Viorel Moldovan

Viorel Moldovan
Personal information
Full name	Viorel Dinu Moldovan
Date of birth	8 July 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Bistrița, Romania
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1984–1990	Gloria Bistrița
Senior career*
Years	Team
1990–1993	Gloria Bistrița
1993–1995	Dinamo București
1995–1996	Neuchâtel Xamax
1996–1998	Grasshoppers
1998	Coventry City
1998–2000	Fenerbahçe
2000–2003	Nantes
2003	Al-Wahda
2003–2004	Nantes
2004–2005	Servette
2005–2006	Politehnica Timișoara
2006–2007	Rapid București
Total
International career
1993–2005	Romania
Managerial career
2008–2009	Vaslui
2009–2010	Brașov
2010	Sportul Studențesc
2013–2014	Rapid București
2014	Romania U21
2014–2016	Romania (assistant)
2016	Auxerre
2018–2020	Chindia Târgoviște
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian former professional football forward and currently the manager of Chindia Târgoviște. He was an important player for the Romanian national team in the 1990s. He was recently the manager of AJ Auxerre in the French Ligue 2.

Career

Moldovan was born in Bistrița.

At club level, Moldovan played for Gloria Bistrița (1990–93), Dinamo București (1993–95), Neuchâtel Xamax (1995–96), Grasshoppers (1996–98), Coventry City (1998), Fenerbahçe (1998–2000), Nantes (2000–04), Servette (2004–05), FCU Politehnica Timișoara (2005), and Rapid București (2005–2007).

The most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland (he was the Swiss Super League top scorer in 1996 and 1997), for Fenerbahçe between 1998 and 2000 and for Nantes between 2000 and 2004. He was a key player when Nantes won the French Ligue 1 in 2001. During his brief spell in England with Coventry City he scored twice, once in the FA Cup, scoring the winner against local rivals Aston Villa,^[2] and once in the league against Crystal Palace.^[3]

International career

Moldovan was capped 70 times for Romania, scoring 25 goals. He represented his country at Euro 96, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored goals against England and Tunisia in the first round, and Euro 2000.^[4]

Coaching career

Moldovan worked as the sporting director of FC Unirea Valahorum Urziceni and was the coach of FC Vaslui. On 26 May 2009, the coach quit FC Vaslui after just seven months for failing to guide the team to European qualification. The squad was then managed by coaching assistant Cristian Dulca on a temporary basis until a new coach was hired.^[5] On 28 July 2009, the Italian coach Nicolò Napoli quit FC Brașov and was replaced by Moldovan, who signed a two-year deal.^[6]

Career statistics

Sources:^[7]^[4]

Club


Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Neuchâtel Xamax	1995–96	Nationalliga A	31	19	—		—		2	0	33	19
Grasshopper	1996–97	Nationalliga A	32	27	—		—		7	3	39	30
	1997–98	Nationalliga A	19	17	—		—		4	2	23	19
	Total		51	44	—		—		11	5	62	49
Coventry	1997–98	Premier League	10	1	4	1	—		—		14	2
Fenerbahçe	1998–99	1.Lig	27	15	—		—		4	1	31	16
	1999–00	1.Lig	26	18	—		—		2	0	28	18
	Total		53	33	—		—		6	1	59	34
Nantes	2000–01	Division 1	23	11	3	4	2	2	5	5	33	22
	2001–02		17	5	1	0	1	1	3	2	23*¹	8
	2002–03		17	4	2	0	1	0	—		20	4
	2003–04		12	11	0	0	3	1	—		15	12
	Total		69	31	6	4	7	4	8	7	91	46
Career total			214	128	10	5	7	4	27	13	259	150

¹ Including 1 matche in 2001 Trophée des Champions.

International goals

Scores and results table. Romania's goal tally first:^[4]

List of international goals scored
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	24 April 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Georgia	1–0	5–0	Friendly
2	24 April 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Georgia	2–0	5–0	Friendly
3	24 April 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Georgia	3–0	5–0	Friendly
4	31 August 1996	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Lithuania	1–0	3-0	World Cup 1998 Qual.
5	29 March 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	1–0	8–0	World Cup 1998 Qual.
6	2 April 1997	Žalgiris Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania	Lithuania	1–0	1–0	World Cup 1998 Qual.
7	20 August 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	North Macedonia	1–0	4–2	World Cup 1998 Qual.
8	20 August 1997	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Hungary	3–1	4–2	World Cup 1998 Qual.
9	6 September 1997	Sportplatz, Eschen, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	1–0	8–1	World Cup 1998 Qual.
10	8 April 1998	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Greece	1–0	2–1	Friendly
11	22 April 1998	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1–0	1–1	Friendly
12	6 June 1998	Stadionul Ilie Oană, Ploiești, Romania	Moldova	4–0	5–1	Friendly
13	22 June 1998	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse, France	England	1–0	2–1	World Cup 1998 Group G
14	26 June 1998	Stade de France, Saint Denis, France	Tunisia	1–1	1–1	World Cup 1998 Group G
15	2 September 1998	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania	Liechtenstein	6–0	7–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
16	5 September 1998	Ta' Qali Stadium, Attard, Malta	Germany	1–0	1–1	Friendly
17	14 October 1998	Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
18	4 September 1999	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	4–1	5–1	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
19	4 September 1999	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	5–1	5–1	UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
20	27 May 2000	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands	1–2	1–2	Friendly
21	12 June 2000	Stade de Sclessin, Liège, Belgium	Germany	1–0	1–1	UEFA EURO 2000 Group A
22	6 June 2001	S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas, Lithuania	Lithuania	2–0	2–1	World Cup 2002 Qual.
23	15 August 2001	Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	Slovenia	2–1	2–2	Friendly
24	16 October 2002	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	1–0	7–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
25	16 October 2002	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2–0	7–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.