Răzvan Raț

Răzvan Raț

Răzvan Raț in 2014
Personal information
Full nameRăzvan Dincă Raț
Date of birth26 May 1981
Place of birthPiatra-Olt,[1] Romania
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionLeft back
Club information
Current team
PAOK
Number5
Youth career
1988–1994Rapid Piatra-Olt
1994Universitatea Craiova
1995Constructorul Craiova
1996Sporting Pitești
1996Cetatea Târgu Neamț
1996–1998Sporting Pitești
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1998–2003Rapid București82(4)
2000–2001→ FCM Bacău (loan)39(2)
2003–2013Shakhtar Donetsk174(6)
2013–2014West Ham United15(0)
2014Rayo Vallecano10(0)
2014–PAOK22(3)
National team‡
1999–2002Romania U-2116(0)
2002–[2]Romania103(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:35, 21 January 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 March 2015

Răzvan Dincă Raț (Romanian pronunciation: [rəzˈvan rat͡s]; born 26 May 1981) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for PAOK FC in Greece as a left back.

His honours include eight league titles (two with Rapid and six with Shakhtar), one Romanian Cup, four Ukrainian Cups, one UEFA Cup, one Romanian Super Cup and three Ukrainian Super Cups. In 2009, Raț came second in voting for the Romanian Footballer of the Year.

Raț is also the captain of the Romanian national team. He made his international debut in 2002 and has represented Romania at Euro 2008. Raț first captained his country in 2005, in a friendly match against Nigeria, in the absence of regular captain Cristian Chivu, and was appointed captain on 2 September 2011. He is the fourth most capped Romanian international of all time, earning his 100th cap on 14 October 2014.

Club career

Raț in 2012

Early career

Born in Piatra-Olt,[1] Raț started out his football career when he joined the local team Rapid Piatra-Olt aged seven in a team trained by his father.[3] In the summer of 1994, Raț went on a trial with Universitatea Craiova. He impressed coach Anghel Mităchescu and joined the club's youth system at the age of 13.[4] When Mităchescu found out that he was going to be released from his duties by club president Rodion Cămătaru, he transferred the entire junior squad at the Divizia B side Constructorul Craiova. However, Raț's career for Constructorul ended shortly, due to the financial problems, in 1995.[4] In the winter of that year, Raț was noticed by Tudorel Stoica, who attended at a futsall tournament from Balș. Stoica wanted for Raț to join Steaua București's youth system. Despite both Stoica and youth coach Bujor Hălmăgean were impressed by the young player, Raț never joined Steaua, because according to his father, the military club refused to pay the youth, Raț being forced to live in Bucharest all by himself.[4] By the guidance of his former coach Mităchescu, Raț joined Sporting Pitești, team trained by former international player Nicolae Dobrin. In his first match, Raț was substituted in for the last 10–15 minutes of the game, and he scored five or six goals.[4]

On 2 September 1996, after being noticed by Silviu Stănescu, Raț joined Divizia B side Cetatea Târgu Neamț. Despite being only 15 years old, Raț trained with the senior squad. On 19 November, the arrest of Cetatea's main sponsor led to the dissolution of Cetatea Târgu Neamț. Raț got to play only two matches for the juniors of Cetatea.[4] He later rejoined Sporting Pitești, and by the guidance of Mihai Georgescu he became once champion and once vice-champion with his team.[5]

In May or June 1998, Mircea Lucescu noticed Raț, and therefore he signed his first professional contract with Rapid București on 26 June.[4] Raț started his professional career with Romanian Premier League side Rapid București in 1998. In 2003, he was signed by Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, where he became a key player. He played the whole game as Donetsk won the 2009 UEFA Cup Final.[6]

West Ham United

On 21 May 2013, Raț signed for English Premier League Club West Ham United on a free transfer signing an extendable one-year contract.[7] His West Ham debut came on 27 August 2013 in a League Cup game against Cheltenham Town in which West Ham won the game 2-1.[8]

On 31 January 2014, Raț was released from his contract with West Ham United by mutual consent.[9] He had played 20 games in all competitions without scoring.[10]

Rayo Vallecano

On 13 February 2014, Raț joined Spanish side Rayo Vallecano until the end of the 2013–14 season.[11]

PAOK

On 15 June 2014, PAOK announced the verbal agreement with Raț, who signed a two-year contract at the Greek Super League club.[12]

International career

Răzvan Raț during a friendly game against Austria on 5 June 2012.

On 8 February 2002, Raț was called up to the Romania national team for the first time.[13] Five days later, he was in the startup team against World and European champions France, counting his debut in the national squad.[14] Raț played his first official match on 12 October, in a Euro 2004 qualifier match against Norway, playing as a left midfielder.[15] Following Chivu's establishment in the central defense, Raț became the first-choice left back for Romania. On 28 April 2004, Raț scored his first goal for the national squad, in a 5–1 win against Germany national team, the worst away defeat for the Germans since the past 65 years.[16] On 31 May 2014, Raț scored only his second goal for Romania as it was the difference in a 1-0 victory against Albania in a match played in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.[17]

In 2008, he was on the main squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament. He helped Romania to a 0–0 draw against previous FIFA World Cup finalists France and a 1–1 draw against world champions Italy in the so-called "group of death". However, Romania were eliminated after a 2–0 loss to the Netherlands.

Raț earned his 100th cap for the Romania national football team on 14 October 2014 in a 2–0 victory away to Finland in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[18][19][20]

Honours

Rapid București
Shakhtar Donetsk

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Hammers seal Rat Signing". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  2. ↑ "Razvan Rat - Players page". Romanian Soccer.ro.
  3. ↑ "Drumul lui Răzvan Raț de la Piatra Olt la Donetk", Adevărul (22 May 2009)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 ""Ţăranul" a crescut mare" (in Romanian). ProSport. 22 May 2009.
  5. ↑ "Raț profile" (in Romanian). Sporting Pitești.
  6. ↑ "Shaktar 2-1 Bremen". UEFA.com. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "West Ham sign Rat on one-year deal". Reuters. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "West Ham United 2-1 Cheltenham Town". www.whufc.com. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "Duo depart". West Ham United FC. 31 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics - Razvan Rat". www.westhamstas.info. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Razvan Rat nuevo jugador del Rayo Vallecano". Rayo Vallecano (in Spanish). 13 February 2014.
  12. ↑ ΠΑΟΚ: Ανακοίνωσε συμφωνία με τον Ρατ! (in Greek). 15 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "S-a stabilit lotul pentru Franta" (in Romanian). Apropo. 8 February 2002.
  14. ↑ "Experimentul Chivu" (in Romanian). Apropo. 14 February 2002.
  15. ↑ "Romania 0–1 Norvegia" (in Romanian). Apropo. 13 October 2002.
  16. ↑ "Romania hands Germany 5–1 thrashing". The Age. 30 April. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ↑ "Finland beat Estonia in Ventspils - UEFA EURO - News". UEFA.com. 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  18. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-2791330/Focused-Rat-set-earn-100th-Romania-cap-Helsinki.html
  19. ↑ http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/10/13/us-soccer-euro-romania-rat-idUKKCN0I21RS20141013
  20. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/news/newsid=2164663.html
  21. ↑ "Romanian_Cup_2001_2002 - statistics". Romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  22. ↑ "Gazeta de SUD, 2002-08-12 - Rapid a cistigat Supercupa Romaniei". Gds.ro. 2002-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  23. ↑ "Архів змагань". Ffu.org.ua. 2004-05-30. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  24. ↑ "Футбольний клуб "Динамо" (Київ). Офіційний сайт : Новини". Web.archive.org. 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  25. ↑ "Протоколи матчів". Fpl.ua. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  26. ↑ "Протоколи матчів". Fpl.ua. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  27. ↑ "Протоколи матчів". Fpl.ua. 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  28. ↑ "Архів змагань". Ffu.org.ua. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  29. ↑ "Shakhtar 1 - 1 Dynamo (5-3 pens). Line ups and events - FC Dynamo Kyiv. Official club website". Fcdynamo.kiev.ua. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  30. ↑ "Протоколи матчів". Fpl.ua. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  31. ↑ "UEFA Europa League 2008/09 - History - Shakhtar Donetsk-Bremen –". Uefa.com. 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2014-08-21.

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