Cristian Săpunaru

Cristian Săpunaru

Săpunaru training with Porto in 2011
Personal information
Full name Ionuț Cristian Săpunaru
Date of birth (1984-04-05) 5 April 1984
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Defender / Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Astra Giurgiu
Number 22
Youth career
1990–2002 Național București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2006 Național București 34 (3)
2003–2004 → Callatis Mangalia (loan) 10 (0)
2006–2008 Rapid București 51 (3)
2008–2012 Porto 67 (3)
2010 → Rapid București (loan) 10 (3)
2012–2013 Zaragoza 29 (2)
2013–2014 Elche 8 (1)
2015 Rapid București 13 (4)
2015–2016 Pandurii 22 (5)
2016– Astra Giurgiu 13 (3)
National team‡
2006 Romania U21 3 (0)
2008– Romania 20 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2016

Ionuț Cristian "Cristi" Săpunaru (born 5 April 1984) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for FC Astra Giurgiu and the Romania national team mainly a right back. He can also be deployed as a central defender or a defensive midfielder.

He began his senior career in 2002 with Național București, and went on to make a name for himself at Rapid București. In 2008, he signed with Porto in Portugal where he won ten major honours over the course of four years, including the 2011 Europa League. After two additional seasons in Spain playing for Zaragoza and Elche, he returned to his native country in 2015.

A full international for Romania since 2008, Săpunaru represented the nation in two European Championships.

Club career

Early years / Porto

Săpunaru was born in Bucharest. A product of FC Național București, joining its youth system at the age of only 6, Săpunaru signed with FC Rapid București in July 2006. In the summer of 2008, he was sold for €2.5 million to FC Porto as a replacement for Chelsea-bound José Bosingwa and signed a five-year contract[1] with the Primeira Liga club owning 50% of the player's rights – Romanian sources indicated the price was actually €6 million plus two players.[2]

During his debut campaign, Săpunaru was first-choice right-back as the northerners achieved a double, and scored his first goal in a 1–2 away loss against C.D. Nacional for the League Cup. In early February 2010, he was suspended in Portugal – as his teammate Hulk – following incidents during a 0–1 league defeat at S.L. Benfica, so he returned to his country for a five-month loan and moved to former side Rapid;[3] he did not manage to be played regularly at Porto during that time but, following his return for 2010–11, became a very important first-team unit as they won three major titles, appearing in 40 official games in the process.

On 17 February 2014, Săpunaru was condemned to pay a €90,000 fine for his participation in the assault of two stewards at the Estádio da Luz on 20 December 2009.[4][5][6]

Zaragoza

On 31 August 2012, Săpunaru signed a one-year contract with La Liga club Real Zaragoza.[7] He made his official debut on 16 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–2 loss at Real Sociedad.[8]

In his first season in Aragon, Săpunaru started but also suffered team relegation. He also entered his name in the competition's history books, after breaking the record for the most bookings in a single campaign (19 yellow cards and one red).[9]

Elche

After initially hesitating because of the requests of his partner,[10] Săpunaru signed a one-year deal at fellow league team Elche CF on 25 July 2013.[11] He totalled only nine appearances in his only campaign and was also sent off twice, while his sole goal opened a 1–2 loss at Valencian Community neighbours Levante UD on 13 December.[12]

Elche could not support Săpunaru's €1 million wage demands,[13] and released him on 21 August 2014.[14] In October 2015, he took the club to court for the wages remaining in his contract.[15]

Return to Romania

After four months back at Rapid, Săpunaru signed a season-long deal at CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu on 6 September 2015, including a clause that he could leave instantly if a foreign club wanted him.[16] The following 21 July, he put pen to paper to a two-year contract with fellow league side FC Astra Giurgiu.[17]

International career

Săpunaru made his debut for the Romanian national team on 31 May 2008 against Montenegro, and was selected to the nation's squad at UEFA Euro 2008, although he did not play in the final stages. From June 2011 to November 2015, he did not appear in any games for his country due to a conflict with manager Victor Pițurcă.[18][19]

On 17 May 2016, Săpunaru was picked by manager Anghel Iordănescu for his Euro 2016 squad.[20] He started at right-back in the group stage opener, a 1–2 loss against the hosts France.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of 10 June 2016[22][23]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Național București
2002–03 40000040
2003–04 10200030
Callatis Mangalia
2003–04 1000000100
Total 1000000100
Național București
2004–05 60200080
2005–06 2335000283
Total 3439000433
Rapid București
2006–07 1913060281
2007–08 3222020362
Total 5135080643
Porto
2008–09 1707180250
2009–10 50004090
Rapid București
2009–10 1030000103
Total 1030000103
Porto
2010–11 19090130410
2011–12 1522030202
Total 5621812801023
Zaragoza
2012–13 2926000352
Total 2926000352
Elche
2013–14 81100091
Total 81100091
Rapid București
2014–15 1340000134
Total 1340000134
Pandurii
2015–16 2252100226
Total 2252100246
Career total 2331941236031025

Honours

Club

Rapid București
Porto

References

  1. ↑ Rapid's Săpunaru plumps for Porto; UEFA.com, 14 July 2008
  2. ↑ Ce transfer!!! Sapunaru la FC Porto pentru 6 milioane + 2 jucatori (We have a transfer!!! Sapunaru to FC Porto for 6 million + 2 players); Sport Magazin, 9 July 2008 (Romanian)
  3. ↑ Sapunaru to return on loan to Rapid Bucharest; Romanian Times, 1 February 2010
  4. ↑ "Futebolistas do FC Porto condenados no caso do túnel da Luz" [FC Porto footballers condemned in tunnel of Luz case] (in Portuguese). Expresso. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "FC Porto: jogadores condenados no caso do "túnel da Luz"" [FC Porto: players condemned in the "tunnel of Luz" case] (in Portuguese). Relvado. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Túnel da Luz. Futebolistas condenados a indemnizar "stewards"" [Tunnel of Luz. Footballers condemned to compensate stewards] (in Portuguese). iOnline. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Cristian Sapunaru se une a la plantilla del Real Zaragoza" [Cristian Sapunaru joins Real Zaragoza roster] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "La Real se aprovecha de un inocente Zaragoza" [Real takes advantage of innocent Zaragoza] (in Spanish). Marca. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Sapu cel galben » Săpunaru a rămas în istoria Primera Division: a depăşit recordul de cartonaşe galbene" [Sapu the yellow » Săpunaru makes history in Primera Division: yellow cards record broken] (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "La dama no es de Elche" [The lady is not from Elche] (in Spanish). Marca. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "El defensa rumano Sapunaru ficha por el Elche" [Romanian defender Săpunaru signs for Elche] (in Spanish). La Liga. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Late joy for Levante". Sky Sports. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "Elche looking to offload Cristian Sapunaru due to high wage demands". Inside Spanish Football. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "Elche announce Sapunaru departure". Inside Spanish Football. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "Sapunaru suspende el juicio y negociará su despido con el Elche" [Săpunaru suspends judgement and will negotiate his dismissal with Elche] (in Spanish). Diario Información. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "Cristi Săpunaru a semnat cu Pandurii! Clauză specială în contractul valabil un sezon" [Cristi Săpunaru signed for Pandurii! Special clause in season-long contract] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "Săpunaru – astrist cu acte!" [Săpunaru – astrist in action!] (in Romanian). FC Astra Giurgiu. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Veste bună pentru Iordănescu. Un jucător tras pe linie moartă de Pițurcă e gata să revină la națională" [Good news for Iordănescu. A player that was kicked by Pițurcă is ready to return to the national team] (in Romanian). Stiridesport. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "VIDEO EXCLUSIV A fost ignorat de Pițurcă, acum rupe tăcerea: "Dacă ne întâlnim, îl ocolesc, sau mă ocolește el"" [EXCLUSIV VIDEO He was ignored by Pițurcă, now he breaks the silence: "If we meet, I avoid him, or he avoids me"] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Romania Euro 2016 squad". The Daily Telegraph. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "Dimitri Payet nets superb late winner for France vs. Romania". ESPN FC. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "C. Săpunaru". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  23. ↑ "Cristian Sapunaru". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
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