Claudiu Iulian Niculescu (born 23 June 1976) is a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former striker. He is currently the manager of

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

side

CSC 1599 Șelimbăr Club Sportiv Comunal 1599 Șelimbăr, commonly known as 1599 Șelimbăr or simply as Șelimbăr (), is a Romanian football club based in Șelimbăr, Sibiu County, currently playing in the Liga II. 1599 Șelimbăr was founded in 2016, under the ...

Club career

Claudiu Niculescu was born in Slatina and started playing football at the youth club CSȘ Slatina, alongside

Ionel Dănciulescu Ionel Daniel Dănciulescu (born 6 December 1976) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. He holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in Li ...

Ionuț Luțu Ionuț is a Romanian masculine given name. The English equivalent is Johnny. Notable persons with that name include: * Ionuț Andrei (born 1985), Romanian bobsledder * Ionuț Badea (born 1975), Romanian footballer * Ionuț Bălan (born 1978) ...

and

Augustin Chiriță Augustin Eduard Chiriță (born 10 October 1975) is a Romanian former footballER who played as a midfielder for teams such as Minerul Motru, Argeș Pitești, Karpaty Lviv or Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk, among others. After retirement, Chiriță sta ...

, being coached by Ion Pârvulescu. He started his senior career playing at Jiul IELIF Craiova in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

, after which he played for one season for

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern ...

Divizia C The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C to Liga III before the start of the 2006–07 season. It was the first in this format (six series of 18 t ...

, returning for the following one season and a half to play in

at Electroputere Craiova. Niculescu made his

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

debut on 1 March 1998, playing for Universitatea Craiova under Spanish coach

José Ramón Alexanko José Ramón Alexanko Ventosa (; born 19 May 1956) is a Spanish retired footballer and manager, who later served as director of football of Valencia CF. During his career the central defender played with success for both Athletic Bilbao and Ba ...

in a 2–1 victory against Petrolul Ploiești in which he scored one goal. He spent three years and a half at Universitatea Craiova, scoring 41 goals in 93

matches, appearing in two games without scoring in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup and also reaching two

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

finals. In his first season with

Dinamo Bucharest A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, he won the

title and was the second top-goalscorer of the league with 15 goals. In 2002 Niculescu was transferred to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

. After a half of season, Niculescu returned to Dinamo Bucharest, winning the championship title in the 2003–04 season, contributing with 16 goals scored in 28 matches. In the 2004–05 season he scored 21 goals, sharing with

Gheorghe Bucur Gheorghe "Gigel" Bucur (born 8 April 1980, in Bucharest) is a former Romanian football player. He is a short and speedy forward. Bucur has won the top league goalscorer award in the Romanian Liga 1 twice, in the 2004–05 and in the 2008–09 ...

the top goalscorer of

title, forming a couple in Dinamo's offence with

, the Romanian press calling them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired from the first letters of their family name and the Romanian pop band "N&D". In the 2006–07 season, Niculescu won another championship title with Dinamo and became the top scorer of the league with 18 goals, four of these were scored in a 4–1 against rivals

Rapid Bucharest Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

and two in a 4–2 victory in a

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

against Steaua Bucharest. He was the second best goal-scorer in the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match ...

with eight goals, three less than

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

Walter Pandiani Walter Gerardo Pandiani Urquiza (born 27 April 1976) is an Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Albion. His performances for Peñarol earned him a move to Deportivo in Spain, wh ...

, helping '' The Red Dogs'' reach the sixteenths-finals where they were eliminated by Benfica. He played 43 matches and scored 18 goals for Dinamo in European matches, being the player with the most matches played and top scorer in European competitions for the club. In January 2008, Niculescu was transferred by Dinamo at

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

for 700.000€, where he was teammate with fellow Romanians

Mihai Tararache Mihai Tararache (born 25 October 1977) is a retired Romanian footballer who last played as a midfielder for Gloria Bistriţa, Dinamo București, Grasshoppers, FC Zürich, and MSV Duisburg. International career Tararache played four matches for ...

and

Iulian Filipescu Iulian Sebastian Filipescu (born 29 March 1974) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He debuted in Divizia A with Steaua București in 1993 and became part of a league championship winning team for seven sea ...

, playing 15

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

matches in which he scored 4 goals, but at the end of the season he was transferred in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

at Omonia. In 2009 he returned for a third spell at Dinamo which lasted one year and a half, after which he went to play for two seasons at

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

where he ended his playing career. Niculescu was a striker skilled in free kicks, being nicknamed "Lunetistul" ''(The Sniper)'' by the Romanian press. Claudiu Niculescu is 11th in an all-time ranking for the goalscorers in

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

, with 156 goals scored in 326 matches played.

International career

Claudiu Niculescu played 8 games at international level for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, making his debut when coach

László Bölöni László Bölöni ( ro, Ladislau Bölöni; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Ligue 2 club Metz. He is best known for his time at Sporting CP as a manager where he introduced C ...

sent him on the field in order to replace

Marius Niculae Marius Constantin Niculae (born 16 May 1981), nicknamed (''Arrow'' in Romanian) is a Romanian retired footballer who played as a centre forward. Niculae started his career with Dinamo București, progressing through their youth system to the ...

in the 81st minute of a friendly which ended with a 2–1 victory against

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

. He also played two games at the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and one at the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Career statistics

International

Coaching career

His first experience as a coach was in November 2010 for two matches at

, where he was at the same time an active player. His second experience as a coach started in March 2012 which was also at

and also being in the same time an active player. In 15 games under his command, the club won four games, draw in six and lost five. Niculescu resigned after the first game of the 2012–13 season, a loss at

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative bo ...

: 6–2. On 25 September 2012, Niculescu was installed as the head coach of

team Bihor Oradea with an objective to help the team promote to the first division. In December, Niculescu ended his contract, after only eight games (two wins, three draws and three losses). In January 2013, Niculescu took over Damila Măciuca, in

. September 2018, Niculescu was appointed coach of

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, following the dismissal of Florin Bratu. He signed a contract until 2020. On 7 January 2021, Niculescu signed a contract with

side

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

Managerial statistics

:''Updated as of 7 May 2021''

Personal life

Claudiu Niculescu's brothers Mihai and Dragoș and his cousin Ovidiu were footballers in the Romanian lower leagues. His father Marin was a football coach in the Romanian lower leagues. In 1998 he married Lidia and they had together two kids, Alexandru and Rebecca. They divorced in 2006. In June 2007, he married Diana Munteanu who was a TV host, their wedding was considered the wedding of the year by the Romanian press. Together they had a son named David Cristian. Claudiu and Diana divorced in 2014.

Honours

Player

Universitatea Craiova *

runner-up: 1997–98, 1999–2000 Dinamo București *

: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07 *

: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994, ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Individual

* Liga 1 Golden Boot: 2004–05, 2006–07

Manager

Voluntari *

: 2016–17 *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niculescu, Claudiu 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Slatina, Romania Romanian footballers Men's association football forwards FC Drobeta-Turnu Severin players FC U Craiova 1948 players FC Dinamo București players MSV Duisburg players Genoa C.F.C. players AC Omonia players FC Universitatea Cluj players Liga I players Liga II players Liga III players Bundesliga players Serie B players Cypriot First Division players Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Romania men's international footballers Romanian football managers FC Universitatea Cluj managers FC Bihor Oradea (1958) managers CS Sportul Snagov managers CS Mioveni managers FC Voluntari managers FC Dinamo București managers Al-Tai FC managers CS Concordia Chiajna managers FC Politehnica Iași (2010) managers CSC 1599 Șelimbăr managers Saudi First Division League managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia