Bănel Nicoliță

Bănel Nicoliță

Bănel Nicoliță playing for Steaua
Personal information
Full name	Bănel Nicoliță
Date of birth	(1985-01-07) 7 January 1985
Place of birth	Făurei, Romania
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Winger / Right back
Club information
Current club	FC Nantes
Number	15
Youth career
1992–1993	Unirea Făurei
1993–2001	CF Brăila
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2004	CF Brăila	75	(23)
2004	Politehnica Timişoara	15	(3)
2005–2011	Steaua Bucureşti	188	(23)
2011–	Saint-Étienne	25	(3)
2013–	→ FC Nantes (loan)	2	(0)
National team‡
2003	Romania U-19	5	(1)
2004–2005	Romania U-21	13	(1)
2005–	Romania	35	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 5 October 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:45, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Bănel Nicoliță (born 7 January 1985 in Făurei, Brăila County) is a Romanian football player of Romani descent, currently playing for Ligue 1 side Nantes. Nicoliță is nicknamed Jardel after the famous Mário Jardel of Brazil. He can play as a right winger or left winger and has been used on occasion as a right back. He is known for his electrifying pace and very high work rate.

Club career

Brăila and Politehnica Timișoara

He made his debut in Romanian Liga II, playing for Brăila.^[1] After, he joined Politehnica Timişoara, making his Divizia A debut at the age of 19.^[2] However, he made only 15 league appearances for the club before moving to Steaua Bucureşti, at the beginning of 2005, he signed a 5-year contract with Steaua Bucureşti.^[3]

Steaua București

Shortly after joining Steaua, Nicoliță won his first Liga I title upon his first season with the team. He is known as a humble and hard-working, though not very technical, speed and quickness are his strengths. In the spring of 2006, he scored twice in the match against Real Betis,^[4] his goals opening Steaua's door to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, and then he scored again in the quarterfinals, this time against Rapid Bucureşti to help his team reach the semifinals.

On 1 November 2006, he scored an own goal against Real Madrid in a Champions League encounter.^[5] Unfortunately for him and the Romanian side, this turned out to be decisive in the outcome of the match. He claimed he couldn't sleep for 48 hours after scoring it. After a game with FC Argeş, Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor named him Bănelinho.

On 27 August 2008, he has scored one goal in the match against Galatasaray, in the third qualifying round of UEFA Champions League,^[6] which sent Steaua Bucureşti in to the group stage for the third consecutive year.

Starting with the 2010–11 season, Bănel was the new captain of Steaua,^[7] but with the arrival of new coach Ilie Dumitrescu, he soon gave his armband to Cristian Tănase.

Saint-Étienne

On 30 August 2011, Saint-Étienne announced on their official website that they had found agreement with Steaua for Nicoliță's transfer and that the player would fly to France and undergo a medical the following day.^[8] Being in his last year of contract with Steaua Bucureşti the transfer fee was €700.000. He signed a contract worth €400.000 per year.^[9]

On 6 November he scored his first goal helping Saint-Étienne draw against second place Montpellier.^[10] In a game against Sochaux Nicoliță offerd the assist for teenager Zouma to give Saint-Étienne the win.^[11] After only six months with the French team he became a leader scoring 3 goals and offering 3 assists after hist first 11 appearances.^[12] In February 2012 Nicoliță hit a rough patch, having a couple of not so convincing games, being described as monotonous.^[13] In March, he was sidelined for a couple of weeks, due to ligament problems.^[14] He recovered in late March 2012 and played in the games against Montpellier and Olympique Lyonnais, both 1–0 defeats.^[15]

FC Nantes

On 2 September 2013, Ligue 1 club FC Nantes confirmed Nicoliță was signed on a season long loan from Saint-Étienne. He made an assist for his first match against FC Sochaux.

International career

Nicoliță won 34 caps for Romania up to date and scored one goal. He also used to be a Romanian U21 international.

On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for the results on Qualifying to EURO 2008 and qualification to UEFA Euro 2008 Group C with Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class II with two barret.

He was captain for the first time in the friendly against San Marino on 11 August 2011.

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2 June 2007	Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia	Slovenia	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

Personal life

Nicoliță is an ethnic Romani,^[16] one of six brothers raised by his mother in the small, impoverished town of Făurei, Nicoliță grew up determined to succeed and his speed and diligence on the field are proof of his unalloyed passion for the game.

One of his brothers, is also a professional footballer who plays for CF Brăila.

Career statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 2 September 2013

Honours

Season	Club	Title
2004–05	Steaua Bucureşti	Divizia A
2005–06	Steaua Bucureşti	Divizia A
2006	Steaua Bucureşti	Supercupa României
2010–11	Steaua Bucureşti	Cupa României
2012–13	Saint-Étienne	Coupe de la Ligue

References

External links

• Official FCSB profile (Romanian)
• Profile and stats at RomanianSoccer.ro

v t e Romania squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Lobonț 2 Contra 3 Raț 4 Tamaș 5 Chivu 6 Rădoi 7 Petre 8 Codrea 9 Marica 10 Mutu 11 Cociș 12 Popa 13 Săpunaru 14 Ghionea 15 Goian 16 Nicoliță 17 Moți 18 M. Niculae 19 Cristea 20 Dică 21 D. Niculae 22 Radu 23 Stăncioiu Coach: Pițurcă