Dan Nicolae Nistor (born 6 May 1988) is a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

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 ...

club

CS Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (), CS U Craiova, or simply U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football team based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian leagu ...

. After starting out in the lower leagues, Nistor totalled over one hundred Liga I matches for

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 ...

between 2010 and 2013, which earned him a transfer abroad to

Evian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

during the latter year. He was used sparingly in France and soon returned to Pandurii, and has since spent his career with local clubs

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 Yekaterinbu ...

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

and Universitatea Craiova. Nistor made his senior international debut 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 ...

in 2013, in a 4–0 victory over for

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Club career

Early years

Nistor did not play football at junior level, but in 2005 joined local AS Rucăr in the lower leagues. Around two years later, during a match against the reserves of Argeș Pitești, he impressed Internațional Curtea de Argeș owner Benone Lazăr who was in the attendance. Nistor was transferred to the latter club at the cost of seven football balls. After his first season at Internațional in the third league, he was loaned to Muscelul Câmpulung and

Dacia Mioveni Clubul Sportiv Mioveni (; ''Mioveni Sports Club''), commonly known as CS Mioveni, or simply as Mioveni, is a Romanian professional football club based in Mioveni, Argeș County, currently playing in the Liga I. They were founded in 2000 as ''A ...

respectively. On his return to

Curtea de Argeș Curtea de Argeș () is a municipality in Romania on the left bank of the river Argeș, where it flows through a valley of the Southern Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass. It is part of ...

in 2010, Nistor had hoped he would make his

debut, but the team withdrew from the championship due to financial issues.

Pandurii Târgu Jiu

Nistor signed a four-year contract with

in the summer of 2010. He played his first match in the top division on 23 July that year, featuring the full 90 minutes in a goalless draw with

Unirea Urziceni Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Urziceni, commonly known as FC Urziceni (), is a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County which currently plays in fourth division, Ialomi ...

. On 10 April 2011, he scored his first Liga I goal in a 4–2 home victory over

Victoria Brănești Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He made 35 appearances and netted six goals all competition comprised in the 2012–13 season, as Pandurii finished second in the Liga I and subsequently qualified for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Nistor made his debut in that competition on 16 July 2013, in a 0–0 away draw with

Levadia Tallinn Football Club Infonet Levadia Tallinn, commonly known as FCI Levadia, or simply as Levadia, is a professional football club based in Tallinn, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home grou ...

for the

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

. His team went further after 4–0 on aggregate and he recorded his first

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

goal in a 1–1 draw against

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

, on 1 August.

Evian

In August 2013, amid interest from

FC Steaua București FC Steaua București was a Romanian professional football club of which two current entities are claiming the records. The original ''FC Steaua București'' team was part of the namesake CSA Steaua București sports club and belonged to the Ministry ...

and

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, Nistor was transferred by French club

for a rumoured fee of

€ 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 o ...

800,000. He failed to establish himself as a starter for ''Les Roses'', and only played six matches in the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

during the first half of the 2013–14 campaign. As a result, Nistor made a controversial statement about Evian's staff, saying that he did not play more because of his nationality.

Return to Pandurii Târgu Jiu

On 22 January 2014, Nistor was sent on loan to his former team Pandurii Târgu Jiu for a period of five months, which was later extended for another season. In the summer of 2015, he again joined the ''Alb-albaștrii'', this time as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Dinamo București

On 31 August 2016, Nistor agreed to a two-year deal with fellow league team

. On 20 May 2017, he won his first career trophy after "the Red Dogs" came victorious 2–0 in the Cupa Ligii final against

ACS Poli Timișoara Asociația Club Sportiv Poli Timișoara (), commonly known as ACS Poli Timișoara, Poli Timișoara or simply ACS Poli, was a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Timișoara, Timiș County. The team was founded in 2012, the yea ...

CFR Cluj

Nistor moved to

on 10 July 2017 in a swap deal which took Filipe Nascimento in the opposite direction. Under the management of

Dan Petrescu Daniel Vasile Petrescu (; born 22 December 1967) is a Romanian football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club CFR Cluj. As a player, Petrescu was deployed as a full-back or a winger and represented Premier Lea ...

, he played 18 games across all competitions without scoring. However, in January 2018 he publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Petrescu's communication skills and his recent lack of playing time.

Return to Dinamo București

Nistor terminated his contract with CFR Cluj and rejoined Dinamo București on 13 January 2018. He was assigned the

number 10 shirt Squad numbers are used in association football to identify and distinguish players that are on the field. Numbers very soon became a way to also indicate position, with starting players being assigned numbers 1–11, although in the modern ga ...

and played his first match upon return on 4 February, in a 2–2 Liga I draw with

. On 29 July 2018, Nistor scored in an Eternal derby with

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian football league system, Romanian league system, t ...

, which ended 3–3. The following month, FCSB reportedly made several bids for the transfer of the midfielder—Dinamo however rejected each offer and proceeded in contract extension talks. Nistor registered 13 assists across the 2018–19 league season, the most for a player in the previous ten years, and was selected by

Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal The Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal (''Professional Football League''), also known by its acronym LPF, is a Romanian governing body that runs the Liga I, the top professional division of the Romanian football league system. Its current president is ...

in the best team of the campaign.

Universitatea Craiova

On 6 January 2020, Nistor signed a -year contract with

for an undisclosed transfer fee. He made his debut on the 31st in a 3–1 Liga I victory over

Gaz Metan Mediaș GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

, and scored his first goals in a 2–3

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 ...

loss to Politehnica Iași on 4 March. On 23 June, on the second match subsequent to the resumption of the Liga I after the

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Nistor scored his first goal in the championship for Craiova in a 2–1 home defeat of

FC Botoșani Fotbal Club Botoșani (), commonly known as FC Botoșani or simply Botoșani, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Botoșani, Botoșani County, that competes in the Liga I. In 2013, twelve years after being established, ...

. He then converted the winning

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in a 2–1 victory over FCSB, on 12 July. On 3 August, Nistor opened the scoring in an eventual 1–3 home loss to CFR Cluj; The final fixture loss meant that Craiova finished second in the table, while his former club CFR won its third title in a row.

International career

On 4 June 2013, Nistor made his international debut for the

Romania national team 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 ...

in a 4–0 victory over

at the

Arena Națională Arena Națională () is a retractable roof football stadium in Bucharest, Romania. It opened in 2011 on the site of the Stadionul Național (1953), original National Stadium, which was demolished between 2007 and 2008. The stadium hosts major fo ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, after having previously played in two unofficial friendlies against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

respectively. His next

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 Java ...

for the nation only came during late 2019 under manager

Cosmin Contra Cosmin Marius Contra (; born 15 December 1975) is a Romanian football manager and former player. Primarily an attacking-minded right-back, he was also deployed as a midfielder. He played professionally in three countries his own notwithstanding, ...

, appearing as a substitute in both UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Personal life

In February 2012, Nistor was caught driving an

Audi A5 The Audi A5 is a series of compact executive coupe cars produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi since June 2007. The A5 range additionally comprises the coupe, cabriolet, and "Sportback" (a five-door liftback with a fastback roofline) v ...

without a

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

and fined accordingly. He has been married since June 2013, with fellow footballer

Mihai Pintilii Doru Mihai Pintilii (born 9 November 1984) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who serves as an assistant for Liga I club FCSB. A midfielder known for his combative playing style, Pintilii started out at Viitorul H ...

acting as

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

. His spouse Cosmina gave birth to a son in April 2017.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Internațional Curtea de Argeș *

Liga III 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 ...

: 2007–08 Pandurii Târgu Jiu *

Cupa Ligii The Cupa Ligii ( en, League Cup) was Romania's secondary club football tournament. Like the Cupa României, it was played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. History It is unclear when the competition was first created, as there are no ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Dinamo București *

: 2016–17 CFR Cluj *

: 2017–18 Universitatea Craiova *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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, ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *

Team of the Season: 2019–20

References

Notes Citations

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nistor, Dan 1988 births Living people People from Argeș County Romanian footballers Association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Internațional Curtea de Argeș players CS Mioveni players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players Ligue 1 players Thonon Evian Grand Genève F.C. players FC Dinamo București players CFR Cluj players CS Universitatea Craiova players Romania international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France