Cristinel Pojar

Cristinel Pojar

Personal information
Full name	Cristinel Vasile Pojar [1]
Date of birth	(1967-08-19) 19 August 1967 (age 57) [1]
Place of birth	Jucu, Romania [1]
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Position(s)	Defender / Defensive midfielder [1]
Youth career
0000–1984	Universitatea Cluj
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1984–1998	Universitatea Cluj	194	(8)
Total		194	(8)
International career
1986	Romania U21	1	(0)
Managerial career
1998–1999	Universitatea Cluj (assistant)
2000–2001	Universitatea Cluj (assistant)
2002–2003	Politehnica Timișoara (assistant)
2003	Apulum Alba Iulia (assistant)
2003–2004	Universitatea Cluj (assistant)
2004–2005	Sportul Studențesc (assistant)
2005–2006	Wisła Kraków (assistant)
2006–2009	Unirea Urziceni (assistant)
2009–2012	Kuban Krasnodar (assistant)
2012–2014	Dynamo Moscow (assistant)
2021–2023	Universitatea Cluj (scouting director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 January 2020

Cristinel Vasile Pojar (born 19 August 1967) is a Romanian former footballer who spent his entire career at Universitatea Cluj. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} After he ended his playing career he worked as an assistant coach. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Playing career

"Pojar never backed down, he always fought on the field, with all his strength. He was and remains a hard man"

–Remus Câmpeanu, former "U" Cluj president ^[3]

Cristinel Pojar was born on 19 August 1967 in Jucu, Cluj County, and started playing junior level football at Universitatea Cluj, a team where he would spend all of his senior career that started in the 1984–85 Divizia B season as the team finished it on the first position, thus earning promotion to Divizia A where he made his debut under coach Remus Vlad on 14 September 1985 in a 1–0 away loss in front of Universitatea Craiova. ^{[1] [5] [6] [7]} At the end of the 1990–91 season, the team relegated back to Divizia B but Pojar stayed with the club, helping it obtain promotion back to the first league after only one year. ^[1] At age 27 he suffered an injury which kept him off the field for two years and after he started playing again he suffered a cruciate ligament injury, having a total of 7 operations at his knees, eventually retiring because of these problems by the end of the 1997–98 season, having a total of 174 Divizia A matches with four goals scored and 20 appearances with four goals in Divizia B, receiving a single red card in his whole career. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} Pojar also played one game for Romania's under-21 football team when he was sent at halftime by coach Mircea Rădulescu in order to replace Marcel Sabou in a 3–0 loss in front of Norway. ^{[5] [8] [9]} In October 2011 in order to inaugurate the new Cluj Arena stadium, "U" Cluj organized a friendly match with the team where Pojar was working as an assistant, Kuban Krasnodar and with this occasion the match was also used as the retirement match for Pojar as he played again a few minutes for "U" Cluj, the game ending with a 4–0 loss in front of the Russians. ^{[2] [3] [10] [11] [12]}

Coaching career

Cristinel Pojar started working as an assistant coach for Tiberiu Poraczky at Universitatea Cluj in the 1998–99 Divizia A season, afterwards working again for the same team, this time with Ioan Sabău in the 2000–01 Divizia C season, helping the team earn promotion to Divizia B. ^{[3] [13] [14]} In 2004 he started to work as an assistant of Dan Petrescu at Sportul Studențesc, following him in Poland at Wisła Kraków, returned back to Romania at Unirea Urziceni where they won the 2008–09 Liga I title, afterwards working in Russia at Kuban Krasnodar and Dynamo Moscow. ^{[2] [3] [4] [10] [11] [15]}

Honours

Universitatea Cluj

• Divizia B: 1984–85, 1991–92 ^[1]

See also

• List of one-club men in association football

References

1. Cristinel Pojar at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
2. "Fanii lui "U" vor să îi organizeze un meci de retragere lui Cristi Pojar "Sînt onorat şi emoţionat"" ["U" fans want to organize a retirement game for Cristi Pojar "I am honored and excited"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
3. "Povestea impresionantă a lui Cristi Pojar! A jucat numai la "U", suferind 7 operații la genunchi" [Cristi Pojar's impressive story! He played only at "U", undergoing 7 knee operations] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
4. "S-a întors acasă! Pojar, noul şef al scouterilor la "U" Cluj" [He's back home! Pojar, the new head of the scouts at "U" Cluj] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
5. "Cristinel Pojar profile" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
6. "Universitatea Cluj 1984–85 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
7. "Universitatea Cluj 1985–86 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
8. "Cristinel Pojar profile". 11v11. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
9. "Norway – Romania 3–0". 11v11. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
10. ""Generaţia de Aur" vine la inaugurarea Cluj Arena. Meci de retragere pentru Cristi Pojar" [The "Golden Generation" comes to the inauguration of Cluj Arena. Retirement match for Cristi Pojar] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
11. "Universitatea Cluj, umilită la meciul de inaugurare a noului stadion" [Universitatea Cluj, humiliated at the inauguration match of the new stadium] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
12. "Rusii si-au batut joc de inaugurarea Cluj Arena! Cristi Pojar nici nu a atins mingea" [The Russians made fun of the inauguration of Cluj Arena! Cristi Pojar didn't even touch the ball] (in Romanian). Stiridecluj.ro. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
13. "Universitatea Cluj 1998–99 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
14. "Universitatea Cluj 2000–01 season" (in Romanian). 4everucluj.ro.
15. "Unirea Urziceni, noua campioana a Romaniei" [Unirea Urziceni, the new champion of Romania] (in Romanian). Ziare.com. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2023.