Gabriel Cânu (born 18 January 1981) is a

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 ...

n 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 ...

. He was best known for his impressive height, powerful header and aerial game effective both defensively and in attack. He was also regarded for his leadership qualities, becoming captain for

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

Vaslui Vaslui (), a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu, and Viișoara. History Archaeological surveys indicate ...

and Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. He is now football analyst for

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Show covering the top English football league matches, alongside

Lucian Sânmărtean Lucian Iulian Sânmărtean (born 13 March 1980) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a winger. Regarded by coach Ioan Sabău as the country's most talented player after Gheorghe Hagi, he was awa ...

and Emanuel Terzian and assistant manager of Metaloglobus București.

Career

Born in

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 ...

, Cânu came through the youth ranks of local Național București, going on to finish his sporting formation with the

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 ...

teams

Cimentul Fieni Cimentul Fieni was a professional Football in Romania, Romanian association football club from Fieni, Dâmbovița County, founded in 1936 and dissolved in 2005. The club was dissolved in 2005 after a merger with a club from Buftea, the resultin ...

and

FC Baia Mare CS Minaur Baia Mare, commonly known as Minaur Baia Mare, simply as Baia Mare or unofficially as ''Minerul Baia Mare'', is a Romanian Association football, football Football club, club, based in Baia Mare, Maramureș County, northern Romania, fo ...

Național

Aged 18, he made his debut in Național's first team on 2 June 1999, coming as a substitute in a 2–0 win against Petrolul Ploiești. It was his only appearance that season. After one season, with no matches, he was loaned two years in a row to

sides

and

, to build up his first team experience. After he returned, he failed to establish himself in the first team squad. Cânu made one appearance in the Romanian first league in 1997/1998, while at FC Național. In the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 seasons he played in the Romanian second league, for Cimentul Fieni and FC Baia Mare respectively. He then returned to FC Național, playing 16 times in the

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 ...

during the 2003/2004 season. Cânu joined Poli in the winter break of the 2004/2005 season, together with Național coach

Cosmin Olăroiu Cosmin Aurelian Olăroiu (born 10 June 1969) is a Romanian professional football manager and former footballer in charge of UAE Pro League Sharjah FC. As a manager, he guided Steaua Bucharest to the Romanian League title and Romanian Supercup b ...

and teammates

Gabriel Caramarin Gabriel Gheorghe Caramarin (born 7 September 1977) is a Romanian football coach and former player who is current assistant manager of Jiangsu Suning. Career Caramarin was born in Măcin. He began his career at Sportul Studenţesc and made hi ...

, Gigel Coman and Marius Popa.

Honours

FC Vaslui *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

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; ...

ACS Poli Timișoara *

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 ...

: 2014–15

External links

* * 1981 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC Progresul București players CS Minaur Baia Mare (football) players CS Sporting Vaslui players CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț players ACS Poli Timișoara players {{Romania-footy-defender-stub