Cristian Ionuț Săpunaru (born 5 April 1984) is a former 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 played mainly as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He played also as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

or a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Săpunaru began his senior career with Național București in 2002, before going on to make a name for himself at

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

four years later. In 2008 he signed with

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in Portugal, where he won ten major honours over the course of four years, including the

2010–11 UEFA Europa League The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with ...

. After two additional seasons in Spain featuring for

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

and

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

, Săpunaru spent his late years with stints between his native country and Turkey. A full international for

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

between 2008 and 2019, he amassed 36

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and represented the nation in two

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Club career

Early career and Porto

Săpunaru was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and is a product of Național București, joining its youth system at the age of only six. He signed for

in July 2006, and two years later was sold for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

2.5 million to

as a replacement for Chelsea-bound

José Bosingwa José Bosingwa da Silva (born 24 August 1982) is a Portuguese former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. An attacking fullback, his pace and ability to get up and down the flanks created problems for the op ...

. Săpunaru agreed to a five-year contract, with the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club owning 50% of the player's economic rights, while Romanian sources indicated the price was actually €6 million plus two players. FCPorto

During his debut campaign, Săpunaru was the first-choice right-back as the northerners achieved a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, and scored his first goal in a 1–2 away loss against

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

for the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

. In early February 2010, he was suspended in Portugal–as his teammate

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

–following incidents during a 0–1 league defeat at Benfica, so he returned to his country for a five-month loan with former side Rapid; he did not manage to be played regularly at Porto during that time but, following his return for the 2010–11 season, became a very important first-team unit as they won three major titles, appearing in 40 official games in the process. On 17 February 2014, Săpunaru was condemned to pay a €90,000 fine for his participation in the assault of two stewards at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

on 20 December 2009.

Spain

On 31 August 2012, Săpunaru signed a one-year contract with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

. He made his official debut on 16 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–2 loss at

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

. In his first season in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, Săpunaru started but also suffered team relegation. He also entered his name in the competition's history books, after breaking the record for the most bookings in a single campaign (19 yellow cards and one

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

). After initially hesitating because of the requests of his partner, Săpunaru signed a one-year deal at fellow league team

on 25 July 2013. He totalled only nine appearances in his only campaign and was also sent off twice, while his sole goal opened a 1–2 loss at

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

neighbours Levante on 13 December. Elche could not support Săpunaru's €1 million wage demands, and released him on 21 August 2014. In October 2015, he took the club to court for the wages remaining in his contract.

Later career

After four months back at Rapid, Săpunaru signed a season-long deal at

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative b ...

on 6 September 2015, including a clause that he could leave instantly if a foreign club wanted him. The following 21 July, he put pen to paper to a two-year contract with fellow league side

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

. On 1 July 2017, it was announced that Săpunaru signed a two-year deal with Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

team

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. At its expiration, he joined

Denizlispor Denizlispor is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. The Denizli Atatürk Stadium, which has a seati ...

in the same competition, before returning to his previous employer in January 2020 for the rest of the season. In August, he signed a new one-year deal. Săpunaru signed for Rapid for the fourth time on 4 July 2021, joining on a two-year contract at the age of 37.

International career

Săpunaru made his debut for the Romania national team on 31 May 2008 against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, and was selected to the nation's squad at

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, although he did not play in the final stages. From June 2011 to November 2015, he did not appear in any games for his country due to a conflict with manager

Victor Pițurcă Victor Pițurcă (; born 8 May 1956) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Club career Victor Pițurcă was born on 8 May 1956 in Orodel, Dolj County, Romania, starting to play football in 1964 at the youth center of U ...

. On 17 May 2016, Săpunaru was picked by manager

Anghel Iordănescu Anghel Iordănescu (; born 4 May 1950), is a Romanian former footballer and former manager, who played as a forward. In 2007, Iordănescu retired from football, and the following February, after his predecessor resigned, he became a member ...

for his

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

squad. He started at right-back in the group stage opener, a 1–2 loss against the hosts

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In September 2019, after amassing 36

over the course of eleven years, 35-year-old Săpunaru announced his retirement from the national team.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Național București *

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 ...

runner-up: 2005–06 Rapid București *Cupa României: 2006–07 *

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 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Porto *

: 2008–09,

2010–11 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 ...

, 2011–12 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 2008–09,

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

runner-up:

Astra Giurgiu *Cupa României runner-up: 2016–17 Individual *''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year (), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy (), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian player adjudged to have been the best during a calendar yea ...

third place: 2011 *''Gazeta Sporturilor'' Romania Player of the Month: August 2021

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sapunaru, Cristian 1984 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Progresul București players FC Callatis Mangalia players FC Rapid București players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players FC Astra Giurgiu players Primeira Liga players FC Porto players La Liga players Real Zaragoza players Elche CF players Süper Lig players Kayserispor footballers Denizlispor footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2016 players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey UEFA Europa League–winning players 21st-century Romanian sportsmen