Florin Valeriu Răducioiu (born 17 March 1970) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently television pundit for Orange Sport.[1]
 Răducioiu in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Florin Valeriu Răducioiu | ||
| Date of birth | 17 March 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1978–1986 | Dinamo București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1990 | Dinamo București | 76 | (29) |
| 1990–1991 | Bari | 30 | (5) |
| 1991–1992 | Hellas Verona | 30 | (2) |
| 1992–1993 | Brescia | 29 | (13) |
| 1993–1994 | AC Milan | 7 | (2) |
| 1994–1998 | Espanyol | 56 | (19) |
| 1996 | → West Ham United (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 1997–1998 | → VfB Stuttgart (loan) | 19 | (4) |
| 1998–2000 | Brescia | 37 | (5) |
| 2000 | Dinamo București | 8 | (1) |
| 2001–2002 | Monaco | 12 | (2) |
| 2004 | Créteil | 9 | (1) |
| Total | 324 | (85) | |
| International career | |||
| 1989–1990 | Romania U21 | 9 | (3) |
| 1990–1996 | Romania | 40 | (21) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2007 | Dinamo București (sporting director) | ||
| 2012–2013 | Romania U15 | ||
| 2013–2014 | Romania U16 | ||
| 2014–2015 | Romania U17 | ||
| 2017–2018 | Regal Sport București (technical director) | ||
| 2022 | Dinamo București (team manager) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He is known as the first footballer who played and scored at least a single goal at all of the Big Five leagues.
He played for Romania at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 1996.
Club career
edit
Răducioiu was a product of Dinamo București. Mircea Lucescu, former Dinamo coach, saw his skills and, as a feature of his philosophy towards football to promote young players, gave Răducioiu the chance to play at the highest level at the age of 17 years.
By the beginning of 1988–89, Răducioiu was first-choice in Lucescu's team. He made an impressive debut in European football by reaching the quarterfinals of the 1988–89 Cup Winners' Cup (ousted by Sampdoria in the quarter-finals, on away goals) and finishing second in the league. By 1989–90, Răducioiu was one of Romania's finest players, and that year was to be the most significant of his early career. He won the Romanian championship and the cup (hat-trick in the final against Steaua), reaching the semi-finals of the 1989–90 Cup Winners' Cup, where Dinamo was defeated by Anderlecht.
After three seasons in Serie A, Răducioiu joined A.C. Milan in 1993–94, making only seven appearances and scoring two goals, but winning the UEFA Champions League. In 1994, he went to La Liga to play for Espanyol.
Having scored his country's only goal in UEFA Euro 1996 manager Harry Redknapp signed him for West Ham United in 1996.[2] Most famously, he scored a goal against Manchester United[3] after being criticized by Redknapp for going shopping with his wife at Harvey Nichols on a previous match day;[4] a claim Răducioiu denies.[2] Despite showing promise, he never adapted to the pace and competitive nature of the English game, making no real impact at Upton Park. He scored three goals during his spell with the Hammers. In addition to his goal against Manchester United, he scored against Stockport County in the League Cup[5] and Sunderland in the league.[6] Having fallen out with manager Redknapp [2] at the East London club, he was transferred back to Espanyol after his short underachieving spell, having scored just two goals in the Premier League.
Răducioiu retired in 2004, after a short stint with modest French side Créteil. He had a short spell as a sports agent and as sporting director at Dinamo București.[2]
He is one of the four professional football players (alongside Christian Poulsen, Stevan Jovetic and Justin Kluivert) to have plied his trade in the top five European leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France).[7]
International career
editRăducioiu debuted for the Romania national team in a friendly game against Israel on 25 April 1990, playing for 58 minutes before he was replaced. Răducioiu made his FIFA World Cup debut in 1990 against the Soviet Union at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, aged 20. Appearing in three games for Romania, he finished the tournament without scoring, and Romania fell to the Republic of Ireland in the second round, in a penalty shootout. Răducioiu had to wait until the last game of 1990 to score his first goal. He scored for Romania in a 6–0 victory over San Marino on 5 December in a qualifying match for UEFA Euro 1992, only to double his account in the next game in San Marino, as the Romanians won 3–1.
The year 1993 would be significantly more successful for Răducioiu internationally, as he scored two goals against Czechoslovakia in Košice, even though Romania lost 5–2. Răducioiu's second goal came in the 55th minute, to tie the game at 2–2. However, Slovak player Peter Dubovsky scored a second half hat-trick to beat Romania. His first goal came just four minutes after Răducioiu's second, and in the final eight minutes, Dubosky scored twice to win the game, even though the Czechoslovak had had two players sent off.
An even greater success for Răducioiu would come three months later when in Toftir, he managed to score all four of Romania's goals against the Faroe Islands, becoming the first Romanian player to score four goals for the Romania national team in modern times, a record equaled only by Gheorghe Popescu in 1997 against Liechtenstein.
Răducioiu also scored a penalty kick against Belgium in the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup. In the last group game of qualifying, he scored another goal against Wales finishing a nice team effort after a pass from Ilie Dumitrescu. This late goal, coming in the 83rd minute, sent Romania to the top of its group from the potential third place in the case that the game had ended 1–0, and subsequently to the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[8]
At the World Cup finals, Răducioiu scored two goals against Colombia during the group stage. In the quarterfinal against Sweden, he first equalized Sweden's 0–1 lead in the 88th minute of regular time, taking the game to extra time, then put Romania ahead 2–1 in the first period. Shortly thereafter, Sweden's Stefan Schwarz was sent off after his second yellow card, but despite this Kennet Andersson tied the game in the 115th minute, leading to a shootout. Răducioiu scored Romania's first penalty attempt after Sweden had missed its first, but Romania was eliminated after missing two attempts out of six. Still, Răducioiu's four tournament goals helped Romania to its most successful FIFA World Cup campaign ever.
At the UEFA Euro 1996, as Romania lost all three group stage matches, Răducioiu netted the nation's only goal, in a 2–1 loss against Spain. Overall he won 40 caps between April 1990 and June 1996.[9]
Career statistics
editInternational
edit| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 1990 | 10 | 1 |
| 1991 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 4 | 8 | |
| 1994 | 12 | 5 | |
| 1995 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1996 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 40 | 21 | |
- Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Răducioiu goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 December 1990 | Stadionul Naţional, Bucharest, Romania |  San Marino |
3–0 | 6–0 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 2 | 27 March 1991 | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino | San Marino |
2–1 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 3 | 29 November 1992 | Neo GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus |  Cyprus |
2–0 | 4–1 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 2 June 1993 | Všešportový areál, Košice, Slovakia |  Czechoslovakia |
1–1 | 2–5 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 5 | 2–2 | |||||
| 6 | 8 September 1993 | Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands |  Faroe Islands |
1–0 | 4–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 2–0 | |||||
| 8 | 3–0 | |||||
| 9 | 4–0 | |||||
| 10 | 13 October 1993 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Belgium |
1–0 | 2–1 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) |
| 11 | 17 November 1993 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff, Wales |  Wales |
2–1 | 2–1 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 12 | 18 June 1994 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States |  Colombia |
1–0 | 3–1 | 1994 FIFA World Cup |
| 13 | 3–1 | |||||
| 14 | 10 July 1994 | Stanford Stadium, Stanford, United States |  Sweden |
1–1 | 2–2 | 1994 FIFA World Cup |
| 15 | 2–1 | |||||
| 16 | 7 September 1994 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Azerbaijan |
3–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 17 | 29 March 1995 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania |  Poland |
1–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying |
| 18 | 26 April 1995 | Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium, Trabzon, Turkey | Azerbaijan |
1–0 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying |
| 19 | 3–1 | |||||
| 20 | 4–1 | |||||
| 21 | 18 June 1996 | Elland Road, Leeds, England |  Spain |
1–1 | 1–2 | UEFA Euro 1996 |
Honours
editDinamo București
AC Milan
- Serie A: 1993–94
- Supercoppa Italiana: 1993
- UEFA Champions League: 1993–94
- Intercontinental Cup runner-up: 1993
VfB Stuttgart
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1997–98
Individual
- Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year runner-up: 1994
References
edit- ^ Arnhold, Matthias (16 April 2020). "Florin Valeriu Răducioiu – Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Florin Radicioiu". www.whufc.com. 8 August 2009. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ "West Ham 2 – 2 Manchester United". 4TheGame. 8 December 1996. Retrieved 25 November 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Redknapp seeks new order from chaos". The Independent. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
- ^ Wood, Greg (27 November 1996). "Cavaco counts his blessings". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ Szreter, Adam (28 December 1996). "Sunderland in need of help". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ Woodward, Guy (14 February 2003). "The Knowledge: major league players". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ When Romania broke Welsh hearts, Dafydd Pritchard / Chris Wathan, BBC Sport, 17 November 2023
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel (16 April 2020). "Florin Valeriu Raducioiu – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
External links
edit
- Florin Răducioiu at WorldFootball.net
- Florin Răducioiu at National-Football-Teams.com
- Florin Răducioiu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)