaşi. He made his debut in the Romanian First Division in 1995. In the winter of 1996 he was transferred to Rapid Bucureşti for the sum of US$ 200,000. He was, at that time, the most expensive player who has left from Iaşi. After two and a half seasons, he moved to A.C. Cesena, in the Italian Serie B, for a transfer fee of US$ 1,200,000. After a year, Cesena was relegated from the Serie B and Pancu returned to Rapid for a transfer fee of US$ 800,000, where he stayed for two seasons. During this tenure he gained the nickname "Ronaldo of Giuleşti". In 2002 he was bought by Beşiktaş, at the request of the manager that discovered him, Mircea Lucescu, for a fee of US$ 2,250,000.^[1] It was at Besiktas where Lucescu turned him from striker into central midfielder with amazing results. In the winter of 2005/2006 he returned to Rapid, as a loan with the possibility of becoming a permanent transfer in the summer. Then he was bought by Bursaspor, but he returned to Rapid in the spring of 2008 and score one goal in first match for Rapid in 2008. In July 2008 he moved to FC Terek Grozny and left the club on 30 November 2009.^[2]

On 11 December 2009, it was announced in the Bulgarian media that CSKA Sofia are having an interest of signing the midfielder to the club. On 12 January 2010, CSKA signed Pancu to a one-a-half-year deal. Pancu made his official debut for CSKA Sofia in the 3-2 win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Sofia, scoring his first goal for the club.

Curiosity

On matchday 28 of the 2004/05 season, at the derby against Fenerbahçe Istanbul, when the score was 3-3, Pancu replaced Óscar Córdoba, after the goalkeeper received a red card and the substitution contingent of Beşiktaş was already exhausted. Pancu resisted the goal efforts of the Fenerbahçe-players and Beşiktaş-player Koray scored the fourth goal for Beşiktaş in the fifth minute of the added time. Beşiktaş won the away game at the Kadiköy Stadium of Fenerbahçe and it was sensational. Pancu was given the nickname "Kadıköy Panteri" (panther of Kadiköy) and dressed in the following season as a regular goalkeeper's jersey with number "1".

International career

He gained his first cap for the Romanian national team in 2001, he even became captain for a few matches. He played a total of 27 games and scored 7 goals.

Honours

• Rapid Bucureşti
  • Romanian League: (1) 1998–99
  • Romanian Cup: (3) 1997-98, 2001–02, 2005–06
  • Romanian Supercup: (2) 1999, 2002

• Beşiktaş
  • Turkish League: (1) 2002–03
  • Turkish Cup: (1) 2005–06

References

1. ^ "DANIEL GABRIEL PANCU". TFF. http://www.tff.org.tr/Default.aspx?pageId=526&kisiId=29901. Retrieved 2009-04-30. 
2. ^ "Терек" расстался с шестью легионерами.

Romanian football portal

Persondata
Name	Pancu, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	17 August 1977
Place of birth	Iaşi, Romania
Date of death
Place of death