| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 13 November 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–2002 | Rapid București | 323 | (13) |
| 2002–2003 | Anzhi Makhachkala | 9 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | FC Oradea | 22 | (0) |
| Total | 354 | (13) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nicolae "Nae" Stanciu (born 13 November 1973) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a defender.
He spent most of his career with Rapid București, which he captained, and had two brief spells with Anzhi Makhachkala and FC Oradea before retiring in 2004. [1] [2] [3]
Stanciu was born on 13 November 1973 in Bucharest, Romania, growing up in the Giulești neighborhood. [1] [4] [5] He began playing junior-level football at local club Rapid at age 10. [1] [4] He made his Divizia A debut on 16 September 1990 under coach Ion Pop in Rapid's 1–0 home loss to Inter Sibiu. [1] [4] [6] His first performance with The White-Burgundies was winning the 1997–98 Cupa României, being used by coach Mircea Lucescu the entire match in the 1–0 win over Universitatea Craiova in the final. [1] [4] [7] In the following season he helped the club win the league title, appearing in 28 games in which he scored one goal. [1] [4] [8] Stanciu then won the 1999 Supercupa României, Lucescu using him the full 90 minutes in the 5–0 victory against rivals Steaua București. [1] [4] [9] Stanciu's last trophy won with The Railwaymen was the 2001–02 Cupa României, playing the entire match under coach Mircea Rednic in the 2–1 win over Dinamo București in the final. [1] [4] [10] During his years spent with Rapid, he also made 29 appearances with one goal in European competitions (including four matches in the Intertoto Cup). [1] [4]
In 2002, Stanciu joined Anzhi Makhachkala, making his debut in the Russian Premier League on 25 August under coach Gadzhi Gadzhiyev in a 3–1 away loss to CSKA Moscow, totaling nine appearances in the competition until the end of the season. [1] [4] [11] Afterwards he returned to Romania, signing with FC Oradea, making his last Divizia A appearance on 12 May 2004 in a 1–1 against Oțelul Galați, having a total of 345 matches with 13 goals in the competition. [1] [4]
On 13 May 2020, Gazeta Sporturilor included him in a first XI of best Romanian players who never played for Romania's national team. [12] In September 2014 he was appointed president at Rapid București, a position he held until December. [4] [13]
Rapid București