Gheorghe "Gigel" Bucur (born 8 April 1980, 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 ...

) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

player. He is a short and speedy

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 ...

. Bucur has won the top league goalscorer award in the Romanian Liga 1 twice, in the 2004–05 and in the 2008–09 seasons. He was tied on goals with another player on both occasions, first with

Claudiu Niculescu Claudiu Iulian Niculescu (born 23 June 1976) is a Romanian football coach and former striker. He is currently the manager of Liga II side CSC 1599 Șelimbăr. Club career Claudiu Niculescu was born in Slatina and started playing football a ...

and then with

Florin Costea Florin Constantin Costea (born 16 May 1985 in Drăgășani) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Viitorul Dăești. Club career Universitatea Craiova Costea started in the Romanian Liga II for the local team R ...

Club career

Before joining

Politehnica Politehnica may refer to: *Politehnica University of Bucharest *Politehnica University of Timișoara *Politehnica metro station Politehnica is a metro station in Bucharest. It is one of the three stations located near the campus of the Universit ...

, Bucur had only played for Sportul Studenţesc, where he appeared in 169 matches and scored 76 goals in the first two Romanian leagues. He made his debut in the Divizia A during the 2001–02 season. After winning the title of

n top league goal scorer of the Divizia A in 2006, he was transferred to

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_ ...

, for a rumored sum of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

800,000.

Sorin Rădoi Sorin Nicușor Rădoi (born 30 June 1985) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a right back. Club career Rădoi's first club was Extensiv Craiova, where he made his debut in the Romanian Liga II in the 2002–03 season. ...

also came to Poli as part of that deal. In the autumn of 2009 he scored a brace in the Third Champions League Qualifying Round to help

knockout

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

. On 3 February 2010, he signed a 3-year contract with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n club Kuban Krasnodar for a fee worth $1.8 million.

International career

Gigel Bucur first played 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 2005 and amassed twenty six appearances until 2013, scoring four goals, including a brace against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...

for the results on Qualifying to EURO 2008 and qualification to

UEFA Euro 2008 Group C Group C of UEFA Euro 2008 was played from 9 to 17 June 2008. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Zürich and Berne. The group was composed of 2006 FIFA World Cup finalists Italy and France, as well as the Netherlands an ...

with Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

International goals

Statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 27 May 2016''

Honours

Club

; Sportul Studenţesc *

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

: 2000–01 ; Kuban Krasnodar *

Russian National Football League The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Individual

* Divizia A Golden Boot : 2004–05, 2008–09

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bucur, Gheorghe 1980 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Liga I players Liga II players Romanian footballers Romania international footballers FC Sportul Studențesc București players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC Kuban Krasnodar players Russian Premier League players Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Russia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Association football wingers