- Bănel Nicoliță
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Bănel Nicoliță Personal information Full name Bănel Nicoliță Date of birth 7 January 1985 Place of birth Făurei, Romania Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Playing position Winger / Right back Club information Current club Saint-Étienne Number 25 Youth career 1992–1993 Unirea Făurei 1993–2001 Dacia Unirea Brăila Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2001–2004 Dacia Unirea Brăila 75 (23) 2004–2005 Politehnica Timişoara 15 (3) 2005–2011 Steaua Bucureşti 187 (23) 2011– Saint-Étienne 3 (1) National team‡ 2004–2005 Romania U-21 13 (1) 2005– Romania 34 (1) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:00, 30 October 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:45, 11 October 2011 (UTC)Bănel Nicoliță, (born 7 January 1985 in Făurei, Brăila County) is a Romanian football player currently playing for Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne. Nicoliță is nicknamed Jardel after the famous Mário Jardel of Brazil. He can play as a right or left winger, and is known for his electrifying pace.
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Club career
Brăila and Politehnica Timişoara
He made his debut in Romanian Liga II, playing for Brăila. After, he joined FC Politehnica Timişoara, making his Divizia A debut at the age of 19. However, he made only 15 league appearances for the club before moving to Steaua Bucureşti, at the beginning of 2005, he signed a 5-year contract with Steaua Bucureşti.[1]
Steaua Bucureşti
Shortly after joining Steaua, Nicoliță won his first Liga I title upon his first season with the team. He is known as a humble and hard-working, though not very technical, speed and quickness are his strengths. Steaua's owner, George Becali shows support for Nicoliță for everything he does on the pitch.
In the spring of 2006, he scored twice in the match against Real Betis, his goals opening Steaua's door to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, and then he scored again in the quarterfinals, this time against Rapid Bucureşti to help his team reach the semifinals.
On 1 November 2006, he scored an own goal against Real Madrid in a Champions League encounter.[2] Unfortunately for him and the Romanian side, this turned out to be decisive in the outcome of the match. He claimed he couldn't sleep for 48 hours after scoring it. After a game with FC Argeş, Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor named him Bănelinho.
On 27 August 2008, he has scored one goal in the match against Galatasaray, in the third qualifying round of UEFA Champions League, which sent Steaua Bucureşti in to the group stage for the third consecutive year.
Starting with the 2010–11 season, Bănel was the new captain of Steaua, but with the arrival of new coach Ilie Dumitrescu, he soon gave his armband to Cristian Tănase.
Saint-Étienne
On 30 August 2011, Saint-Étienne announced on their official website that they had found agreement with Steaua for Nicoliță's transfer and that the player would fly to France and undergo a medical the following day.[3] Being in his last year of contract with Steaua Bucureşti the transfer fee was €700.000. He signed a contract worth €400.000 per year.[4]
International career
Nicoliță won 34 caps for Romania up to date and scored one goal. He also used to be a Romanian U21 international.
He was captain for the first time in the friendly against San Marino on 11 August 2011.
International goals
- Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 2 June 2007 Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia Slovenia
2–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying Career statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Dacia Unirea Brăila 2001–02 27 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 4 2002–03 27 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 9 2003–04 20 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 10 Total 74 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 74 23 Poli Timişoara 2004–05 15 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 3 Total 15 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 3 Steaua 2004–05 14 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 15 2 2005–06 29 7 0 0 17 4 1 0 47 11 2006–07 32 2 4 1 12 0 1 0 49 3 2007–08 27 3 0 0 8 1 0 0 35 4 2008–09 26 3 0 0 7 2 0 0 33 5 2009–10 28 2 1 0 11 3 0 0 40 5 2010–11 27 4 2 1 6 0 0 0 35 5 2011–12 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 Total 185 23 7 1 62 10 3 0 247 34 Saint-Étienne 2011–12 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Career total 277 49 8 1 62 10 3 0 350 60 Statistics accurate as of match played 30 October 2011
Honours
Season Club Title 2004–05 Steaua Bucureşti
Divizia A 2005–06 Steaua Bucureşti
Divizia A 2005–06 Steaua Bucureşti
Supercupa României 2010–11 Steaua Bucureşti
Cupa României On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for the results on Qualifying to EURO 2008 and qualification to UEFA Euro 2008 Group C with Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class II with two barret.
Personal life
Nicoliță is an ethnic Romani from the Roma group,[5] one of six brothers raised by his mother in the small, impoverished town of Făurei, Nicoliță grew up determined to succeed and his speed and diligence on the field are proof of his unalloyed passion for the game.
One of his brothers, Stelică, is also a professional footballer who plays for Chimia Brazi.
References
- ^ Nicolita, din vara la Steaua
- ^ http://www.ziare.com/articole/autogol+banel+bernabeu Nicolita autogol cu Real Madrid
- ^ Accord pour Nicolita et Gradel (French)
- ^ http://www.gsp.ro/fotbal/liga-1/nicolita-va-avea-la-st-etienne-un-salariu-mai-mare-decit-al-lui-torje-257887.html Contract Nicolita
- ^ Jonathan Wilson: The rags-to-riches tale of Banel Nicolita at guardian.co.uk
External links
- Official FCSB profile (Romanian)
- Profile and stats at RomanianSoccer.ro
Sporting positions Preceded by
Petre MarinSteaua captain
2010Succeeded by
Cristian TănaseRomania squad – UEFA Euro 2008 AS Saint-Étienne – current squad 1 Ruffier · 2 Paulão · 5 Marchal · 6 Monsoreau · 7 Aubameyang · 8 Alonso · 9 Gradel · 10 Batlles · 11 Clément · 12 Mignot · 13 Ghoulam · 14 Sinama Pongolle · 15 Andreu · 16 Janot · 17 Saadi · 18 Lemoine · 19 Guilavogui · 21 Ravet · 22 Bayal Sall · 23 Ebondo · 24 Perrin (c) · 25 Nicoliță · 26 Sako · 27 Néry · 28 Sanogo · 29 Kitambala · 30 Coulibaly · 31 Zouma · Manager: Galtier
Categories:- 1985 births
- Living people
- People from Brăila County
- FC Politehnica Timişoara players
- FC Steaua Bucureşti players
- Romanian footballers
- Romanian Romani people
- Romania international footballers
- Romani footballers
- Romanian expatriate footballers
- Association football midfielders
- Liga I players
- Ligue 1 players
- AS Saint-Étienne players
- Expatriate footballers in France
- UEFA Euro 2008 players
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