Bănel Nicoliță

Bănel Nicoliță (born 7 January 1985) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga III club CS Făurei, which he also manages. Known for his pace and high work rate, he has also been used on occasion as a right back.

Bănel Dioclețian Arșinel Nicoliță

Nicoliță with Steaua București in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth	7 January 1985
Place of birth	Făurei, Romania
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Winger, Defender
Club information
Current team	CS Făurei
Number	16
Youth career
1992–1993	Unirea Făurei
1993–2001	Dacia Unirea Brăila
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2004	Dacia Unirea Brăila	75	(23)
2004–2005	Politehnica Timișoara	15	(3)
2005–2011	Steaua București	188	(23)
2011–2014	Saint-Étienne	25	(3)
2013–2014	→ Nantes (loan)	17	(1)
2015–2016	Viitorul Constanța	37	(6)
2016–2017	CS Făurei	14	(10)
2017	Târgu Mureș	19	(2)
2017–2018	Aris Limassol	12	(1)
2018–	CS Făurei	45	(32)
National team
2003	Romania U19	5	(1)
2004–2005	Romania U21	13	(1)
2005–2014	Romania	37	(1)
Teams managed
2018–	CS Făurei
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Dacia Unirea Brăila and Politehnica Timișoara

He made his debut in Romanian Liga II, playing for Dacia Unirea Brăila.[1] After, he joined Politehnica Timișoara, 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 București, at the beginning of 2005, he signed a 5-year contract with Steaua.[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 București 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 Argeș, 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 București 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 București 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 offered 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 his 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]

Loan to 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.[16][17]

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

Personal life

Nicoliță is an ethnic Romani/Gypsy,[18] 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, Stelian is also a professional footballer who played for CF Brăila and other teams in the lower leagues of Romania.[19][20] Bănel and Stelian played together at their hometown team CS Făurei.[21]

Nicoliță has been nicknamed Jardel after the famous Mário Jardel of Brazil.

Career statistics

Club

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dacia Unirea Brăila	2001–02	27	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	4
	2002–03	28	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	9
	2003–04	20	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	10
	Total	75	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	75	23
Politehnica Timișoara	2004–05	15	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	16	3
	Total	15	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	16	3
Steaua	2004–05	14	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	15	2
	2005–06	29	7	0	0	17	4	1	0	47	11
	2006–07	32	2	4	1	12	0	1	0	49	3
	2007–08	27	3	0	0	8	1	0	0	35	4
	2008–09	26	3	0	0	7	2	0	0	33	5
	2009–10	28	2	1	0	11	3	0	0	40	5
	2010–11	27	4	2	1	6	0	0	0	35	5
	2011–12	5	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	8	0
	Total	188	23	7	1	64	10	3	0	252	34
Saint-Étienne	2011–12	19	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	20	3
	2012–13	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2013–14	3	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	5	1
	Total	25	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	28	4
Nantes (loan)	2013–14	17	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	20	1
	Total	17	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	20	1
Career total		306	53	9	1	64	9	3	0	382	63

Statistics accurate as of match played 2 September 2014

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

Honours

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

References

1. "Ionel Iuga: "Banel Nicolita o sa-l vrajeasca pe Sarkozy" - Braila - Ziare.com". www.ziare.com.
2. "Bănel Nicoliţă, transferat la Saint-Etienne".
3. "FCSB – site-ul oficial al FC Steaua Bucuresti". www.steauafc.com.
4. Nicolita brace against Betis Archived 3 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
5. http://www.ziare.com/articole/autogol+banel+bernabeu Nicolita autogol cu Real Madrid
6. aedotnavzar (28 August 2008). "STEAUA – Galatasaray 1-0 – gol Nicolita" – via YouTube.
7. Nicolita named captain Archived 18 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
8. Accord pour Nicolita et Gradel (in French)
9. http://www.gsp.ro/fotbal/liga-1/nicolita-va-avea-la-st-etienne-un-salariu-mai-mare-decit-al-lui-torje-257887.html Contract Nicolita
10. "Ligue 1: Bănel Nicoliţă, primul gol pentru St. Etienne. Daniel Niculae a adus victoria lui Nancy".
11. "VIDEO Nicoliţă lăudat iar în presa franceză: "A fost un permanent pericol pentru Sochaux"".
12. "VIDEO Bănel din nou erou pentru Saint Etienne! Pasă de gol şi o ratare uriaşă".
13. http://www.gsp.ro/international/stranieri/nicolita-a-devenit-monoton-l-equipe-i-a-dat-nota-4-301833.html Nicolita a devenit monoton
14. http://www.ziare.com/banel-nicolita/stiri-banel-nicolita/accidentarea-lui-nicolita-mai-grava-decat-se-credea-initial-1153776 Accidentarea lui nicolita grava
15. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/03/24/france.roundup.ap/index.html France roundup
16. "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
17. "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
18. Wilson, Jonathan (22 February 2007). "Kevin Flynn on Eastern European football: Can Steaua overturn their 2-0 deficit against Sevilla?". The Guardian.
19. "INTERVIU EXCLUSIV Fratele lui Bănel îi calcă pe urme acestuia! "Am mult de muncit pentru a-l egala"" [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Bănel's brother follows his traces! "I have a lot of work to equalize him"] (in Romanian). gsp.ro. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
20. "Viorel Ion îl vrea pe fratele lui Nicoliţă!" [Viorel Ion wants Nicolita's brother!] (in Romanian). prosport.ro. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
21. ""Fratii dinamita". Banel Nicolita inscrie pe banda rulanta la Faurei, alaturi de fratele sau, iar echipa e lider detasat" ["The Dynamite Brothers". Banel Nicolita scores many goals at Faurei alongside his brother, and the team is the top leader] (in Romanian). sport.ro. Retrieved 7 October 2017.

External links

• Official FCSB profile (in Romanian)
• Bănel Nicoliță at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian) and StatisticsFootball.com
• Bănel Nicoliță at Soccerway