Ionel Ganea

Ionel Ganea

Personal information
Full name	Ioan Viorel Ganea
Date of birth	(1973-08-10) 10 August 1973 (age 49)
Place of birth	Făgăraș, Romania
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Nitramonia Făgăraș
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1994	ICIM Brașov	?	( Cfr Cluj )
1994–1996	FC Brașov	50	(4)
1996–1997	Universitatea Craiova	56	(22)
1997–1998	Gloria Bistrița	16	(17)
1999	Rapid București	16	(11)
1999–2003	VfB Stuttgart	107	(34)
2003	Bursaspor	15	(5)
2004–2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	32	(7)
2006	Dinamo București	18	(14)
2007	Rapid București	9	(2)
2007–2008	Politehnica Timișoara	18	(3)
2011	Sănătatea Cluj	?	(?)
2022	A.S. Fotbal Club Dumbrăveni	?	(?)
Total		337	(119)
International career
1999–2006 [1]	Romania	45	(19)
Managerial career
2010	Dinamo II București
2011	Sănătatea Cluj
2012	Rapid Ghidighici
2013	Universitatea Cluj
2014	Rapid București
2015–2016	Dunărea Călărași
2016	Voluntari
2017	ASA Târgu Mureș
2018	ACS Poli Timișoara
2020–2021	Dunărea Călărași (technical director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ioan Viorel Ganea (born 10 August 1973) is a Romanian football manager and striker for Liga IV Sibiu club A.S. Fotbal Club Dumbrăveni.

Playing career

Ganea debuted in Liga I (Divizia A at that time) with FC Brașov in 1994. He went on to play for a number of clubs in Romanian football over the next five years. He joined Rapid Bucharest in January 1999, where he scored 11 goals in the remainder of the season to fire the club to the league championship. He finished that season with 28 goals overall, making him the leading goalscorer.

This form won him a move to Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 1999. He remained in Germany for four seasons and tasted UEFA Cup action, but was never a regular starter. He moved to Turkish top flight club Bursaspor in June 2003 on a free transfer, but stayed there for just six months before moving to England.

The striker joined Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 2003 after his contract in Turkey was cancelled by mutual consent. He scored three Premier League goals during the 2003–04 season – against eventual champions Arsenal, Leeds and Newcastle – but could not prevent relegation.

He remained with the club for two seasons in the second tier, mostly under the managerialship of Glenn Hoddle. The first of these years was written off after suffering cruciate knee ligament injury on a pre-season tour of Norway. He recovered for the 2005–06 season but never held down a regular starting place, and was released as his contract expired at the end of the campaign.

He moved back to Romania, with Dinamo Bucharest on an initial one-year deal. However, just six months later, Ganea broke this contract to rejoin Rapid Bucharest on a record €350,000 ($462,000) a season. Although contracted to the end of 2009 with Rapid, Ganea left on a free transfer in June 2007 for FC Timişoara, despite the fact that he could have earned up to €1 million a season through bonuses at Rapid.

He returned briefly on the pitch as a professional player only for one game on 22 September 2011 in a Romanian Cup match against FC Steaua București.

International career

Ganea made his debut for the Romania national team on 3 March 1999 against Estonia, scoring both goals in a 2–0 win. ^[2] He represented his country at Euro 2000 and scored a last-minute penalty against England that took Romania to the quarter finals at the expense of their opponent. ^[3] He made 45 caps and 19 goals, but his last game was in 2006. ^[2]

Controversy

At the beginning of his career, while playing at FC Brașov, Ganea beat up the team captain Dorel Purdea. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

During his stay at U Craiova, Ganea was involved in several controversies. Ganea kicked his teammate Cornel Frăsineanu in the mouth, which left him without a few teeth and for a while he had to eat using a straw. ^{[5] [6] [7] [10] [11] [12] [13]} Eugen Trică tried to calm him down but Ionel threatened to beat him too so Trică backed off. ^{[10] [12] [13]} He also had a fight with Silvian Cristescu who threw a massage table at his head. ^{[5] [6] [8]} On 2 May 1998 Rapid București needed to win the match against U Craiova in order to be sure that they win the Liga I title so they agreed with George Ilinca who was U Craiova's owner to let them win the game. Some players, including Ionel Ganea did not agree to take part in the arrangement, the game ended 2–2 with both of U Craiova's goals being scored by Ganea, and the title was won by Steaua București. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

At VfB Stuttgart he had a fight with teammate Jochen Seitz, for which he was punished by the club with a 10.000 marks fine. ^{[6] [17]} One day Ganea was eating an ice cream and coach Felix Magath saw him and told him that he shouldn't be eating food that contains too many calories because he has weight issues, Ganea got mad and threw the ice cream at him. ^{[5] [6] [7] [11]}

In a match at Euro 2000 against England Ionel was tackled hard by Sol Campbell but the referee did not take any measure against him, so Ionel waited for Campbell to get close to him and when none of the referees were watching he hit him and cussed him: "Motherfucker! Bitch!". ^{[18] [19]} In 2001, he had a fight with the goalkeeper Stelea in a training session that took part before a Romania – Italy game. ^{[7] [11] [20]} During the match with the Italians, the striker was one step away from hitting his coach László Bölöni, because he was mad that the coach left him on the bench. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [11] [21]} During Romania's cantonment for the 2002 World Cup qualification play-off against Slovenia, Ganea played rummy on money with Daniel Chiriță and feeling that Chiriță was cheating, he punched him in the eye, afterwards jumping on him to beat him, before the other teammates intervened to stop him. ^[22] While playing for Romania against Scotland in April 2004, he tackled Celtic defender John Kennedy resulting in a knee injury that left Kennedy unable to play for three years. Kennedy has since been forced to retire from professional football as a result of this and subsequent injuries. ^{[4] [23]}

Steven Gerrard's autobiography contains an episode about an incident between him and Ionel Ganea in a Wolverhampton – Liverpool game played in January 2004: "He tore my leg from the knee to the ankle. Under the puttee, my leg was cut deep, a nasty wound". After finding out what Gerrard wrote about him in his autobiography Ganea told the press:"I inform Gerrard that when I write my autobiography, I will not mention him. I will not have room for little girls". ^{[8] [18] [19] [24] [25]} In April 2006 he was involved in more controversy when he criticised the Wolverhampton Wanderers manager at that time, Glenn Hoddle, claiming "he is the most difficult manager I have worked with in my career". ^[26] Glenn Hoddle also fined him with a one-week salary for fighting at a training session with a teammate. ^{[27] [28]}

While playing for Rapid București in a match against U Craiova he hit opponent's Michael Baird's mouth with his head during half-time. ^{[5] [6] [8] [11]}

In August 2007 after a Unirea Urziceni – Politehnica Timișoara game the striker had a conflict with the president of Unirea Urziceni Mihai Stoica, with Ganea grabbing him by the neck until the Gendarmery officers separated them. ^{[5] [11]} One week later, Ganea was banned for 22 matches, which were later reduced to 16, after attacking one of the assistant referees after being sent off during a match between his club Politehnica Timișoara and Rapid București. ^{[11] [29] [30]} In his first match played against CFR Cluj after executing the 16 match suspension, he had a verbal conflict with former U Craiova teammate Eugen Trică before the beginning of the match, being close to start a fight after the end of the match. ^{[30] [31]}

In 2012 while attending at Ioan Drăgan's funeral, who was his wedding's Godfather and a former FC Brașov teammate he almost got into a fight with the priest, being unsatisfied of the way he was preaching. ^{[4] [5]}

While coaching Universitatea Cluj he was accused by player Cristian Mureșan of beating him up but Ganea denied the incident. ^{[32] [33] [34]}

During his coaching period at FC Voluntari after a 1–0 victory against CSMS Iași he had a conflict with a female journalist named Alina Iosub in which he offended and cussed her, she also threatened him by saying that if he comes to Botoșani, he won't leave there alive. ^{[9] [35] [36]}

His wife, Dana, with which he was married for over 24 years accused him of physical and verbal domestic violence and filled for divorce several times, also asking for a restraining order against him. ^{[37] [38] [39] [40]}

Personal life

His son, George is also a footballer. ^{[41] [42]}

International stats

Romania national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	9	6
2000	11	4
2001	6	2
2002	7	3
2003	7	4
2004	4	0
2005	0	0
2006	1	0
Total	45	19

International goals

Scores and results table. "Score" indicates the score after the player's goal: ^[2]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 March 1999	Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania	Estonia	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2	3 March 1999	Stadionul Lia Manoliu, Bucharest, Romania	Estonia	2–0	2–0	Friendly
3	28 April 1999	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Belgium	1–0	1–0	Friendly
4	9 June 1999	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Azerbaijan	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
5	19 September 1999	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
6	19 September 1999	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
7	26 April 2000	Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanţa, Romania	Cyprus	2–0	2–0	Friendly
8	20 June 2000	Stade du Pays de Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium	England	3–2	3–2	UEFA EURO 2000 Group A
9	3 September 2000	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Lithuania	1–0	1–0	World Cup 2002 Qual.
10	28 February 2001	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Lithuania	0–1	0–3	Friendly
11	28 February 2001	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Lithuania	0–2	0–3	Friendly
12	13 February 2002	Stade de France, Saint Denis, France	France	1–2	1–2	Friendly
13	27 March 2002	Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanţa, Romania	Ukraine	4–0	4–1	Friendly
14	17 April 2002	Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium, Bydgoszcz, Poland	Poland	1–0	2–1	Friendly
15	7 September 2002	Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
16	12 February 2003	Neo GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Slovakia	2–1	2–1	Friendly
17	7 June 2003	Stadionul Ion Oblemenco, Craiova, Romania	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
18	11 June 2003	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
19	6 September 2003	Stadionul Astra, Ploieşti, Romania	Luxembourg	3–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.

Honours

Club

Universitatea Craiova

• Romanian Cup Runner-up: 1997–98

Rapid București

• Divizia A: 1998–99
• Romanian Super Cup: 1999
• Romanian Cup: 2006–07

VfB Stuttgart

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000, 2002
• Bundesliga Runner-up: 2002–03

Individual

• Divizia A top scorer : 1998–99

Coach

Dunărea Călărași

• Liga III: 2014–15

References

1. Stokkermans, Karel (10 June 2011). "Ioan Viorel Ganea – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF . Retrieved 3 March 2013.
2. "Ionel Ganea". European Football. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
3. "Romania vs England 3 – 2". European Football. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
4. "Ganea şochează din nou – Era să bată un preot la un priveghi" [Ganea shocks again "He was about to beat a priest at a vigil] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
5. "Ionel Ganea a sărit din nou la bătaie! A vrut să altoiască un preot" [Ionel Ganea tried to fight again! He wanted to beat up a priest] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
6. "'Ganezu" din scandal in scandal" ['Ganezu" from scandal in scandal] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 27 August 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
7. "Recidivistul HuliGanea" [The recidivist HuliGanea] (in Romanian). Evz.ro. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
8. "Ionel Ganea, omul care a băgat spaima în fotbal" [Ionel Ganea, the man who put the fear in football] (in Romanian). Evz.ro. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
9. "Gest MIZERABIL la Iași! Ganea a amenințat-o cu bătaia pe reportera Look TV: "Hai, fă, nu mă bagi odată în direct? Dacă-ți trag una, te lipesc de perete!" După ce s-a calmat, a vrut să o pupe și să-și ceară scuze. Amenințarea jurnalistei: "S-ar putea să nu te întorci viu la București! Îți promit asta!"" [MISERABLE gesture in Iasi! Ganea threatened to beat the Look TV reporter: "Come on, aren't going to put me on live? If I hit you once, you'll get stuck in the wall! "After he calmed down, he wanted to kiss her and apologize. The journalist threatened him: "You may not return alive to Bucharest! I promise you this!"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
10. "Ganea bagă frica în stelişti. Top 5 întîmplări şocante cu fostul dinamovist!" [Ganea puts fear into Steaua's players. Top 5 shocking events with the former Dinamo player!] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
11. "Citeste un superinterviu cu Ionel Ganea: "Nu faceti ca mine!"" [Read a super interview with Ionel Ganea: "Don't do what I did!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
12. "VIDEO A mâncat cu paiul timp de o lună, după ce a fost bătut CRUNT de Ionel Ganea. Acum a ajuns la modesta Atletic Bradu" [VIDEO He ate with straw for a month, after being beaten badly by Ionel Ganea. Now he has reached to play for the modest Atletico Bradu] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
13. "Lutu: Ganea si Cartu l-au lasat lat pe Frasineanu!" [Lutu: Ganea and Cartu left Frasineanu KO!] (in Romanian). Ziare.ro. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
14. "Fanii Rapidului nu-l iartă pe Ganea pentru episodul din 1998" [Rapid fans do not forgive Ganea for the 1998 episode] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
15. "Valiza care a daramat Rapidul! Cine sunt oltenii care au castigat titlul 20 pentru Steaua si impotriva lui Lucescu" [The suitcase that collapsed Rapid! Who are the Oltenians who won the title 20 for Steaua and against Lucescu] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
16. "3 situații "paranormale" – Craiova, enigma Ligii 1! Cum a servit titluri lui Dinamo și Steaua și cum l-a ajutat pe Hagi să devină golgheter. CSU cum se va descurca?" [3 "paranormal" situations "Craiova, the riddle of League 1! How did they serve titles to Dinamo and Steaua and how did they help Hagi become the top goalscorer. How will CSU handle it?] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
17. "10.000 Mark Geldstrafe nach Faustschlag gegen Seitz" [10,000 marks fine after punching Seitz] (in German). Spiegel.de. 3 December 2000. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
18. "Fără frică în fața superstarurilor! Sfaturi pentru tineri de la Ionel Ganea: "M-am întors spre Sol Campbell și i-am spus "Motherfucker! Bitch""" [No fear in front of superstars! Tips for young people from Ionel Ganea: "I turned back to Sol Campbell and said 'Motherfucker! Bitch'"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
19. "Să râdem cu Ionel Ganea. Trei poveşti inedite cu trei fotbalişti uriaşi. Cum l-a pus la respect pe Gerrard: "A venit la mine şi.. JAP! I-am dat una"" [Let's laugh with Ionel Ganea. Three unique stories with three huge footballers. How he put Gerrard in his place: "He came to me and .. JAP! I gave him one"] (in Romanian). Telekom.ro. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
20. "Stelea si Dan Petrescu s-au luat la pumni!" [Stelea and Dan Petrescu punched each other!] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 20 February 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
21. "Ganea a sărit să-l bată pe Boloni în 2001, dar nu am realizat pe moment gravitatea incidentului" ["Ganea jumped to beat Boloni in 2001, but I didn't realize the gravity of the incident at the moment"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
22. "Episod neștiut cu violentul Ionel Ganea: bătaie în seara barajului pierdut cu Slovenia. "Mi-a dat un pumn și a sărit pe mine. Mi-a învinețit ochiul. Mi-au pus o șapcă să nu vadă Hagi"" [Unknown episode with the violent Ionel Ganea: fight in the evening of the lost tie with Slovenia. "He punched me and jumped on me. He bruised my eye. They put a cap on me so Hagi couldn't see"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
23. "Celtic Defender John Kennedy Forced to Retire from Football". Evening Times. Archived from the original on 16 November 2009.
24. "Gerrard: "Ganea e nebun"" [Gerrard: "Ganea is insane"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
25. "Durii din fotbalul românesc: Fiare, tauri la cozoroc şi templieri bătrâni" [Rough guys from Romanian football: Beasts, bullfights and old Templars] (in Romanian). Stiri.tvr.ro. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
26. Cooper, Scott (8 April 2006). "Ganea fires angry broadside at Hoddle". Thefootballnetwork.net. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
27. "Ganea s-a bătut la un antrenament" [Ganea got into a fight at a training session] (in Romanian). Adevarul.ro. 10 April 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
28. "O poveste FABULOASĂ cu Ionel Ganea în Anglia! Ruptură totală cu Glenn Hoddle la primul meci jucat după 18 luni. Ce a făcut" [A fabulous story with Ionel Ganea in England! Total break with Glenn Hoddle in the first match played after 18 months. What did he do] (in Romanian). Telekom.ro. 22 April 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
29. "Soccer-Ganea banned for 22 matches for attacking linesman". Reuters. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
30. "Trica si Ganea, la un pas de bataie" [Trica and Ganea, one step away from starting a fight] (in Romanian). 9am.ro. 18 December 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
31. "Shot-Ganea revine: gata sa sara din nou la bataie dupa meciul Poli – CFR" [Shot-Ganea returns: ready to jump into a fight after the Poli – CFR match] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 17 December 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
32. "Ionel Ganea a batut fara mila un fotbalist: "L-a rupt!"" [Ionel Ganea mercilessly beat up a footballer: "He wrecked him!""] (in Romanian). Ziare.ro. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
33. "Fotbalistul batut de Ganea povesteste filmul evenimentelor" [The footballer beaten up by Ganea tells the film of the events] (in Romanian). Ziare.ro. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
34. "Ganea este acuzat de un jucător că l-ar fi bătut! Cristi Mureșan: "Eu am încercat să țin secret acest subiect"" [Ganea is accused by a player of having beaten him! Cristi Mureșan: "I tried to keep this subject a secret"] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
35. "Ganea, incident cu o jurnalistă: "Hai, ochelaristo, mai repede!" "Ai grijă la Botoșani, să nu pleci rupt!"" [Ganea had an incident with a journalist: "Come on, glasses girl, faster!" "Watch out in Botosani, you might leave in pieces!"] (in Romanian). Digi.ro. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
36. "De aici a pornit totul: momentul care a declanșat scandalul. Limbaj suburban al lui Ganea" [The point from where everything started: the moment that triggered the scandal. Ganea's suburban language] (in Romanian). Digi.ro. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
37. "Ionel Ganea, acuzat că şi-a băgat soţia în spital!" [Ionel Ganea, accused of putting his wife in the hospital!] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
38. "Ionel Ganea, acuzat de fosta soție că își terorizează propriul copil. Au fost făcute două plângeri la Poliție" [Ionel Ganea, accused by his ex-wife of terrorizing his own child. Two complaints were made to the Police] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
39. "Dana, soția lui Ionel Ganea, dezvăluiri teribile: "Își bate joc de copilul lui. M-a agresat fizic și verbal!"" [Dana, Ionel Ganea's wife, makes terrible revelations: "He is disrespecting his own child. He physically and verbally assaulted me!"] (in Romanian). A1.ro. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
40. "Declarații năucitoare. AdevărulL despre divorțul din familia lui Ganea. E halucinant! Fostul fotbalist și-a bătut soția din cauză că…" [Crushing declarations. The truth about Ganea's family divorce. It's unbelievable! The former footballer had beat up his wife at dinner because ...] (in Romanian). Cancan.ro. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
41. "VIDEO Primul gol al lui Ganea jr. la Rapid: "Cel mai frumos moment din viața mea!"" [VIDEO The first goal of Ganea jr. at Rapid: "The most beautiful moment of my life!"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
42. "Fiul lui Ionel Ganea: "Tata şi-a făcut treaba, eu trebuie să-mi fac singur un nume în fotbal"" [The son of Ionel Ganea: "Dad has done his job, I have to make on my own in football"] (in Romanian). Realitatea.net. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.

External links

• Ionel Ganea at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ionel Ganea at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
• Ionel Ganea at Soccerbase