Adrian Popa (born 24 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 lea ...

who plays as a winger for

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

club

CSA Steaua București Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua București, commonly known as CSA Steaua București () or simply Steaua, is a major Sports club, multi-sports club based in Bucharest and run by the Ministry of National Defence of Romania, Ministry of National D ...

Club career

Early years

Popa was one of the most proficient players of the Politehnica Timișoara reserve team, and was loaned to CS Buftea and Gloria Buzău.

Universitatea Cluj

In July 2009, Popa signed a contract with Universitatea Cluj. Although he showed impressive skills and helped the team get promoted to the

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

, he left the club after one year.

Concordia Chiajna

In 2010, Popa joined

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional Association football, football football team, club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best ...

. He contributed to the club's promotion to the first division and was kept for the following season.

FCSB

On 15 August 2012, Popa signed a five-year contract with

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...

for an undisclosed transfer fee. One week later, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 away win over

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. History The club was founded in 1964 and for 24 years competed in the top tier of L ...

in the Europa League play-off round's first leg. He played over 200 games during his spell with the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

-based club.

Reading

On 27 January 2017, it was announced that Popa agreed to transfer to English team

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

after reaching the final six months of his contract with FCSB. The transfer was made official three days later, with Popa signing with Reading until the summer of 2020. His first goal came on 17 March 2017, scoring Reading's second in injury time in a 2–0 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

at the

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a association football, football stadium in the area of Owlerton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. With a total capacity of 39,732, it has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday Football Club ...

Loan to Al-Taawon

On 29 January 2018, Reading confirmed that Popa had joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Taawon on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season.

Loan to Ludogorets Razgrad

On 20 December 2018, Reading announced that Popa had moved to

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

on loan for the rest of the 2018–19 season.

Voluntari

On 16 October 2020, Popa signed a one-year contract with

FC Voluntari Fotbal Club Voluntari (), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional football club based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, that competes in the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian league system. Founded in 2 ...

Steaua București

On 22 September 2021, Popa signed a two-year contract with his childhood team, Steaua București.

International career

Popa made his debut for the Romania senior team in October 2012, in a

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

match against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

FCSB *

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () 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. It is the Romania ...

: 2014–15, 2019–20 *

Cupa Ligii The Cupa Ligii () 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 official recordi ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), 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 Supe ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Ludogorets Razgrad *

First Professional Football League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Popa, Adrian 1988 births Footballers from Bucharest Living people Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Politehnica Timișoara players LPS HD Clinceni players FC Gloria Buzău players FC Universitatea Cluj players CS Concordia Chiajna players FCSB players FC Voluntari players CSA Steaua București footballers English Football League players Reading F.C. players Romania men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England Al Taawoun FC players Saudi Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria 21st-century Romanian sportsmen