Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian former professional

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 ...

forward and currently a manager. He was an important player for the Romanian national team in the 1990s.

Career

Moldovan was born in

Bistrița (; german: link=no, Bistritz, archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , hu, Beszterce) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of approxima ...

. At club level, Moldovan played for Gloria Bistrița (1990–93),

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 Yekaterinb ...

(1993–95),

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (Fra ...

(1995–96),

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshoppe ...

(1996–97),

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

(1998), Fenerbahçe (1998–2000), Nantes (2000–04),

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

(2004),

FCU Politehnica Timișoara FCU may refer to: Organisations * Fission Uranium Corp. (TSX code: FCU), a Canadian mining company Education * Feng Chia University, in Taichung, Taiwan * Filamer Christian University, in Roxas, Capiz, Philippines * Fukien Christian University, ...

(2005), and

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' ...

(2006–2007). The most successful years of his career were playing for

and

between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland (he was the Swiss Super League top scorer in 1996 and 1997), for Fenerbahçe between 1998 and 2000 and for Nantes between 2000 and 2004. He was a key player when Nantes won the French Ligue 1 in 2001. During his brief spell in England with Coventry City he scored twice, once in the FA Cup, scoring the winner against local rivals Aston Villa, and once in the league against Crystal Palace.

International career

Moldovan was capped 70 times for

Romania 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 ...

, scoring 25 goals. He represented his country at

Euro 96 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored goals 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 ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in the first round, and

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Coaching career

Moldovan worked as the sporting director of FC Unirea Valahorum Urziceni and was the coach of

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 pla ...

. On 26 May 2009, the coach quit FC Vaslui after just seven months for failing to guide the team to European qualification. The squad was then managed by coaching assistant Cristian Dulca on a temporary basis until a new coach was hired. On 28 July 2009, the Italian coach

Nicolò Napoli Nicolò Napoli (born 7 February 1962) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club FC U Craiova. Coaching career Napoli was born in Palermo. A former professional player with several ...

quit FC Brașov and was replaced by Moldovan, who signed a two-year deal.

Career statistics

:Sources:

Club

International stats

International goals

''Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first:''

Honours

:Sources:

Player

Gloria Bistrița *

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 ...

: 1989–90 Grasshoppers *

Swiss League The Swiss League is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League. The winners of the league each season plays a best-of-seven series against the bottom team of the NL, and if they win, t ...

: 1997–98 Nantes * Ligue 1: 2000–01 *

Trophée des champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

: 2001 Rapid București *

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

: 2005–06, 2006–07

Individual

top scorer: 1995–96, 1996–97 * Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1995–96, 1996–97

Manager

Rapid București *

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 ...

: Runner-up 2013–14 (Promotion to

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

) Chindia Târgoviște *

: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moldovan, Viorel 1972 births Living people category:Sportspeople from Bistrița Romanian footballers Association football forwards ACF Gloria Bistrița players FC Dinamo București players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players Grasshopper Club Zürich players Coventry City F.C. players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers FC Nantes players Al Wahda FC players Servette FC players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC Rapid București players Liga I players Swiss Super League players Premier League players Süper Lig players Ligue 1 players UAE Pro League players Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Romania international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players Romanian football managers Romanian expatriate football managers Ligue 2 managers FC Vaslui managers FC Brașov (1936) managers FC Sportul Studențesc București managers FC Rapid București managers AJ Auxerre managers AFC Chindia Târgoviște managers FC Petrolul Ploiești managers Expatriate football managers in France