Bănel Nicoliță

Bănel Nicoliță

Nicoliță with Steaua București in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-01-07) 7 January 1985
Place of birth Făurei, Romania
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
Free agent
Youth career
1992–1993 Unirea Făurei
1993–2001 CF Brăila
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 Dacia Unirea Brăila 75 (23)
2004 Politehnica Timișoara 15 (3)
2005–2011 Steaua București 188 (23)
2011–2014 Saint-Étienne 25 (3)
2013–2014FC Nantes (loan) 17 (1)
2015–2016 Viitorul Constanța 37 (6)
National team
2003 Romania U-19 5 (1)
2004–2005 Romania U-21 13 (1)
2005– Romania 37 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 June 2014

Bănel Nicoliță (born 7 January 1985 in Făurei, Brăila County) is a Romanian professional footballer of Romani descent who plays for Astra Giurgiu. Nicoliță is nicknamed Jardel after the famous Mário Jardel of Brazil. He can play as a right winger or left winger and has been used on occasion as a right back. He is known for his electrifying pace and very high work rate.

Club career

Dacia Unirea Brăila and Politehnica Timișoara

He made his debut in Romanian Liga II, playing for Dacia Unirea Brăila.[1] After, he joined Politehnica Timișoara, making his Divizia A debut at the age of 19.[2] However, he made only 15 league appearances for the club before moving to Steaua București, at the beginning of 2005, he signed a 5-year contract with Steaua.[3]

Steaua București

Shortly after joining Steaua, Nicoliță won his first Liga I title upon his first season with the team. He is known as a humble and hard-working, though not very technical, speed and quickness are his strengths.

In the spring of 2006, he scored twice in the match against Real Betis,[4] his goals opening Steaua's door to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, and then he scored again in the quarterfinals, this time against Rapid București to help his team reach the semifinals.

On 1 November 2006, he scored an own goal against Real Madrid in a Champions League encounter.[5] Unfortunately for him and the Romanian side, this turned out to be decisive in the outcome of the match. He claimed he couldn't sleep for 48 hours after scoring it. After a game with FC Argeș, Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor named him Bănelinho.

On 27 August 2008, he has scored one goal in the match against Galatasaray, in the third qualifying round of UEFA Champions League,[6] which sent Steaua București to the group stage for the third consecutive year.

Starting with the 2010–11 season, Bănel was the new captain of Steaua,[7] but with the arrival of new coach Ilie Dumitrescu, he soon gave his armband to Cristian Tănase.

Saint-Étienne

On 30 August 2011, Saint-Étienne announced on their official website that they had found agreement with Steaua for Nicoliță's transfer and that the player would fly to France and undergo a medical the following day.[8] Being in his last year of contract with Steaua Bucureşti the transfer fee was €700.000. He signed a contract worth €400.000 per year.[9]

On 6 November he scored his first goal helping Saint-Étienne draw against second place Montpellier.[10] In a game against Sochaux Nicoliță offerd the assist for teenager Zouma to give Saint-Étienne the win.[11] After only six months with the French team he became a leader scoring 3 goals and offering 3 assists after hist first 11 appearances.[12] In February 2012 Nicoliță hit a rough patch, having a couple of not so convincing games, being described as monotonous.[13] In March, he was sidelined for a couple of weeks, due to ligament problems.[14] He recovered in late March 2012 and played in the games against Montpellier and Olympique Lyonnais, both 1–0 defeats.[15]

Loan to Nantes

On 2 September 2013, Ligue 1 club FC Nantes confirmed Nicoliță was signed on a season long loan from Saint-Étienne. He made an assist for his first match against FC Sochaux.

International career

Nicoliță won 34 caps for Romania up to date and scored one goal. He also used to be a Romanian U21 international.

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 II with two barret.

He was captain for the first time in the friendly against San Marino on 11 August 2011.

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 2 June 2007 Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia  Slovenia 2–02–1 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

Personal life

Nicoliță is an ethnic Romani,[16] one of six brothers raised by his mother in the small, impoverished town of Făurei, Nicoliță grew up determined to succeed and his speed and diligence on the field are proof of his unalloyed passion for the game.

One of his brothers, is also a professional footballer who plays for CF Brăila.

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dacia Unirea Brăila 2001–02 274000000274
2002–03 289000000289
2003–04 20100000002010
Total 75230000007523
Politehnica Timișoara 2004–05 153100000163
Total 153100000163
Steaua 2004–05 142001000152
2005–06 29700174104711
2006–07 3224112010493
2007–08 273008100354
2008–09 263007200335
2009–10 2821011300405
2010–11 274216000355
2011–12 5000201080
Total 188237164103025234
Saint-Étienne 2011–12 193100000203
2012–13 3000000030
2013–14 3000210051
Total 253100000284
Nantes (loan) 2013–14 171200010201
Total 171200010201
Career total 30653916493038263

Statistics accurate as of match played 2 September 2014

Honours

Season Club Title
2004–05Romania Steaua București Divizia A
2005–06Romania Steaua București Divizia A
2006Romania Steaua București Supercupa României
2010–11Romania Steaua București Cupa României
2012–13France Saint-Étienne Coupe de la Ligue

References

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Petre Marin
Steaua captain
2010
Succeeded by
Cristian Tănase
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