| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ianis Alin Zicu | ||
| Date of birth | 23 October 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Constanţa, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking Midfielder / Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Pohang Steelers | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000–2004 | Dinamo Bucureşti | 33 | (8) |
| 2001–2002 | → Poiana Câmpina (loan) | 6 | (4) |
| 2002–2003 | → Farul Constanţa (loan) | 20 | (7) |
| 2004–2007 | Internazionale | 0 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | → Parma (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | → Dinamo Bucureşti (loan) | 40 | (12) |
| 2006–2007 | → Rapid Bucureşti (loan) | 30 | (13) |
| 2007–2010 | Dinamo Bucureşti | 39 | (5) |
| 2010–2011 | Politehnica Timişoara | 30 | (18) |
| 2011 | CSKA Sofia | 15 | (13) |
| 2012– | Pohang Steelers | 0 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002–2004 | Romania U–21 | 13 | (3) |
| 2003– | Romania | 12 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ianis Alin Zicu (born 23 October 1983 in Constanţa) is a Romanian football midfielder who currently plays for South Korean club Pohang Steelers.
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Zicu made his Divizia A debut on 14 April 2001, at the age of 17 in a 4–2 win over Gaz Metan Mediaş. He scored his first goal in a 4–3 loss to Astra Ploieşti in the 2000–01 season. However, Zicu found first-team opportunities limited, during his four years at the club he was loaned out several times to gain more experience. During his time at the club, Zicu won the league titles twice in 2002 and 2004, and the Romanian Cup in 2001.
In January 2004 Zicu joined Internazionale[1], but club sent him immediately on a loan spell to Parma, as part of the Adriano Leite Ribeiro deal.
Zicu made his Serie A debut for Parma on 21 February 2004 in a 2–1 win against Sampdoria. He was loaned back to Dinamo Bucureşti in January 2005. Upon his return, Zicu won his second Romanian Cup in 2005. He remained in his country on loan to Rapid Bucureşti, and would become the teams leading scorer. He added another domestic cup with Rapid in 2007. However, the following season he went back to Dinamo on a permanent deal.
On 21 July 2010, Zicu signed a five-year contract with arch rivals FC Timişoara.[2] He made his debut in the Europa League, in the second leg of the third qualifying round against MyPa. He scored the second goal in the 80th minute, MyPa were leading 3–0 at half time. Timisoara had completed an amazing comeback during the second half a stoppage-time equaliser from Marián Čišovský in the 90+2' minute gave Poli the tickets to the competition's play-offs. After the first half of the season, Zicu scored 9 times in 15 matches. He scored twice in the second half of the season against Gaz Metan Mediaş in a 3–1 win.[3] He dedicated his goals to his mother, who had died three weeks earlier of breast cancer. On 5 March 2011, Zicu netted again in a 2–1 away win against CFR Cluj at the Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Stadium.[4] He scored again this time against Universitatea Craiova, in a 4–0 win, and then in a 2–0 victory over Victoria Brăneşti, becoming the Liga 1 top scorer with 14 goals.[5]
On 16 June 2011, Zicu moved abroad to sign with Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia for 3 years. On 30 July he made his competitive debut for CSKA in the Bulgarian Supercup derby match against Litex Lovech. He scored from penalty and made the result 2-1 for CSKA, afterwards the match ended 3-1 and CSKA Sofia won the Supercup for the record fourth time in their history.[6] On 28 October 2011, Zicu scored the only goal in the Eternal derby of Bulgaria to help CSKA to a 1:0 home win over Levski Sofia. He scored his first-ever hat-trick in his career on 12 November 2011, in a 3–1 home win over Minyor Pernik.
In late December 2011, it was revealed that Zicu had been transferred to South Korean football club Pohang Steelers, signing a two-year deal with an option for a fourth year (a two-year extension).[7]
He was a U-21 international, before he made his debut for the senior side on 2003. He was banned from representing his country at any level for two years in 2004.[8]
Zicu made his senior debut for Romania in a friendly with Japan on 11 October 2003.
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 29 March 2011 | Ceahlăul Stadium, Piatra Neamţ, Romania | Luxembourg | 3–1 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying |
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo București | 2007-08 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 2008-09 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | |
| 2009-10 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| Total | 39 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 6 | |
| Politehnica Timişoara | 2010–11 | 30 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 19 |
| Total | 30 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 19 | |
| CSKA Sofia | 2011–12 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 14 |
| Total | 15 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 14 | |
| Career total | 84 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 103 | 39 | |
| Romania national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | 3 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | 12 | 1 |
Statistics accurate as of match played on 26 September 2011
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