Bogdan Lobonț

Bogdan Lobonț

Lobonț with Romania in 2010
Personal information
Full nameBogdan Ionuț Lobonț
Date of birth18 January 1978
Place of birthHunedoara, Romania
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Roma
Number1
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1995–1997Corvinul Hunedoara40(0)
1997–2000Rapid București80(0)
2000–2006Ajax49(0)
2001–2002→ Dinamo București (loan)22(0)
2006–2007Fiorentina17(0)
2007–2009Dinamo București71(0)
2009–Roma22(0)
National team‡
1997–1998Romania U2110(0)
1998–2013Romania85(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 May 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2013

Bogdan Ionuț Lobonț (Romanian pronunciation: [boɡˈdan ˈlobont͡s]; born 18 January 1978 in Hunedoara) is a Romanian professional goalkeeper playing for A.S. Roma and the Romanian national team. Lobonț has been popularly nicknamed "Pisica" (The Cat) in Romania due to his quick reflexes, compared to that of a cat.

Club career

Early career

Lobonț began his career with hometown club Corvinul Hunedoara. He remained with the team until 1997, when he moved to Rapid București. He enjoyed success there and was transferred to Dutch club AFC Ajax in 2000. However, injury and inexperience kept him out of the starting eleven, and he was loaned to Dinamo București for the 2001–02 season.

Upon his return to Ajax, however, he became the team's primary goalkeeper. Although he struggled with occasional injuries, he played well when healthy in both the Eredivisie and the UEFA Champions League.

In January 2006, Lobonț was sold from Ajax to Italian Serie A club Fiorentina, which needed a goalkeeper after the injury to starting goalkeeper Sébastien Frey. Although he played particularly well, Frey's return meant that he would spend most of the time as a substitute. Because he had also lost his place on the Romanian national team, Lobonţ made a surprise move back to Dinamo Bucureşti in January 2007 and helped the club win Liga I.

Roma

On 31 August 2009, Italian Serie A club Roma signed Lobonț on a free loan from Dinamo Bucureşti, with an option for the Italian team to buy him at the end of the season. He made his first appearance for the Giallorossi on 4 October, coming off the bench after 23 minutes in a game against Napoli. Because of Stekelenburg's injury he was temporary first goalkeeper in 4 matches in season 2011–12. On 4 March 2012, he came on against Lazio because of Stekelenburg's red card. So far he played 17 matches in Serie A for Roma. On 1 July 2013, Lobont signed a new three-year contract with Roma that will keep him at the club until 2016.[1]

International career

Lobonţ has played an important part of the Romanian national team, earning over 80 caps, his first being in 1998. He was part of his country's UEFA Euro 2000 and UEFA Euro 2008 squads.

He turned in a particularly strong performance in Romania's group stage game in Euro 2008 against world champions Italy, saving numerous well-placed shots and keeping his team's tournament hopes alive with a 1–1 draw.

Honours

Club

AS Roma

References

  1. ↑ "Roma, Lobont prolunga il contratto fino al 2016" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2014.

External links