Raul Andrei Rusescu (born 9 July 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

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 ...

for

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 ...

side

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

Club career

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea

At age seven, Rusescu was spotted by Cristi Bora at a trial and brought to

Râmnicu Vâlcea Râmnicu Vâlcea (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Vîlcea'' or, in the past, ''Rîmnic-Vâlcea'', ) (population: 92,573 as per the 2011 Romanian census) is the county capital ( ro, Reședință de județ) and also the largest town of Vâlcea County, cent ...

. As a youth, he tore open his calf when he fell out of a bus, and then, subsequently, he broke his

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

falling down on ice. While at the club, he was group teammate with later Steaua București colleague

Mihai Costea Mihai-Alexandru Costea (born 29 May 1988 in Drăgășani) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga IV - Argeș County club ARO Muscelul Câmpulung. He is the younger brother of Florin Costea. Club career FC U ...

. Although he went through the youth system of

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea CSM may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'', a collection of medieval Galician-Portuguese vernacular songs and poems in praise of the Virgin Mary * Chaos Space Marines, in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' fictional universe * C ...

, in 2005 the coach of the team, Adrian Furnică, decided that Rusescu did not have enough value and that he was not likely to grow.

Unirea Urziceni

In the summer of 2005, Rusescu was brought to

side

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 ...

under the command 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 had limited playing time in his first year with the team while they earned promotion to the

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 ...

. His team now being in the first tier of Romanian football, Rusescu was loaned to

Dunărea Giurgiu Dunărea may refer to: * Dunărea, the Romanian name for the river Danube in Central Europe * Dunărea (river), a tributary of the Danube in Constanța County, Romania * Dunărea, a village in the commune Seimeni, Constanța County, Romania See a ...

. Although not yet 18, he quickly became a starter and finished the season with 13 goals scored across all competitions. For the 2007–08 season he was again loaned out, to Liga II club

CS Otopeni CS Otopeni was a Romanian professional football club from Otopeni, Ilfov County, founded in 2001 and dissolved in 2013. Its greatest performance was that it played for one season in the Liga I in the 2008–09 season. History The club was fo ...

. He helped the club gain promotion to the Liga I by scoring 4 goals in 20 matches. In his first year in Liga I with Unirea Urziceni, Rusescu helped his team win the 2008–09 league title, earning a place in the group stages of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. He finished the season with 5 goals scored in 23 games. In the 2009–10 campaign, Rusescu scored 8 goals from 29 total appearances, helping Unirea Urziceni finish second in the league and gather eight points in the 2009–10 Champions League group stage. After manager Dan Petrescu left the club, Rusescu was used as a winger and did not perform as well as before.

Steaua București

On 4 May 2011, the owner of Steaua București announced at a televised show that Rusescu has signed with the club. Rusescu made his Liga I debut with Steaua on 31 July against

CS 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 ''AS ...

, also scoring his first Steaua goal. In the next match, Rusescu scored his second goal for the club against

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 ...

. He scored his first European goal for Steaua against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

in the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with t ...

. On 5 December, Rusescu scored two sensational goals against Steaua's arch-rival

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 ...

, assuring his club a win in a match named by the two club's supporters

the Eternal Derby The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby ( bg, Вечното дерби) is the name of the local derby Association football, football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulg ...

and ending Steaua's seven-year winless streak on Dinamo's stadium. He has been deemed a hero by the Steaua supporters and the press. In the next Europa League group stage match, Rusescu scored again for Steaua from a penalty kick, helping his club beat

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC ( el, AEK; for short Αθλητική Έvωση Κίτιον Λάρνακας , translit=''Athletiki Enosi Kition Larnakas'', "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club ...

and qualifying for the round of 32. At the end of 2011, Rusescu was Steaua's most prolific goalscorer with seven goals in Liga I and two in the Europa League group stage. On 7 March 2013, Rusescu scored from the penalty spot against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

at the

National Arena Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

, to put Steaua 1–0 up in the Europa League round of 16. On 12 March, Rusescu scored a goal against Universitatea Cluj. He scored again, on 18 March, against

Astra Ploiești Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent the m ...

in a game which finished 2–1, with teammate Paul Pârvulescu scoring the winning goal. On 8 April, Rusescu scored the second goal from the 4–1 victory against Sportul Studențesc.

Sevilla and loans

On 13 June 2013, Rusescu completed a move to Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

, signing a five-year contract which included a

€ 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 ...

40 million release clause. On 20 August 2015, Sevilla announced that Rusescu had terminated his contract with the club. At the end of 2013, Rusescu was loaned at Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, with an option to purchase outright. He made his Braga debut on 6 January 2014 in a 2–0 win against Arouca in the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

. On 10 January, he scored two goals for Braga in his Primeira Liga debut, a 3–0 win over

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

. On 1 September 2014, just one year after being sold by FCSB to Sevilla, Rusescu returned for a season-long loan.

International career

Rusescu is an ex- Romania U-21 international, earning seven caps and scoring two goals. He played in the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

, losing in the play-offs against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Career statistics

Club

International stats

International goals

Honours

Club

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea *

Divizia C 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 ...

: 2004–05 Unirea Urziceni *

: 2008–09 Steaua București *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2014–15 *

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 ...

: 2014–15 *

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 ...

: 2014–15

Individual

*''

Gazeta Sporturilor ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' ( en, The Sports Gazette) is a daily Romanian newspaper, and the country's largest and most read sports-related publication. It is owned by Ringier Sportal S.R.L—a joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L. and the Bulgarian ...

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year ( ro, Fotbalistul român al anului), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy ( ro, Trofeul Nicolae Dobrin), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian ...

: 2012 *

top scorer:

(21 goals)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rusescu, Raul 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Râmnicu Vâlcea Romanian footballers Association football forwards Liga I players SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea players FC Unirea Urziceni players CS Otopeni players FC Steaua București players LPS HD Clinceni players La Liga players Sevilla FC players Primeira Liga players S.C. Braga players Süper Lig players Ankaraspor footballers Giresunspor footballers Liga II players CS Concordia Chiajna players Romania youth international footballers Romania under-21 international footballers Romania international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey