Daniel Niculae
Niculae with Romania in 2012
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel George Niculae | ||
| Date of birth | 6 October 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Astra Giurgiu | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2001 | Rapid București | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2006 | Rapid București | 107 | (33) |
| 2006–2010 | Auxerre | 130 | (19) |
| 2010–2012 | Monaco | 17 | (4) |
| 2011–2012 | → Nancy (loan) | 31 | (6) |
| 2012–2013 | Kuban Krasnodar | 11 | (2) |
| 2014–2015 | Rapid București | 29 | (10) |
| 2015– | Astra Giurgiu | 41 | (8) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003–2015 | Romania | 39 | (9) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 May 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 May 2015 |
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Daniel George Niculae (born 6 October 1982) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for Astra Giurgiu mainly as a striker.
He has made 39 appearances for Romania since his debut in 2003.
Daniel "Nico" Niculae started his professional career at Rapid București in 2000. Despite a period playing for the B team in 2001, Nico proved he is one of the most gifted players of the club, and helped his club to win the championship in the 2002–03 season – his first as a first-team regular.
Niculae was Rapid's leading scorer in the 2004–05 season, with 14 goals – the third highest total in Romania's Liga 1.
In the 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign, he and Mugurel Buga formed one of the most powerful striker pairs of the competition, with Niculae scoring 8 goals, as Rapid reached the Quarter-Finals of the competition. The season also saw Rapid claim the 2006 Romanian Cup, with Niculae scoring the winning goal in the first minute of extra-time, against Național București.
Niculae was transferred to French club AJ Auxerre in the summer of 2006, for €3.3 million. His first season with the club saw him score 4 goals in the UEFA Cup, but he struggled for goals in Ligue 1. However, the following season his form improved, as he scored 11 goals to help keep the club in Ligue 1.
The 2008–09 season was one to forget for Niculae. He was deeply affected by the loss of his father, and despite threatening to score on several occasions, he failed to find the net in 32 games.
Things got back on track in 2009–10 however. Jean Fernandez initially wanted to loan out Niculae for the season, but the latest signing Alexandre Licata was ruled out for most of the season with a serious ankle injury. Daniel Niculae found a new role in the Auxerre side, as a creator of goals rather than a scorer of them. As of April 2010, he lies third in the table for assists in Ligue 1 with a total of 8. He has a brilliant entente with Polish goalscorer Ireneusz Jeleń and has helped the Burgundian side to reach second in the table and to thus push for the Champions League places.
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