- Ciprian Marica
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Ciprian Marica 
Personal information Full name Ciprian Andrei Marica Date of birth 2 October 1985 Place of birth Bucharest, Romania Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] Playing position Winger / Forward Club information Current club Schalke 04 Number 8 Youth career 1996–2001 Dinamo Bucureşti Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2001–2004 Dinamo Bucureşti 23 (4) 2004–2007 Shakhtar Donetsk 73 (16) 2007–2011 VfB Stuttgart 93 (19) 2011– Schalke 04 9 (0) National team‡ 2003–2006 Romania U-21 10 (4) 2003– Romania 53 (16) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 November 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2011Ciprian Andrei Marica (born 2 October 1985 in Bucharest) is a Romanian footballer currently playing for Bundesliga club Schalke 04 and the Romanian national team.
Contents
Club career
Dinamo Bucharest
Marica's first professional club team was Dinamo Bucharest, the city in which he was born. He started to gain attention even though he only played 23 games (scoring four goals) in three years with the club.
Shakhtar Donetsk
Ciprian transferred to the Ukrainian top club and played his so far best seasons with them. He gained international experience, getting to play in the UEFA Cup European competition.
VfB Stuttgart
On 23 July 2007, he transferred to German club, VfB Stuttgart, after his former club, Shakhtar Donetsk, rejected another offer, from English team Derby County amongst interest from Manchester City.[2] Marica signed a 5-year contract. Stuttgart sporting director Horst Heldt said: "Ciprian is a very flexible forward, and a permanent thorn in the side of any opposition defence, who fits outstandingly into our team. He wanted to join us desperately."[3]
Marica made his debut for VfB in the Bundesliga on 12 August 2007, in a home game against Schalke 04 (2–2). In his first season he got plenty of appearances (28), scoring only two goals in those (plus one goal in the UEFA Champions League, which led Stuttgart to their win against the Rangers F.C.).
After this first failed season then-coach Armin Veh mistrusted Marica, giving him only few appearances. Things seemed to get better after the sacking of Veh. New coach Markus Babbel entrusted him to play instead of Cacau, but Marica again failed to impress.
Only after Christian Gross replaced Babbel as VfB coach, Marica got a new chance, mainly profiting by long-time injury of Cacau. This time Marica didn't disappoint his coach, scoring, inter alia, four goals in three consecutive matches. (Two goals in a 2–0 victory for VfB on 20 March 2010 match in Bundesliga against Hannover 96, the winning goal on 27 March 2010 away at Bayern Munich and the equalizing goal in a 2–1 victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 3 April 2010.)
As of season 2010–11 he started again to be only the third choice behind Cacau and Pavel Pogrebnyak.
On 12 July 2011, Marica was released from his contract at Stuttgart.[4]
Schalke 04
On 28 July 2011, Marica signed a two year contract with German club Schalke 04.[5] He chose to remain in Germany, despite having offers from Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, and other two French clubs such as Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain.[6][7]
International career
Ciprian Marica
He had scored 16 goals in 53 caps. He made his debut on 16 November 2003, in a friendly game with Italy played in Ancona and won by Squadra Azzurra by 1-0. Marica was introduces in the 81st minute, replacing Daniel Pancu. His first goal for the national team came on 17 November 2004, in a match against Armenia.
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 III.
He scored his first double for the senior team in a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 3 June 2011.
International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 17 November 2004 Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 
Armenia1–0 1–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 2 2 September 2006 Farul, Constanţa, Romania 
Bulgaria2–0 2–2 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying 3 7 October 2006 Ghencea, Bucureşti, Romania 
Belarus2–0 3–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying 4 15 November 2006 Estadio Ramón de Carranza, Cadiz, Spain 
Spain0–1 0–1 Friendly 5 28 March 2007 Ceahlăul Stadium, Piatra Neamţ, Romania 
Luxembourg3–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying 6 17 October 2007 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg Luxembourg0–2 0–2 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying 7 21 November 2007 Naţional Stadium, Bucureşti, Romania 
Albania5–1 6–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying 8 26 March 2008 Ghencea, Bucureşti, Romania 
Russia1–0 3–0 Friendly 9 19 November 2008 Dinamo, Bucureşti, Romania 
Georgia1–1 2–1 Friendly 10 11 February 2009 Ghencea, Bucureşti, Romania 
Croatia1–0 1–2 Friendly 11 28 March 2009 Farul, Constanţa, Romania 
Serbia1–2 2–3 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 12 6 June 2009 Sūduva Stadium, Marijampolė, Lithuania 
Lithuania0–1 0–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 13 17 November 2010 Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt, Austria 
Italy1–0 1–1 Friendly 14 26 March 2011 Bilino Polje, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Bosnia and Herzegovina1–0 1–2 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying 15 3 June 2011 Giuleşti-Valentin Stănescu, Bucureşti, Romania Bosnia and Herzegovina2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying 16 3 June 2011 Giuleşti-Valentin Stănescu, Bucureşti, Romania Bosnia and Herzegovina3–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Honours
Club
Dinamo Bucureşti
- Romanian League: 2001–02, 2003–04
- Romanian Cup: 2002–03
Shakhtar Donetsk
- Ukrainian Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06
- Ukrainian Cup: 2003–04
- Ukrainian Supercup: 2005
Career statistics
Club League Season League Cup Super Cup Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Dinamo Bucureşti Liga I 2001–02 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2002–03 11 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 14 1 2003–04 10 3 1 1 - - 5 1 16 5 Total 23 4 4 1 0 0 5 1 32 6 Shakhtar Donetsk Ukrainian League 2003–04 12 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 15 4 2004–05 16 2 7 0 1 0 5 0 29 2 2005–06 21 4 1 0 1 0 9 2 32 6 2006–07 24 6 2 0 0 0 11 4 37 10 Total 73 16 12 0 3 0 25 6 113 22 VfB Stuttgart Bundesliga 2007–08 28 2 3 0 0 0 4 1 35 3 2008–09 27 4 3 1 0 0 11 5 41 10 2009–10 25 10 2 0 0 0 6 1 33 11 2010–11 13 3 2 0 0 0 9 3 24 6 Total 93 19 10 1 0 0 30 10 133 30 Schalke 04 Bundesliga 2011–12 9 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 13 0 Total 9 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 13 0 Career Total 198 39 26 2 3 0 64 17 291 58 As of 19 November 2011[update]
References
- ^ "Ciprian Marica". vfb-stuttgart.de. http://www.vfb-stuttgart.de/en/teams/spieler/2009/ciprian-marica.php. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ Burt, Jason (19 July 2007). "Eriksson hoping Marica can boost City's firepower". London: independent.co.uk. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/eriksson-hoping-marica-can-boost-citys-firepower-457783.html. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
- ^ "Ciprian Marica signs for VfB". www.vfb.de. 24 July 2007. http://www.vfb.de/en/aktuell/news/2007/11073.php. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
- ^ "Ciprian Marica parts company with VfB". VfB Stuttgart. 12 July 2011. http://www.vfb.de/en/aktuell/meldungen/news/2011/vertragsaufloesung-marica/page/822-0-1-1310540567.html. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
- ^ "Ciprian Marica erhält Vertrag bis 2013" (in German). Official website of Schalke 04. http://www.schalke04.de/aktuell/news/einzelansicht/artikel/ciprian-marica-erhaelt-vertrag-bis-2013.html. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
- ^ "Blackburn eye Romania striker". mirrorfootball.co.uk. http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Blackburn-in-talks-Romania-striker-Ciprian-Marica-are-ahead-of-Marseille-Lokomotiv-Moscow-in-race-for-him-article778199.html. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
- ^ "Marica vers le PSG ?" (in French). L'Équipe.fr. http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2011/20110503_085306_marica-vers-le-psg.html. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
- ^ Ciprian Marica, ESPN Soccernet, accessed 5 April 2010
- ^ "Ciprian Marica" (in German). weltfussball.de. http://www.weltfussball.de/spieler_profil/ciprian-marica/2/. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
- ^ "Profile and stats" (in German). kicker.de. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/1-bundesliga/0/vfb-stuttgart-11/31671/spieler_ciprian-marica.html. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
External links
- Official website (Romanian) (English) (German)
- Ciprian Marica at fussballdaten.de (German)
- Ciprian Marica at National-Football-Teams.com
- Ciprian Marica – FIFA competition record
- Profile at UEFA.com
- Profile at Eurosport
FC Schalke 04 – current squad 1 Fährmann · 2 Sarpei · 3 Escudero · 4 Höwedes · 6 Hoogland · 7 Raúl · 8 Marica · 10 Holtby · 11 Baumjohann · 12 Höger · 13 Jones · 14 Papadopoulos · 16 Morávek · 17 Farfán · 18 Jurado · 20 Pukki · 21 Metzelder · 22 Uchida · 23 Fuchs · 24 Kluge · 25 Huntelaar · 26 Wiegel · 28 Moritz · 30 Kenia · 31 Draxler · 32 Matip · 33 Schober · 34 Hildebrand · 36 Unnerstall · Manager: Stevens
Romania squad – UEFA Euro 2008 
Categories:- 1985 births
- Living people
- People from Bucharest
- Romanian footballers
- Romania international footballers
- Romanian expatriate footballers
- Association football forwards
- FC Dinamo Bucureşti players
- FC Shakhtar Donetsk players
- VfB Stuttgart players
- FC Schalke 04 players
- Liga I players
- Ukrainian Premier League players
- Fußball-Bundesliga players
- Expatriate footballers in Germany
- Expatriate footballers in Ukraine
- UEFA Euro 2008 players
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