Cristian Eugen Chivu (; born 26 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

's under-19 side. A defender, he began his career with hometown club

CSM Reșița Clubul Sportiv Muncitoresc Reșița (), commonly known as CSM Reșița or simply as Reșița, is a professional football club based in Reșița, Romania, currently playing in the Liga III. The club was founded on 25 May 1926 as ''UD (Uzinele � ...

before moving to

FC Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948, commonly known as FC U Craiova 1948 or FC U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I. It is along with CS Universitatea Craiova one of the two entities asser ...

in 1998, leaving Romania to join Dutch club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

a season later. His performances as the captain of Ajax inspired an

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

18 million transfer to

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

in 2003. Chivu won the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

in his last of four seasons in Rome before a transfer to

, where he spent the rest of his career before retiring in 2014. After recovering from a fractured skull, Chivu wore a distinctive protective headgear, similar to

Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...

's, from 2010 onwards. His honours at Inter included a treble of the

Italian league The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

, domestic cup, and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

in 2010. Chivu earned 75 international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

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

between 1999 and 2010, and was part of the squads for

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

s in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. After retiring, he became a football pundit for Italian television stations Sky Sport and

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

. He is also a technical observer for

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

Club career

Early career

Chivu's first professional club was

. After moving to

, his reputation began to rise and his performances sparked interest from some larger clubs outside of Romania.

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

club

was particularly impressed with Chivu and signed him in 1999.

Ajax

At Ajax, Chivu developed a reputation as a reliable fullback and a free-kick specialist. Then-manager

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

appointed him as captain of the club. With Chivu as captain, Ajax dominated the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

with an exciting young squad. Playing alongside Chivu were future stars such as

Rafael van der Vaart Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant manager of Danish 2nd Division club Esbjerg fB. Van der Vaart began his c ...

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he st ...

Johnny Heitinga John Gijsbert Alan "Johnny" Heitinga (born 15 November 1983) is a Dutch football coach and a former player who played as a centre back. He manages Jong Ajax, the reserves team of AFC Ajax. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he played for thei ...

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

and Maxwell. Chivu played a pivotal role for Ajax in their

run in the 2002–03 season, when they came to within a minute of the semi-finals. That season, Chivu was in a quintet of Ajax players – himself, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Maxwell, Wesley Sneijder and

Andy van der Meyde Andy van der Meijde, anglicised to van der Meyde (; born 30 September 1979) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. After making a name for himself at Ajax, he went on to represent Inter Milan and Everton, his spel ...

– who all went on to later join

Roma

In 2003,

expressed their interest in signing Chivu. At the time, Roma had an enormous debt and there were questions raised over Roma's ability to pay any proposed fees. Seeking to silence the increasing doubt over their financial situation, Roma sought a bank guarantee, which was subsequently denied. After much speculation, however, Roma finally completed the purchase of Chivu in September, ending the long and protracted saga. The fee was

18 million. Though he became a regular in defence, he made limited appearances due to injuries. He won the 2006–07 Coppa Italia in his last season with Roma. During the summer transfer window, he was once again a subject of transfer speculation, with newly crowned

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

champions Real Madrid reportedly making a formal bid, while

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and Inter Milan were also interested in signing the defender.

Inter Milan

Chivu was reported to be in the middle of a tug-of-war between Barcelona and Real Madrid during the 2007 summer transfer window. After a four-year spell which yielded a

, Chivu left Roma and signed a five-year contract with

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

rivals Inter on 27 July 2007. The transfer fee was €16 million, which €3 million of the transfer fee paid via defender

Marco Andreolli Marco Giancarlo Andreolli (born 10 June 1986) is a retired Italian professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career Padova and Internazionale Andreolli began playing with Padova's youth system before being signed by Inter in 20 ...

moved to Roma in a co-ownership deal. His first season with the defending Serie A champions was a successful one, as he won the Serie A title that had eluded him during his time at Roma. During the Champions League match at home to Manchester United in the 2008–09 season, Chivu had a terrific game, denying

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

and

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

many times, and won Man of the Match ahead of Inter goalkeeper Julio César. Chivu was a regular at left back during the 2009–10 season, as

Walter Samuel Walter Adrián Samuel (; born Walter Adrián Luján; 23 March 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Samuel has been regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, and as one of football's toughest defenders, with ...

and

Lúcio Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (born 8 May 1978), commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, Lúcio was known for his long, s ...

became the preferred centre back pairing. On 6 January against

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

, Chivu was stretchered off early in the second half after colliding heads with Chievo striker

Sergio Pellissier Sergio Pellissier (, ; born 12 April 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who plays as a forward. He is currently working as general director of Rovigo and player, owner and chairman of Eccellenza amateurs FC Clivense, a club he f ...

. He was in two hours of surgery for a skull fracture and later cleared of any danger. Although it was initially thought he might be out for the rest of the season, he returned to Serie A on 24 March. After this, he needed to wear a headguard in matches. A month later, Chivu scored his first goal for Inter in a game against

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

, a terrific 30-yard strike. On 22 May 2010, he was in Inter's starting line-up in the

UEFA Champions League Final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of Europea ...

against Bayern Munich, which Inter won 2–0. He scored his second goal for Inter in the 2010–11 season against

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...

which turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 win for Inter. He also scored the winning penalty for Inter in their

2009–10 Coppa Italia The 2009–10 Coppa Italia was the 63rd season of the tournament. The competition started on 2 August 2009 and ended on 5 May 2010. As in the previous year, 78 clubs took part in the tournament. Internazionale were the cup holders. Participating ...

win over

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

on 26 January 2011. Chivu left Inter after his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 31 March 2014. The very same day he announced his retirement from football on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page.

International career

In 1999, Chivu was chosen to represent the Romania national under-21 team and quickly made the step up to play for the full side. In 2001, he won

Cyprus International Football Tournament The Cyprus International Football Tournament was an annual winter association football friendly competition for national teams that takes place in Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of C ...

2001. He represented his country at both

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

and

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

. Despite being capped only four times prior to the Euro 2000, he started all four matches and scored his first international goal. At Euro 2008, he earned plaudits for his performance, keeping previous

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

champions

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and runners-up

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

at bay, despite being played in a less familiar role as a holding midfielder. He captained Romania through

World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

, but they failed to make the play-offs, finishing fifth in their group. On 21 May 2011, Chivu announced his retirement from the national team.

Managerial career

In August 2019, Chivu enrolled in the

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

courses at Coverciano. In July 2021 he was announced as new head coach of Inter Milan ''Primavera''.

Personal life

Chivu speaks Italian, Dutch, Spanish and English, as well as his native Romanian. His father, Mircea was also a footballer and a coach, the Mircea Chivu Stadium from

Reșița Reșița (; german: link=no, Reschitz; hu, Resicabánya; hr, Ričica; cz, Rešice; sr, Решица/Rešica; tr, Reşçe) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had ...

is named in his honor. He played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

FCM Reșița The word FCM may refer to: Science and technology * FCM (chemotherapy), a chemotherapy regimen * Flow cytometry * Food contact materials * Fuel-containing material * Flight control module, a computer that assists in the control of an aircraft ...

and Universitatea Craiova winning the 1973–74 Divizia A with the team from Craiova. Mircea was coach at

when Cristian started his career. According to ''Calcio Italia'' magazine, Chivu has been involved in opening football schools around Romania for the past few years, and he said "I hope that he is proud when he looks down on me" in reference to his father who died in 1998. He is married to Adelina Elisei who on 12 February 2009 gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Natalia.

Career statistics

Club

International stats

::''Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first. Was captain in matches highlighted in green:''

Honours

CSM Reșița *

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. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting c ...

: 1996–97 Ajax *

: 2001–02 *

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2001–02 * Dutch Supercup: 2002 Roma *

: 2006–07 Inter Milan *

: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 *Coppa Italia: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

* Supercoppa Italiana: 2010 *

: 2009–10 * FIFA Club World Cup: 2010 Individual * Ajax Talent of the Year (Marco van Basten Award): 1999–2000 * Dutch Golden Shoe: 2002 * Ajax Player of the Year (Rinus Michels Award): 2000–01, 2002–03 * '' Gazeta Sporturilor''

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year ( ro, Fotbalistul român al anului), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy ( ro, Trofeul Nicolae Dobrin), is an annual association football award given by the '' Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian ...

: 2002, 2009, 2010 *

UEFA Team of the Year The UEFA Fan's Team of the Year is a football award given by UEFA through a poll on its official website. This award started in 2001 and allows users of the organization's website to choose their own eleven players and a coach based on their ove ...

: 2002

References

External links

Inter Milan profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chivu, Cristian Living people 1980 births Romanian footballers FC U Craiova 1948 players AFC Ajax players A.S. Roma players Inter Milan players Liga I players Eredivisie players Serie A players Romania under-21 international footballers Romania youth international footballers Romania international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA Euro 2008 players Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Sportspeople from Reșița CSM Reșița players Inter Milan non-playing staff Association football defenders UEFA Champions League winning players