Raul Rusescu

Raul Rusescu

Raul Rusescu in June 2014
Personal information
Full name Raul Andrei Rusescu
Date of birth (1988-07-09) 9 July 1988
Place of birth Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward
Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Osmanlıspor
Number 24
Youth career
1995–2004 Râmnicu Vâlcea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2011 Unirea Urziceni 87 (18)
2006–2007 → Dunărea Giurgiu (loan) 31 (13)
2007–2008 → Otopeni (loan) 20 (4)
2011–2013 Steaua București 65 (34)
2013–2015 Sevilla 1 (0)
2013–2014 → Braga (loan) 13 (5)
2014–2015 → Steaua București (loan) 21 (4)
2015– Osmanlıspor 36 (10)
National team‡
2006–2007 Romania U19 6 (3)
2009–2010 Romania U21 6 (2)
2012– Romania 10 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 December 2016.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2016

Raul Andrei Rusescu (born 9 July 1988) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for Turkish club Osmanlıspor and the Romania national team as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea

At age seven, Rusescu was spotted by Cristi Bora at a trial and brought to Râmnicu Vâlcea.[1] As a youth, he tore open his calf when he fell out of a bus, and then subsequently broke his tibia falling down on ice.[2] Here, he was a group teammate with later Steaua București colleague Mihai Costea. Although he went through the youth systems of CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea in 2005, the coach of the team at the time, Adrian Furnică, decided that the player did not have value and that he was not likely to grow.[3]

Unirea Urziceni

In 2005, Rusescu was brought to Liga II side Unirea Urziceni under the command of Dan Petrescu. He had limited playing time in his first year with the team while they earned promotion to the Liga I.

His team now being in the first tier of Romanian football, Rusescu was loaned to Dunărea Giurgiu.[4] Although not yet 18, he quickly became a starter and finished the season with 13 goals scored across all competitions.[5] For the 2007–08 season, however, he was again loaned out, to Liga II club CS Otopeni.[6] He helped the club gain promotion to the Liga I by scoring 4 goals in 20 matches.[7]

In his first year in Liga I with Unirea Urziceni, Rusescu helped his team win the 2008–09 league title, earning a place in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.[8] He finished the season with 5 goals scored in 23 games.[9]

In the 2009–10 campaign, Rusescu scored 8 goals from 29 total appearances, helping Unirea Urziceni finish second in the league and gather eight points in the 2009–10 Champions League group stage.[10]

After manager Dan Petrescu left the club, Rusescu was used as a winger and did not perform as well as before.

Steaua București

On 4 May 2011, the owner of Steaua București announced at a televised show that Rusescu has signed with the club.[11] Rusescu made his Liga I debut with Steaua on 31 July against CS Mioveni, also scoring his first Steaua goal.[12] In the next match, Rusescu scored his second goal for the club against Universitatea Cluj. He scored his first European goal for Steaua against Schalke 04 in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.[13]

On 5 December, Rusescu scored two sensational goals against Steaua's arch-rival Dinamo București, assuring his club a win in a match named by the two club's supporters the Eternal Derby and ending Steaua's seven-year winless streak on Dinamo's stadium. He has been deemed a hero by the Steaua supporters and the press.[14][15] In the next Europa League group stage match, Rusescu scored again for Steaua from a penalty kick, helping his club beat AEK Larnaca and qualifying for the round of 32.[16] At the end of 2011, Rusescu was Steaua's most prolific goalscorer with seven goals in Liga I and two in the Europa League group stage.[17]

On 7 March 2013, Rusescu scored from the penalty spot against Chelsea at the National Arena, to put Steaua 1–0 up in the Europa League round of 16.[18] On 12 March, Rusescu scored a goal against Universitatea Cluj.[19] He scored again, on 18 March, against Astra Ploiești in a game which finished 2–1, with teammate Paul Pârvulescu scoring the winning goal.[20] On 8 April, Rusescu scored the second goal from the 4–1 victory against Sportul Studențesc.[21]

Sevilla

On 13 June 2013, Rusescu completed a move to Spanish La Liga club Sevilla, signing a five-year contract which included a €40 million release clause.[22] On 20 August 2015, Sevilla announced that Rusescu had terminated his contract with the club.[23]

Loan to Braga

At the end of 2013, Rusescu was loaned at Portuguese Primeira Liga club Braga, with an option to purchase outright. He made his Braga debut on 6 January 2014 in a 2–0 win against Arouca in the Taça de Portugal. On 10 January, he scored two goals for Braga in his Primeira Liga debut, a 3–0 win over Vitória de Guimarães.

Loan to Steaua București

On 1 September 2014, just one year after being sold by Steaua to Sevilla, Rusescu returned for a season-long loan.[24][25][26]

International career

Rusescu is an ex-Romania U-21 international, earning seven caps and scoring two goals.[27] He played in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, losing in the play-offs against England.[28]

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 October 2014 Arena Națională, Bucharest  Hungary
1–1
1–1
 Euro 2016 qualifier

Career statistics

Club

(Correct as of 6 January 2017)
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dunărea Giurgiu (loan)
2006–07 311311---3214
Total 311311---3214
Otopeni (loan)
2007–08 204??---204
Total 204??---204
Unirea Urziceni
2005–06 92??---92
2008–09 23500-00-235
2009–10 26800-30-298
2010–11 29310-40-343
Total 871810-70-9518
Steaua București
2011–12 311320-92104315
2012–13 342100-125-4626
Total 653420-217108941
Sevilla
2013–14 1020-43-73
Total 1020-43-73
Braga
2013–14 1354132--208
Total 1354132--208
Steaua București
2014–15 214523245-3313
Total 214523245-3313
Osmanlıspor
2015–16 24921---2610
2016–17 12120-113-254
Total 361041-113-5114
Career total 2748819564471810347115

Honours

Club

Unirea Urziceni:

Steaua București:

Sevilla:

Individual

References

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