Bănel Nicoliță

Bănel Nicoliță
Nicoliță playing for FCSB in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-01-07) 7 January 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Făurei, Romania
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Winger, wing back
Team information
Current team
 CSO Vălenii de Munte
Number 16
Youth career
1992–1993 Unirea Făurei
1993–2001 Dacia Unirea Brăila
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 Dacia Unirea Brăila 77 (23)
2004 Poli AEK 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 Făurei 14 (10)
2017 ASA Târgu Mureș 19 (2)
2017–2018 Aris Limassol 12 (0)
2018–2022 Făurei 94 (50)
2024 CS Amara
2024– CSO Vălenii de Munte
Total 498 (118)
International career
2003 Romania U19 5 (1)
2003–2005 Romania U21 13 (1)
2005–2014 Romania 37 (1)
Managerial career
2016–2017 Făurei (player/coach)
2018–2022 Făurei(player/coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bănel Nicoliță (born 7 January 1985) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga IV club CSO Vălenii de Munte.

Club career

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Dacia Unirea Brăila and Poli AEK Timișoara

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He made his debut in Romanian Divizia B, playing for Dacia Unirea Brăila.[1] After, he joined Poli AEK 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

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Shortly after joining Steaua, Nicoliță won his first Divizia A title upon his first season with the team. He is known to be a humble and hard-working player. Although not very technical, his strengths include speed and quickness. Interestingly, on the video game PES 6, his skill set as a player matched all his commonly agreed upon strengths (including being humble), but he was also graced with technical ability and was able to play very effectively as a box to box midfielder with very tidy feet.

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 to the group stage for the third consecutive year.

Starting with the 2010–11 season, Bănel was the new captain of Steaua București ,[7] but with the arrival of new coach Ilie Dumitrescu, he soon gave his armband to Cristian Tănase.

Saint-Étienne

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On 30 August 2011, Saint-Étienne announced on their official website that they had reached an 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

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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

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Nicoliță won 37 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

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Nicoliță is an ethnic Romani,[18] and 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 famous Brazilian player Mário Jardel.

Career statistics

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Club

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Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dacia Unirea Brăila 2001–02 28 4 0 0 — — 28 4
2002–03 28 9 0 0 — — 28 9
2003–04 21 10 0 0 — — 21 10
Total 77 23 0 0 — — 77 23
Poli AEK Timișoara 2004–05 15 3 1 0 — — 16 3
Steaua București 2004–05 14 2 0 0 1 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 — 35 4
2008–09 26 3 0 0 7 2 — 33 5
2009–10 28 2 1 0 11 3 — 40 5
2010–11 27 4 2 1 6 0 — 35 5
2011–12 5 0 — 2 0 1 0 8 0
Total 188 23 7 1 64 10 3 0 262 34
Saint-Étienne 2011–12 19 3 1 0 — 0 0 20 3
2012–13 3 0 0 0 — 0 0 3 0
2013–14 3 0 — 2 1 — 5 1
Total 25 3 1 0 2 1 0 0 28 4
Nantes (loan) 2013–14 17 1 1 0 — 2 0 20 1
Viitorul Constanța 2014–15 15 2 — — — 15 2
2015–16 22 4 3 0 — 2 0 27 4
Total 37 6 3 0 — 2 0 42 6
ASA Târgu Mureș 2016–17 19 2 — — 0 0 19 2
Aris Limassol 2017–18 12 0 0 0 — — 12 0
Career total 390 61 13 1 66 11 7 0 476 73

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[22]
National team Year Apps Goals
Romania 2005 2 0
2006 6 0
2007 9 1
2008 8 0
2009 3 0
2010 2 0
2011 4 0
2012 0 0
2013 1 0
2014 2 0
Total 37 1
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nicoliță 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

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Player

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Steaua București

Saint-Étienne

Făurei

Coach

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Făurei

References

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  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. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  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". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – 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. ^ sportsillustrated.cnn.com 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. Archived from the original on 12 September 2020. 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. 13 January 2012. 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.
  22. ^ "Bănel Nicoliță". European Football. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
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