Artur Ioniță

Artur Ioniță
	Ioniță playing for Moldova in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Artur Ioniță
Date of birth	17 August 1990 (age 33)
Place of birth	Chișinău, Moldova
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Benevento
Number	29
Youth career
1997–2007	Zimbru Chișinău
Senior career*
Years	Team
2007	Zimbru Chișinău
2008–2009	Iskra-Stal Rîbnița
2009–2014	Aarau
2014–2016	Hellas Verona
2016–2020	Cagliari
2020–	Benevento
International career‡
2009–2012	Moldova U/21
2009–	Moldova
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 31, 2020 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 July 2020

Artur Ioniță (Romanian pronunciation: [arˈtur joˈnitsə]; born 17 August 1990) is a Moldovan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Benevento and the Moldova national team.^[1]

Club career

Artur Ioniță made his professional debut at the Moldovan Divizia Națională club Zimbru Chișinău in 2007. In the 2008–09 season he played for FC Iskra-Stal Rîbniţa.

From 2009 to 2014 he played for the Swiss team FC Aarau, with which he transferred from the Swiss Challenge League to the Swiss Super League.

Ioniță was then transferred to Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona in July 2014 on a free transfer.^[2] He made his début against Atalanta, as a substitute for Mounir Obbadi. At Hellas Verona, Ioniță became teammates with one of his idols Rafael Márquez.^[3]

Ioniță scored his first goal for Hellas during his second appearance for the club, as a substitute in the second half of the match and securing a goal against Torino F.C. on the 65th minute giving his team a 1–0 win. This made him the first Moldovan footballer to score a goal in Seria A.

He scored his second goal for Hellas Verona in a game against Genoa, playing the full 90 minutes of the game; also providing an assist for Panagiotis Tachtsidis on the 52nd minute.

After an impressive 2015–16 season in Serie A in which he scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists in 31 matches, Ioniță was targeted by Juventus, Napoli and Swansea.^[4]^[5]

In July 2016, Ioniță transferred to newly promoted Serie A club, Cagliari.^[6]

On 20 August 2020, Ioniță signed a contract with Benevento ahead of their return to Serie A.^[7]

International career

Ioniță made his debut appearance for Moldova in 2009, in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Switzerland. Moldova lost the match 0–2. He scored his first international goal during a 5–2 win in Podgorica against Montenegro and then scored again in a 1–1 draw at home to Lithuania.

Between 2009 and 2012 Ioniță played for the U-21 team of Moldova.

Career statistics

International goals

Under-21

Scores and results list Moldova U21s' goal tally first.^[8]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	12 August 2009	Main Arena, Complexul Sheriff, Tiraspol, Moldova	Latvia	1–0	1–0	2011 UEFA U-21 Championship Qual.
2.	4 September 2010	Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova	Faroe Islands	1–0	2–0	2011 UEFA U-21 Championship Qual.
3.	6 September 2011	Stadiumi Skënderbeu, Korçë, Albania	Albania	1–0	3–4	2013 UEFA U-21 Championship Qual.
4.	6 September 2011	Stadiumi Skënderbeu, Korçë, Albania	Albania	2–1	3–4	2013 UEFA U-21 Championship Qual.

Senior team

Scores and results list Moldova's goal tally first.^[8]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 October 2013	Stadion Pod Goricom, Podgorica, Montenegro	Montenegro	4–1	5–2	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	18 November 2013	Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova	Lithuania	1–1	1–1	Friendly
3.	27 March 2018	Stade Pierre Brisson, Beauvais, France	Ivory Coast	1–2	1–2	Friendly

Honours

Club

Aarau

Swiss Challenge League: 2012–13

Individual

Moldovan Footballer of the Year: 2014^[9]^[10]

References

^ Calciomercato Cagliari, Ionita sorpassa Rincon, corrieredellosport.it, 30 June 2016
^ "Ufficiale: Artur Ionita in gialloblù da luglio" (in Italian). Hellas Verona F.C. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
^ Internaţionalul moldovean Artur Ioniţă s-a ales cu un coleg celebru la Verona^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Juventus rival Napoli for €8m Verona midfielder^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Swansea City linked with Verona midfielder Artur Ionita – but face serious competition
^ Chi è Artur Ionita, nuovo centrocampista del Cagliari
^ "Artur Ionita è un giocatore del Benevento" (in Italian). Benevento Calcio. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Moldova - A. Ioniţă". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
^ Artur Ionița – cel mai bun în 2014 (video) Archived 15 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine
^ S-au dat marele premii! Artur Ionita, desemnat de Federatia Moldoveneasca de Fotbal jucatorul anului 2014

External links

Artur Ioniță at Soccerway
Artur Ioniţă player info at Sport1.de (in German)
Swiss Super League profile (in German)

[1] Calciomercato Cagliari, Ionita sorpassa Rincon, corrieredellosport.it, 30 June 2016

[2] "Ufficiale: Artur Ionita in gialloblù da luglio" (in Italian). Hellas Verona F.C. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.

[3] Internaţionalul moldovean Artur Ioniţă s-a ales cu un coleg celebru la Verona^{[permanent dead link]}

[4] Juventus rival Napoli for €8m Verona midfielder^{[permanent dead link]}

[5] Swansea City linked with Verona midfielder Artur Ionita – but face serious competition

[6] Chi è Artur Ionita, nuovo centrocampista del Cagliari

[7] "Artur Ionita è un giocatore del Benevento" (in Italian). Benevento Calcio. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.

[soc-8] "Moldova - A. Ioniţă". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2020.

[9] Artur Ionița – cel mai bun în 2014 (video) Archived 15 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine

[10] S-au dat marele premii! Artur Ionita, desemnat de Federatia Moldoveneasca de Fotbal jucatorul anului 2014

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