Ștefan Radu

Ștefan Radu
	Radu playing for Lazio in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Ștefan Daniel Radu
Date of birth	22 October 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	Lazio
Number	26
Youth career
1999–2004	Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years	Team
2004–2008	Dinamo București
2008–	Lazio
International career‡
2006–2008	Romania U21
2006–2013	Romania
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 November 2016; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2013

Ștefan Daniel Radu (born 22 October 1986) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Italian club S.S. Lazio.

Club career

Dinamo Bucharest

Radu began his career with major Romanian club side Dinamo București. He played four seasons of first team football with Dinamo, gaining a reputation as one of his country's brightest talents and often considered as "The new Chivu" by Romanian media. However, he only became a key first team-player in the 2006–07 season, when the transfer period left a gap in Dinamo's central defense, a gap which Radu successfully covered, turning over the course of the season from a promising young player into one of the best central defenders in the league, helping Dinamo to win its 18th championship and gaining the attention of several western clubs.

Lazio

In January 2008, Italian Serie A side Lazio signed Radu on a €1 million loan deal until the end of the 2007–08 season. He made his Lazio debut in a Coppa Italia match against Fiorentina shortly after joining the squad. He has since been a revelation for Delio Rossi's team, as the young starlet has added extra quality to the backline and started all matches he featured in. At the end of his loan spell, Radu signed with Lazio permanently in June for a €3.5 million transfer fee.^[1]

On 17 June 2011, Radu signed a five-year contract extension. He has become one of the most important players for Lazio, a team which he captained during the 2011–12 season. His role at Lazio is usually that of centre back, though he has been used as a left back during the last two seasons under manager Edoardo Reja.^[2]

International career

Radu made his debut for the Romania national team in 2006, following the country's failure to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Over the course of UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, Radu gained international experience and was selected in the squad for the final tournament in Switzerland and Austria. At Euro 2008, however, Radu remained a substitute and did not see any game time.

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu for Romania's successful Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

Statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 20 November 2016

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dinamo București	2004–05	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2005–06	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
	2006–07	32	1	2	0	12	1	0	0	46	2
	2007–08	19	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	24	0
	Total	61	1	2	0	16	1	1	0	80	2
Lazio	2007–08	11	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
	2008–09	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
	2009–10	28	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	36	0
	2010–11	26	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	27	0
	2011–12	21	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	26	0
	2012–13	23	1	4	1	9	1	0	0	36	3
	2013–14	25	1	1	0	5	0	1	0	32	1
	2014–15	24	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	29	1
	2015–16	13	0	2	0	9	0	1	0	25	0
	2016–17	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	1
	Total	200	3	17	2	34	1	2	0	253	6
Career total		261	4	19	2	50	2	3	0	333	8

Honours

Club

Dinamo București

Lazio

References

^ "Bilancio separato e consolidato S.S.Lazio SpA" (PDF). SS Lazio (in Italian). 23 October 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
^ "COMUNICATO". SS Lazio (in Italian). 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

External links

Lazio Player Profile
Ștefan Radu – UEFA competition record (archive)
Ștefan Radu – FIFA competition record (archived)
Ștefan Radu at Goal.com
Ștefan Radu career stats at RomanianSoccer.ro

[1] "Bilancio separato e consolidato S.S.Lazio SpA" (PDF). SS Lazio (in Italian). 23 October 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2011.

[2] "COMUNICATO". SS Lazio (in Italian). 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

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