Florin Constantin Niță (; born 3 July 1987) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Damac and the Romania national team. Niță started his senior career at

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 ...

, before signing for Steaua București in 2013. He won six honours 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 team, and at the start of 2018 earned a transfer abroad to

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

. Following a loan at

Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

, he signed for

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 ...

side

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

in 2023. Niță recorded his debut for the Romania national team in November 2017, in a 2–0 friendly win over

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He was selected for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

, where his country topped its

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

and reached the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

Club career

Early career / Concordia Chiajna

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 ...

, Niță started playing football at the age of seven with Steaua București. In 2001, he moved to local rivals

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 ...

, where he stayed for four years. He then spent his last season as a junior at

Astra Ploiești Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian Association football, football Club (organization), club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ' ...

. In 2006, aged 19, Niță joined

and played his first senior matches in the

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

, the third level of the Romanian league system. He made his

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 ...

debut for the team on 25 July 2011, in a 1–2 home loss to Sportul Studențesc.

Steaua București

In December 2012, it was announced that Niță would return to his boyhood club Steaua București in the summer of the following year. He started to appear frequently for the ''Roș-albaștrii'' in the 2015–16 season, in which he recorded 32 matches in all competitions. On 16 August 2016, Niță saved one of the two penalty kicks missed by

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

in the 0–5 UEFA Champions League play-off loss to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. In May 2017, he agreed to a new deal at the team, now named FCSB, which would have kept him in Bucharest until 2021. Niță's performances in 2017 earned him third place in ''

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 ...

award, which he shared with

Ștefan Radu Ștefan Daniel Radu (; born 22 October 1986) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a left-back or a centre-back. After a stint in his home country with Dinamo București during which he earned three domestic honours, includi ...

Sparta Prague

Niță transferred to Czech team

on 1 February 2018 for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be in the region of €2 million plus €500,000 in bonuses. In December 2021, he was named the Romanian Footballer of the Year by both the CSJ Association and the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' daily for his performances throughout the calendar year. After falling down the pecking order, Sparta Prague loaned Niță out to fellow league side

for the remainder of the 2022–23 season.

Gaziantep

On 9 September 2023, Niță signed a one-year contract with Turkish club

, joining several compatriots including manager

Marius Șumudică Marius Ninel Șumudică (born 4 March 1971) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. Șumudică played as a striker and started out at Sportul Studențesc in 1989, going on to represent five other teams in his native coun ...

. He was the first-choice goalkeeper during the campaign, and amassed eight clean sheets in the

as his team finished eleventh in the table.

Damac

On 25 August 2024, Niță signed a one-year deal with Damac.

International career

On 18 March 2017, following the injury of Silviu Lung Jr., Niță was picked by manager

Christoph Daum Christoph Paul Daum (24 October 1953 – 24 August 2024) was a German professional Association football, football manager and player. As a manager, he won eight trophies with clubs from Germany, Turkey and Austria. In 1992, he won the Bundesliga ...

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 ...

's squad for a

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

qualifier against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Days before his call-up, former Romanian internationals

Helmut Duckadam Helmut Duckadam (, sometimes spelled Helmuth; 1 April 1959 – 2 December 2024) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Duckadam was dubbed "the Hero of Seville" due to his performance in the 1986 European Cup final, ...

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in ...

, and Laurențiu Reghecampf stated that his omissal from the squad was "unjust". Niță made his debut for the full side on 9 November 2017, entering as a 71st-minute substitute for

Costel Pantilimon Costel Fane Pantilimon (; born 1 February 1987) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. As a player, Pantilimon was deployed as a goalkeeper and began his career at Politehnica Timișoara. In 2011, he signed fo ...

in a 2–0 friendly win over

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. After

Ciprian Tătărușanu Anton Ciprian Tătărușanu (; born 9 February 1986) is a Romanian former professional football player, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He started his senior career in Romania with ASC Daco-Getica Bucure ...

announced his retirement from the national team at the end of 2020, Niță played the full 90 minutes in all three 2022 World Cup qualifying matches against

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in March 2021. Romania lost against the latter two opponents, but his saves were praised by

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

and fans alike. On 7 June 2024, Niță was named in the squad for

Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by U ...

. Although he did not feature in the qualifiers, he started in all four matches his country played during the final tournament. Romania topped their

but were subsequently eliminated by the

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 ...

in the

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Steaua București *

: 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 *

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 ...

Sparta Prague *

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner ...

: 2019–20 Individual *''

: 2021, third place: 2017 *CSJ ''Gala Fotbalului Românesc''

: 2021 *Liga I Best Goalkeeper: 2016–17 *Liga I Team of the Season: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nita, Florin 1987 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Liga I players Liga II players Liga III players Czech First League players Süper Lig players Saudi Pro League players CS Concordia Chiajna players FCSB players AC Sparta Prague players FK Pardubice players Gaziantep F.K. footballers Damac FC players Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Romanian sportsmen