Raul Rusescu

Raul Andrei Rusescu

Raul Rusescu in June 2014
Personal information
Full name Raul Andrei Rusescu
Date of birth (1988-07-09) 9 July 1988
Place of birth Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Osmanlıspor
Number 24
Youth career
1995–2004 Râmnicu Vâlcea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2011 Unirea Urziceni 87 (18)
2006–2007 → Dunărea Giurgiu (loan) 31 (13)
2007–2008 → Otopeni (loan) 20 (4)
2011–2013 Steaua București 65 (34)
2013–2015 Sevilla 1 (0)
2013–2014 → Braga (loan) 13 (5)
2014–2015 → Steaua București (loan) 21 (4)
2015– Osmanlıspor 30 (10)
National team‡
2006–2007 Romania U19 6 (3)
2009–2010 Romania U21 6 (2)
2012– Romania 10 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 October 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2016

Raul Andrei Rusescu (born 9 July 1988 in Râmnicu Vâlcea) is a Romanian footballer who plays for Turkish club Osmanlıspor and the Romania national team as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea

At the age of 7 Rusescu was spotted by Cristi Bora at a trial and brought to Râmnicu Vâlcea.[1] As a youth he tore open his calf when he fell out of a bus, and then subsequently broke his tibia falling down on ice.[2] Here he was a group teammate with later Steaua București colleague Mihai Costea. Although he went through the youth systems of CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea in 2005 the then coach of the team, Adrian Furnică, decided that the player doesn't have value and that he is not likely to grow.[3]

Unirea Urziceni

In 2005 he was brought to Liga II side Unirea Urziceni under the command of Dan Petrescu. He had limited playing time in his first year with the team while they earned promotion to the Liga I.

His team now being in the first tier of Romanian football he was loaned to Dunărea Giurgiu.[4] Although not 18 yet, he quickly became a starter and finished the season with 13 goals overall.[5] For the 2007–08 season he was again loaned to Liga II team CS Otopeni.[6] He helped the gain promotion to the Liga I by scoring four goals in 20 games.[7]

In his first year in Liga I with Unirea Urziceni he helped his team win the 2008–09 league title, earning a place in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.[8] He finished the season with five goals scored from 23 games.[9]

In the 2009–10 campaign Rusescu scored eight goals from a total of 29 appearances helping Unirea Urziceni to finish second in the league and gather eight points in the UEFA Champions League group stages.[10]

After Dan Petrescu left, Rusescu was used as a winger and didn't perform as well as before.

Steaua București

On 4 May 2011, Steaua's owner announced at a televised show that Raul Rusescu has signed with the Bucharest giants.[11]

He made his Liga 1 debut on 31 July against CS Mioveni and scored his first goal for Steaua.[12] In the next match, Rusescu scored his second goal for the club against FC Universitatea Cluj. Raul scored his first goal in a European competition for Steaua București against FC Schalke 04 in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.[13] On the 5th of December, Raul Rusescu scored two sensational goals against Steaua's arch-rival, Dinamo, assuring his club a win in a match named by the two club's supporters the Eternal Derby and ending Steaua's seven-year winless streak on Dinamo's stadium. He has been deemed a hero by the Steaua București supporters and the press.[14][15] In the next Europa League group stage match, Rusescu scored again for Steaua from a penalty kick, helping his club beat AEK Larnaca F.C. and qualifying for the round of 32.[16] At the end of 2011, Rusescu was Steaua's most prolific goalscorer with 7 goals in the Romanian championship and 2 in the Europa League.[17]

Although not the fastest or the strongest striker, Rusescu's defining traits are his positioning and off the ball movement, along with great sense of goal that good poachers possess, making him a player capable of both creating chances as well as taking them.

On 7 March 2013, he scored from the penalty spot against Chelsea at the National Arena, to put Steaua 1–0 up in the Europa League Round of 16.[18] On 12 March, Rusescu scored a goal against Universitatea Cluj.[19] He scored again, on March 18, against Astra Ploiești in a game which finished 2–1, with teammate Paul Pârvulescu scoring the winning goal.[20] On 8 April, Rusescu scored the second goal from the 4–1 victory against Sportul Studențesc.[21]

Sevilla

On 13 June 2013, Raul Rusescu completed a move to Sevilla from Steaua, signing a 5-year contract which includes a €40 million release clause.[22] On 20 August 2015, Sevilla announced that Rusescu had terminated his contract with the club.[23]

Loan to Braga

At the end of 2013, Rusescu was loaned at Portuguese Primeira Liga club, Sporting Braga, with an option to buy. He made his Braga debut on 6 January 2014, in a 2-0 win against Arouca in Portuguese Cup. On 10 January, he scored 2 goals for Braga in his debut in Primeira Liga in a 3-0 win against Guimaraes.

Loan to Steaua București

On September 1, 2014, just a year after being sold by Steaua Bucharest in Sevilla, Raul Rusescu returns to being borrowed for one year.[24][25][26]

International career

Rusescu is an ex-Romania U-21 international, earning 7 caps and scoring 2 goals.[27] He played in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, losing in the play-offs against England U-21.[28]

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 October 2014 Arena Națională, Bucharest  Hungary
1–1
1–1
 Euro 2016 qualifier

Career statistics

Club

(Correct as of 21 October 2016)
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dunărea Giurgiu (loan)
2006–07 311311---3214
Total 311311---3214
Otopeni (loan)
2007–08 204??---204
Total 204??---204
Unirea Urziceni
2005–06 92??---92
2008–09 23500-00-235
2009–10 26800-30-298
2010–11 29310-40-343
Total 871810-70-9518
Steaua București
2011–12 311320-92104315
2012–13 342100-125-4626
Total 653420-217108941
Sevilla
2013–14 1020-43-73
Total 1020-43-73
Braga
2013–14 1354132--208
Total 1354132--208
Steaua București
2014–15 214523245-3313
Total 214523245-3313
Osmanlıspor
2015–16 24921---2610
2016–17 6100-83-144
Total 30921-83-4014
Career total 2688817164441810336115

Honours

Club

Unirea Urziceni:

FC Steaua Bucureşti:

Sevilla FC:

Individual

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Bogdan Stancu		 Steaua Top Scorer
2011–2012
2012–2013 		Succeeded by
Federico Piovaccari
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