Raul Rusescu

Raul Rusescu

Rusescu with Romania in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Raul Andrei Rusescu
Date of birth	(1988-07-09) 9 July 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward, attacking midfielder
Youth career
1995–2004	FC Teleșpan
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2005	CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea
2005–2011	Unirea Urziceni	87	(18)
2006–2007	→ Dunărea Giurgiu (loan)	31	(13)
2007–2008	→ Otopeni (loan)	20	(4)
2011–2013	Steaua București	65	(34)
2013–2015	Sevilla	8	(3)
2014	→ Braga (loan)	13	(5)
2014–2015	→ Steaua București (loan)	21	(4)
2015–2018	Osmanlıspor	46	(10)
2018–2019	FCSB	19	(4)
2019–2020	Giresunspor	30	(12)
2020–2021	Academica Clinceni	29	(6)
2021–2022	Lamezia Terme	18	(3)
2022–2023	Concordia Chiajna	18	(4)
Total		398	(117)
International career
2006–2007	Romania U19	6	(3)
2008–2010	Romania U21	7	(2)
2012–2016	Romania	12	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Raul Andrei Rusescu (born 9 July 1988) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea

At age seven, Rusescu was spotted by Cristi Bora at a trial and brought to Râmnicu Vâlcea. ^[1] As a youth, he tore open his calf when he fell out of a bus, and then, subsequently, he broke his tibia falling down on ice. ^[2] While at the club, he was group teammate with later Steaua București colleague Mihai Costea. Although he went through the youth system of CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea, in 2005 the coach of the team, Adrian Furnică, decided that Rusescu did not have enough value and that he was not likely to grow. ^[3]

Unirea Urziceni

In the summer of 2005, Rusescu was brought to Liga II side Unirea Urziceni under the command of Dan Petrescu. He had limited playing time in his first year with the team while they earned promotion to the Liga I.

His team now being in the first tier of Romanian football, Rusescu was loaned to Dunărea Giurgiu. ^[4] Although not yet 18, he quickly became a starter and finished the season with 13 goals scored across all competitions. ^[5] For the 2007–08 season he was again loaned out, to Liga II club CS Otopeni. ^[6] He helped the club gain promotion to the Liga I by scoring 4 goals in 20 matches. ^[7]

In his first year in Liga I with Unirea Urziceni, Rusescu helped his team win the 2008–09 league title, earning a place in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. ^[8] He finished the season with 5 goals scored in 23 games. ^[9]

In the 2009–10 campaign, Rusescu scored 8 goals from 29 total appearances, helping Unirea Urziceni finish second in the league and gather eight points in the 2009–10 Champions League group stage. ^[10]

After manager Dan Petrescu left the club, Rusescu was used as a winger and did not perform as well as before.

Steaua București

On 4 May 2011, the owner of Steaua București announced at a televised show that Rusescu has signed with the club. ^[11] Rusescu made his Liga I debut with Steaua on 31 July against CS Mioveni, also scoring his first Steaua goal. ^[12] In the next match, Rusescu scored his second goal for the club against Universitatea Cluj. He scored his first European goal for Steaua against Schalke 04 in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. ^[13]

On 5 December, Rusescu scored two sensational goals against Steaua's arch-rival Dinamo București, assuring his club a win in a match named by the two club's supporters the Eternal Derby and ending Steaua's seven-year winless streak on Dinamo's stadium. He has been deemed a hero by the Steaua supporters and the press. ^{[14] [15]} In the next Europa League group stage match, Rusescu scored again for Steaua from a penalty kick, helping his club beat AEK Larnaca and qualifying for the round of 32. ^[16] At the end of 2011, Rusescu was Steaua's most prolific goalscorer with seven goals in Liga I and two in the Europa League group stage. ^[17]

On 7 March 2013, Rusescu scored from the penalty spot against Chelsea at the National Arena, to put Steaua 1–0 up in the Europa League round of 16. ^[18] On 12 March, Rusescu scored a goal against Universitatea Cluj. ^[19] He scored again, on 18 March, against Astra Ploiești in a game which finished 2–1, with teammate Paul Pârvulescu scoring the winning goal. ^[20] On 8 April, Rusescu scored the second goal from the 4–1 victory against Sportul Studențesc. ^[21]

Sevilla and loans

On 13 June 2013, Rusescu completed a move to Spanish La Liga club Sevilla, signing a five-year contract which included a €40 million release clause. ^[22] On 20 August 2015, Sevilla announced that Rusescu had terminated his contract with the club. ^[23]

At the end of 2013, Rusescu was loaned at Portuguese Primeira Liga club Braga, with an option to purchase outright. He made his Braga debut on 6 January 2014 in a 2–0 win against Arouca in the Taça de Portugal. On 10 January, he scored two goals for Braga in his Primeira Liga debut, a 3–0 win over Vitória de Guimarães.

On 1 September 2014, just one year after being sold by FCSB to Sevilla, Rusescu returned for a season-long loan. ^{[24] [25] [26]}

International career

Rusescu is an ex-Romania U-21 international, earning seven caps and scoring two goals. ^[27] He played in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, losing in the play-offs against England. ^[28]

Career statistics

Club

^{[29] [30] [31] [32] [33]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Unirea Urziceni	2005–06	9	2	–		–		–		–		9	2
	2008–09	23	5	2	1	–		–		–		25	6
	2009–10	26	8	1	0	–		3	0	–		30	8
	2010–11	29	3	1	0	–		4	0	–		34	3
	Total	87	18	4	1	–		7	0	–		98	19
Dunărea Giurgiu (loan)	2006–07	31	13	1	1	–		–		–		32	14
Otopeni (loan)	2007–08	20	4	0	0	–		–		–		20	4
Steaua București	2011–12	31	13	2	0	–		9	2	1	0	43	15
	2012–13	34	21	0	0	–		13	5	–		47	26
	Total	65	34	2	0	–		22	7	1	0	90	41
Sevilla	2013–14	1	0	2	0	–		4	3	–		7	3
Braga (loan)	2013–14	13	5	4	1	3	2	–		–		20	8
Steaua București (loan)	2014–15	21	4	5	2	3	2	4	5	–		33	13
Osmanlıspor	2015–16	24	9	2	1	–		–		–		26	10
	2016–17	22	1	5	2	–		12	4	–		39	7
	Total	46	10	7	3	–		12	4	–		65	17
FCSB	2018–19	19	4	2	1	–		3	0	–		24	5
Giresunspor	2019–20	30	12	1	0	–		–		–		32	12
Academica Clinceni	2020–21	29	6	1	0	–		–		–		30	6
Lamezia Terme	2021–22	18	3	1	0	–		–		–		19	3
Concordia Chiajna	2022–23	18	4	1	0	–		–		–		19	4
Career total		398	117	31	9	6	4	52	19	1	0	488	149

International stats

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Romania
	2012	1	0
	2013	1	0
	2014	5	1
	2015	3	0
	2016	2	0
Total		12	1

International goals

^[34]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 October 2014	Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania	Hungary	1–1	1–1	Euro 2016 qualifying

Honours

Club

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea

• Divizia C: 2004–05

Unirea Urziceni

• Liga I: 2008–09
• Supercupa României runner-up: 2009, 2010

Steaua București

• Liga I: 2012–13, 2014–15
• Cupa României: 2014–15
• Cupa Ligii: 2014–15
• Supercupa României runner-up: 2011

Individual

• Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year: 2012
• Liga I top scorer: 2012–13 ^[35] (21 goals)

References

1. Bora l-a vazut la un trial la doar 7 ani
2. Ca junior s-a accidentat grav cazand din autobuz si pe gheata
3. In 2005 a fost dat afara de la CSM RV
4. Rusescu a fost imprumutat la Dunarea Giurgiu
5. Rusescu a marcat 13 goluri pentru Dunarea Giurgiu
6. Rusescu imprumutat la Otopeni
7. Rusescu a promovat cu Otopeni
8. Unirea Urziceni campioana romaniei
9. Statistics of Rusescu at Urziceni
10. Raul Rusescu statistici pentru Urziceni
11. Steaua l-a luat si pe Ruesescu
12. Cronica partidei Steaua-Mioveni
13. Rusescu scores against Shalke 04
14. Statistics for Steaua-Dinamo
15. Steaua viseaza din nou la titlu dupa 3-1 cu Dinamo
16. Rusescu scores against AEK Larnaca
17. Rusescu este primul in topul marcatorilor la Steaua
18. "Eroul Stelei e satisfăcut". Gazeta Sporturilor . 7 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
19. Raul Rusescu deschide scorul cu Cluj
20. Diagonala spre titlu
21. Pass hattrick
22. "Raul Rusescu, máximo goleador de la Liga rumana, firma por cinco campañas" (in Spanish). Sevilla FC Official Website. 13 June 2013. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013.
23. "RAUL RUSESCU RESCINDE SU CONTRATO CON EL SEVILLA FC DE MUTUO ACUERDO" (in Spanish). Sevilla FC Official Website. 20 August 2015.
24. "Bine ai revenit, Raul Rusescu!". Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
25. "Rusescu a semnat cu Steaua! A fost împrumutat un an de la Sevilla" . Retrieved 11 October 2014.
26. Oficial: Rusescu, la Steaua!, fanatik.ro
27. National team statistics at soccerway
28. Rusescu at U-21 European Championship
29. "R. Rusescu". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
30. Raul Rusescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
31. "Raul Rusescu's 2008–09 Romanian Cup appearance 1". Romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
32. "Raul Rusescu's 2008–09 Romanian Cup appearance 2". Romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
33. "Raul Rusescu's 2009–10 Romanian Cup appearance". Romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
34. "Raul Rusescu". European Football. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
35. "Top Scorers". romaniansoccer.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 15 May 2021.

External links

• Raul Rusescu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
• Raul Rusescu at National-Football-Teams.com
• Raul Rusescu – UEFA competition record ( archive )