Daniel Gabriel Pancu (; born 17 August 1977) is a Romanian former

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 played mainly as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

or a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Pancu began his playing career at FC Politehnica Iași. He made his debut in the Romanian First Division in 1995. In the winter of 1996 he was transferred to Rapid București for the sum of US$200,000. He was, at that time, the most expensive player who has left from Iași. After two and a half seasons, he moved to

A.C. Cesena A.C. Cesena, commonly referred to as Cesena (), was an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. The club spent most of its history in professional leagues such as Serie A and Serie B, but went bankrupt and folde ...

, in the Italian

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 ...

, for a transfer fee of US$1,200,000. After a year, Cesena was relegated from the Serie B and Pancu returned to Rapid for a transfer fee of US$800,000, where he stayed for two seasons. During this tenure he gained the nickname "

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

Giulești Giulești () is a neighbourhood in northwestern Bucharest, located in Sector 6. The Giulești Stadium, Giulești Theatre, Podul Grant are located in Giulești. Also, the Grivița Railway Yards and Lacul Morii are located nearby. History The ...

". In 2002, he was bought by Beşiktaş, at the request of the manager that discovered him,

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club Dynamo Kyiv. He is one of the most decorated managers of all time. Lucescu is also ...

, for a fee of US$2,250,000. It was at Beşiktaş where Lucescu turned him from striker into central midfielder with amazing results. In the winter of 2005/2006 he returned to Rapid, as a loan with the possibility of becoming a permanent transfer in the summer. Then he was bought by

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

, but he returned to Rapid in the spring of 2008 and score one goal in first match for Rapid in 2008. In July 2008 he moved to

FC Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat ( ce, футболан клуб Ахмат Соьлжа-ГӀала; russian: Республиканский футбольный клуб Ахмат Грозный), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, is a Russian ...

and left the club on 30 November 2009. On 11 December 2009, it was announced in the Bulgarian media that

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

are having an interest of signing the midfielder to the club. On 12 January 2010, CSKA signed Pancu to a one-a-half-year deal. Pancu made his official debut for CSKA Sofia in the 3–2 win against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, scoring his first goal for the club. After a short spell in Bulgaria at

, Pancu returned to Romanian football later in 2010 to play for

FC Vaslui CS Sporting Juniorul Vaslui (), commonly known as Sporting Vaslui, Juniorul Vaslui or simply as Vaslui, is a Romanian professional football club based in Vaslui, Vaslui County, founded in 2002 and re-founded in 2014. The club is currently playin ...

, but had a difficult time breaking into the first eleven with strong competition from Wesley and

Mike Temwanjera Mike Temwanjera (born 21 May 1982) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who usually played as a centre forward, but also as a second striker. A member of FC Vaslui from January 2007 until summer 2014, he was one of the team's longes ...

. During the summer mercato of 2011 he re-signed for his heart club, Rapid București.

Curiosity

On matchday 28 of the 2004/05 season, at the derby against Fenerbahçe Istanbul, when the score was 2–3, Pancu replaced Óscar Córdoba, after the goalkeeper received a red card and the substitution contingent of Beşiktaş was already exhausted. After penalty goal of Fenerbahce, Pancu resisted the goal efforts of the Fenerbahçe-players and Beşiktaş-player

Koray Koray is a Turkish given name. It is composed of "Kor" and "Ay". In Turkish "Kor" means "Ember" and "Ay" means "Moon". Thus, "Koray" means "a moon in the colour of ember". Notable people with the name include: Given name * Koray Aldemir, German ...

scored the fourth goal for Beşiktaş in the fifth minute of the added time. Beşiktaş won the away game at the Kadiköy Stadium of Fenerbahçe and it was sensational. Pancu was given the nickname "Kadıköy Panteri" (panther of Kadiköy) and dressed in the following season as a regular goalkeeper's jersey with number "1".

Managerial career

On 2 October 2018, Daniel Pancu was appointed as

Rapid 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''. ...

’s new manager. He obtained the promotion from Liga 3 to Liga 2 after losing only 1 game. In 2020, he was named President of

Rapid București 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' ...

.Constanttin Schumacher a fost inlocuit de Daniel Pancu
fcrapid.ro

International career

He gained his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

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 1995, he even became captain for a few matches. He played a total of 27 games and scored 9 goals.

International stats

Honours

Club

Player

Rapid București *

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 ...

: 1998–99 *

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 ...

: 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06 *

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, ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Beşiktaş *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2002–03 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

: 2005–06

Coach

Rapid București *

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 ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancu, Daniel 1977 births Living people Romanian footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Romania international footballers FC Politehnica Iași (1945) players FC Rapid București players A.C. Cesena players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Bursaspor footballers FC Akhmat Grozny players PFC CSKA Sofia players FC Vaslui players FC Voluntari players Liga I players Serie B players Süper Lig players Russian Premier League players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Association football midfielders Association football forwards Romanian football managers FC Rapid București managers FC Politehnica Iași (2010) managers FC Rapid București presidents Outfield association footballers who played in goal Sportspeople from Iași