Florin Răducioiu

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Florin Răducioiu
Personal information
Full name	Florin Valeriu Răducioiu
Date of birth	March 17, 1970 (age 37)
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	180 cm (5'11")
Nickname	Radu
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1985-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-96 1996-97 1996-97 1997-98 1998-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2004	Dinamo Bucureşti Bari Verona Brescia AC Milan RCD Espanyol West Ham United RCD Espanyol VfB Stuttgart Brescia Dinamo Bucureşti AS Monaco FC US Créteil-Lusitanos	76 (29) 30 (5) 30 (2) 29 (13) 7 (2) 46 (14) 11 (2) 10 (5) 19 (4) 37 (5) 8 (1) 12 (2) 9 (1)
National team
1988-1996	Romania	40 (21)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Florin Răducioiu (born March 17, 1970 in Bucharest) is a former Romanian football striker, who played for Dinamo Bucureşti, A.C. Milan, Brescia Calcio, West Ham United, RCD Espanyol, VfB Stuttgart and A.S. Monaco. He is the only footballer that played in the top 5 European Leagues: Italy, Spain, England, Germany and France. He played for Romania at the 1990 World Cup hosted by Italy, the 1994 World Cup hosted by the United States, and Euro 96, hosted by England.

Contents 1 Career 2 World Cup Career 3 Personal life 4 External links

[edit] Career

Răducioiu was a product of Dinamo Bucureşti. Mircea Lucescu, former Dinamo coach and a very appreciated coach in Europe, saw Raducioiu's 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.

It is important to keep in mind that, in the 1980s, the Romanian football clubs were in the elite of European football: Steaua Bucharest won ECC in 1986 and was European vice-champion in 1989. Răducioiu was the Dinamo's only substitute in his first year of play with the club, but his talent propelled him in the first twelve, and in 1988 he already was the first substitute. At that time the clubs in Romania and in Europe had a rather stable eleven and some strong 1 or 2 substitutes who could be easily considered as base players.

But Răducioiu wasn't such a player and by the beginning of the 1988-1989 he was the first choice in Lucescu's team. In the season 1988-1989 Răducioiu made an impressive debut in the european top football- reaching the quarter finals of the CWC (Cup Winners Cup) and finish second in the Romanian division with Dinamo.In the CWC Dinamo was eliminated by Sampdoria after two draws 1-1 and 0-0, but Sampdoria progressed with the away goal rule.By the beginning of the 1989-1990 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 Romanian Cup, reached the semifinals of the CWC when Dinamo was denied the finals by RSC Anderlecht.

He joined West Ham United in 1996, most famously scoring a goal against Manchester United after being critised by Harry Redknapp for going shopping with his girlfriend on a previous match day. Despite showing promise, he disappeared from English football and failed to make an impact at any level, never scoring more than a handful of goals at any club.

[edit] World Cup Career

Răducioiu made his World Cup debut in 1990 in Italy. Appearing in three games for Romania, he finished without any goals, and Romania fell to the Republic of Ireland in the second round.

The next World Cup was held in 1994 in the United States. Răducioiu fared better here, scoring four goals in the tournament as Romania advanced to the quarterfinals. Răducioiu scored two goals against Colombia during the qualifiying round, and later plugged two more in a quarterfinal loss to Sweden. Due to rule changes, had the match against Sweden been played two years later, Romania would have advanced to the semifinals; Răducioiu's second goal was the first scored during the extra period, and under later rules, this tally would have been considered a golden goal. (Instead, Kennet Andersson of Sweden also scored in the extra frame, tying the game, and Sweden eventually won 5-4 on penalties, with Răducioiu scored on the first penalty attempt for Romania.)

[edit] Personal life

• Florin Răducioiu has always kept a low profile in Romania, in contrast to many other key figures in Romanian football.

• He is the only footballer that has played in what are widely recognised as the top five European Leagues of Italy, Spain, England, Germany and France. He is also one of only five players to have played for the top four of those leagues (excluding France), along with Gheorghe Popescu, Pierre Wome, Abel Xavier and Jon Dahl Tomasson.

[edit] External links

• Florin Răducioiu official website
• RomanianSoccer.ro - Players - Florin Valeriu Răducioiu

	Romania squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup
1 Lung | 2 Rednic | 3 Klein | 4 Andone | 5 Rotariu | 6 G. Popescu | 7 Lăcătuş | 8 Sabău | 9 Cămătaru | 10 Hagi | 11 Lupu | 12 Stelea | 13 A. Popescu | 14 Răducioiu | 15 Mateuţ | 16 Timofte | 17 Dumitrescu | 18 Balint | 19 Săndoi | 20 Muzsnay | 21 Lupescu | 22 Liliac | Coach: Jenei

	Romania squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Prunea | 2 Petrescu | 3 Prodan | 4 Belodedici | 5 Lupescu | 6 Popescu | 7 Munteanu | 8 Chiriţă | 9 Răducioiu | 10 Hagi | 11 Dumitrescu | 12 Stelea | 13 Selymes | 14 Mihali | 15 Panduru | 16 Vlădoiu | 17 Moldovan | 18 Gâlcă | 19 Papură | 20 Stîngă | 21 Ivan | 22 Preda | Coach: Iordănescu