Gheorghe "Gicu" Teodor Grozav (; born 29 September 1990) 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 winger or 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 ...

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 Petrolul Ploiești.

Club career

Unirea Alba Iulia

Grozav started his career at his hometown club

Unirea Alba Iulia Clubul Sportiv Municipal Unirea Alba Iulia, commonly known as Unirea Alba Iulia (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Alba Iulia, Alba County, founded in 1924 and currently playing in the Liga III. Among the greatest achievemen ...

, playing his first match in the

2007–08 Liga II The 2007–08 Liga II was the 68th season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The season began on 25 August 2007 and lasted until 24 May 2008. The format has been maintained to two series, each of them consisting of 18 team ...

season. In the summer of 2009, after two years in the

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 ...

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 ...

, Grozav wanted to score a move away at

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

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 ...

. He was later forced by

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 ...

to sign for another three years with the club for which he was a junior. On 1 September 2009, Gicu Grozav made his

debut in a 1–0 defeat against FC Brașov.

Standard Liège

László Bölöni László Bölöni ( ro, Ladislau Bölöni; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Ligue 2 club Metz. He is best known for his time at Sporting CP as a manager where he introduced C ...

eventually brought Grozav to

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 ...

in January 2010, signing for

for an undisclosed fee, whilst

retained 15% of the players rights. He got limited playing time in his first two years with the team, only making 15 league appearances. For the 2011–12 season Grozav was transferred to

team

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

on a one-year loan move. He refound his form here as he helped his team to an eighth-place finish.

Petrolul Ploiești

In the summer of 2012 Gicu Grozav signed a three-year contract with Petrolul Ploiești after a number of his teammates also signed with the Yellow Wolves. On 8 August 2013, he scored the decisive goal against Dutch outfit

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

in the 95th minute to make sure Petrolul Ploiești progressed to the

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 ...

last preliminary round for the first time in the club's history. On 25 August 2013, Grozav scored a consolation goal with a superb overhead kick at Swansea City in the

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Terek Grozny

On 28 August 2013 he joined the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

side

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 ...

for a rumoured fee of €2.1 million. On 2 February 2015, Grozav once again returned to Romania, signing for

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 Yekaterin ...

on loan.

Turkey

On 27 July 2017, Grozav joined Turkish

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 ...

side

Kardemir Karabükspor Kardemir Demir Çelik Karabükspor or simply known as Kardemir Karabükspor or Karabükspor is a Turkish sports club based in Karabük. The team was founded in 1969 after a merger between "Karabük Gençlikspor" and "Demir Çelik Spor". The club ...

on a three-year contract. On 19 August, he scored on his league debut for the club in a 3–1 home win over İstanbul Başakşehir. Grozav was signed 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 ...

on a six-month contract with the option of another two years on 17 January 2018.

Return to Dinamo București

On 2 October 2018, Grozav re-signed for Dinamo București. He was released from his contract on 2 November.

Hungary

On 16 January 2019, Grozav signed for

Kisvárda FC Kisvárda Football Club is a Hungarian football club located in Kisvárda. It currently plays in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The team's colors are red and white. History Kisvárda FC, later known as Várda SE, was founded in 1911 as ''Kisvárdai S ...

. On 31 March 2020, Kisvárda terminated Grozav's contract when he and teammate Iasmin Latovlevici left for Romania without permission during the

COVID-19 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 identif ...

Return to Petrolul Ploiești

Gheorghe Grozav - Petrolul Ploiesti vs Voluntari, 18 July 2022

On 14 June 2022, Petrolul Ploiești announced that Grozav would be returning to the club and commence training the following day.

International career

Grozav made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

on 30 May 2012, where he scored the winning goal. This was the first-ever goal scored for the full side by a player born after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

. On 12 October 2012, Grozav netted the only goal of a 1–0 victory over

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

at the

Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium () (Known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi, or Ülker Stadium for short) is a football stadium located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is th ...

Personal life

Grozav's uncle,

Cornel Țălnar Cornel Țălnar (born 9 June 1957) is a Romanian football manager and former player. Club career Cornel Țălnar, nicknamed "Țânțarul" (The Mosquito), was born on 9 June 1957 in Bărăbanț, Alba County and started to play at the junior sq ...

, also played football for Dinamo București, Petrolul Ploiești and Unirea Alba Iulia. In May 2022, he married handballer

Sorina Tîrcă Sorina Maria Grozav (née Tîrcă; born 27 May 1999) is a Romanian handballer who plays for Rapid București. In September 2018, she was included by EHF in a list of the 20 best young handballers to watch for the future. International honours ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Grozav goal''

Honours

Unirea Alba Iulia *

: 2008–09 Standard Liège *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2010–11 Belgian Cup, 2010–11 Petrolul Ploiești *

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 ...

: 2012–13 *

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, ...

runner-up:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grozav, Gheorghe 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Alba Iulia Romanian footballers Association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players CSM Unirea Alba Iulia players Belgian Pro League players Standard Liège players FC Universitatea Cluj players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Russian Premier League players FC Akhmat Grozny players FC Dinamo București players Süper Lig players Kardemir Karabükspor footballers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Kisvárda FC players Bursaspor footballers Romania under-21 international footballers Romania international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Russia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Hungary Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Diósgyőri VTK players MTK Budapest FC players