Bănel Nicoliță

Bănel Nicoliță

Personal information
Full name	Bănel Nicoliță
Date of birth	7 January 1985 (1985-01-07)
Place of birth	Făurei, Romania
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Winger / Right back
Club information
Current club	Saint-Étienne
Number	25
Youth career
1992–1993	Unirea Făurei
1993–2001	CF Brăila
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2004	CF Brăila	75	(23)
2004–2005	Politehnica Timişoara	15	(3)
2005–2011	Steaua Bucureşti	187	(23)
2011–	Saint-Étienne	13	(3)
National team‡
2004–2005	Romania U-21	12	(2)
2005–	Romania	34	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:00, 26 February 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:45, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Bănel Nicoliţă, (born 7 January 1985 in Făurei, Brăila County) is a Romanian football player currently playing for Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne and the Romania national team. Nicoliță is nicknamed Jardel after the famous Mário Jardel of Brazil. He can play as a right winger or left winger and has been used on ocasion as a right back. He is known for his electrifying pace and verry high work rate.

Club career

Brăila and Politehnica Timişoara

He made his debut in Romanian Liga II, playing for Brăila. After, he joined Politehnica Timişoara, making his Divizia A debut at the age of 19. However, he made only 15 league appearances for the club before moving to Steaua Bucureşti, at the beginning of 2005, he signed a 5-year contract with Steaua Bucureşti.

Steaua Bucureşti

Shortly after joining Steaua, Nicoliţă 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, 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 Bucureşti to help his team reach the semifinals.

On 1 November 2006, he scored an own goal against Real Madrid in a Champions League encounter. 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 Argeş, 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, which sent Steaua Bucureşti in to the group stage for the third consecutive year.

Starting with the 2010–11 season, Bănel was the new captain of Steaua, 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. Being in his last year of contract with Steaua Bucureşti the transfer fee was €700.000. He signed a contract worth €400.000 per year.

On 6 November in a match against Montpellier he scored his first goal helping the team draw against then second team in the Ligue 1.. In a game against Sochaux Nicoliță offerd the assist for teenager Zouma to give Saint-Étienne the win. After only six months with the french team he became a leader scoring 3 goals and offering 3 assists in hist first 11 games. In February of 2012 Nicoliță hit a rough patch, having a couple of not so convicing games. He as been described as beeing monotonous.

International career

Nicoliță won 34 caps for Romania up to date and scored one goal. He also used to be a Romanian U21 international.

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

International goals

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2 June 2007	Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia	Slovenia	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

Career statistics

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	27	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	9
	2003–04	20	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	10
	Total	74	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	23
Politehnica Timişoara	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	13	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	3
	Total	13	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	3
Career total		290	52	9	1	64	10	3	0	366	63

Statistics accurate as of match played 26 February 2012

Honours

Season	Club	Title
2004–05	Steaua Bucureşti	Divizia A
2005–06	Steaua Bucureşti	Divizia A
2005–06	Steaua Bucureşti	Supercupa României
2010–11	Steaua Bucureşti	Cupa României

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.

Personal life

Nicoliță is an ethnic Rromanian from the Roma group, 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, Stelică, is also a professional footballer who plays for Chimia Brazi.

External links

• Official FCSB profile (Romanian)
• Profile and stats at RomanianSoccer.ro

Sporting positions
Preceded by Petre Marin	Steaua captain 2010	Succeeded by Cristian Tănase