View source for Daniel Niculae

{{Short description|Romanian footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Daniel Niculae
| image = 12-06-05-aut-rom-freundschaftsspiel-208.jpg
| image_size = 200
| caption = Niculae with [[Romania national football team|Romania]] in 2012
| fullname = Daniel George Niculae
| height = 1.85m
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1982|10|6}}
| birth_place = [[Bucharest]], Romania
| currentclub  = [[FC Hermannstadt|Hermannstadt]] (president)
| position = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]]
| youthyears1 = 1992–1995
| youthclubs1 = [[FC Dinamo București|Dinamo București]]
| youthyears2 = 1996–2001
| youthclubs2 = [[FC Rapid București|Rapid București]]
| years1 = 2001–2006
| clubs1 = [[FC Rapid București|Rapid București]]
| caps1 = 107
| goals1 = 33
| years2 = 2001
| clubs2 = → [[FC Rapid II București|Electromagnetica București]] (loan)
| caps2 = 7
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2006–2010
| clubs3 = [[AJ Auxerre|Auxerre]]
| caps3 = 130
| goals3 = 19
| years4 = 2010–2012
| clubs4 = [[AS Monaco FC|Monaco]]
| caps4 = 17
| goals4 = 4
| years5 = 2011–2012
| clubs5 = → [[AS Nancy|Nancy]] (loan)
| caps5 = 31
| goals5 = 6
| years6 = 2012–2013
| clubs6 = [[FC Kuban Krasnodar|Kuban Krasnodar]]
| caps6 = 11
| goals6 = 2
| years7 = 2014
| clubs7 = [[FC Rapid București|Rapid București]]
| caps7 = 15
| goals7 = 7
| years8 = 2015
| clubs8 = [[FC Rapid București|Rapid București]]
| caps8 = 14
| goals8 = 3
| years9 = 2015–2017
| clubs9 = [[FC Astra Giurgiu|Astra Giurgiu]]
| caps9 = 41
| goals9 = 8
| years10 = 2017–2018
| clubs10 = [[FC Rapid București|Rapid București]]
| caps10 = 31
| goals10 = 40
| totalcaps = 404
| totalgoals = 122
| nationalyears1 = 2002–2003
| nationalteam1 = [[Romania national under-21 football team|Romania U21]]
| nationalcaps1 = 4
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 2003–2012
| nationalteam2 = [[Romania national football team|Romania]]
| nationalcaps2 = 39
| nationalgoals2 = 9
| club-update = 
| nationalteam-update = 
| manageryears1 = 2021–2024
| managerclubs1 = [[FC Rapid Bucuresti|Rapid București]] (president)
| manageryears2 = 2024–
| managerclubs2 = [[FC Hermannstadt|Hermannstadt]] (president)
}}

'''Daniel George Niculae''' ({{IPA|ro|daniˈel ˈdʒe̯ordʒe nikuˈla.e}}; born 6 October 1982) is a former Romanian professional [[Association football|footballer]] who played mainly as a [[Forward (association football)#Striker|striker]], currently he is the president of [[Liga I]] club [[FC Hermannstadt|Hermannstadt]].

He has made 39 appearances for [[Romania national football team|Romania]] since his debut in 2003.<ref name=EU>{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=15004|title=Daniel Niculae|publisher=European Football|access-date=13 November 2019}}</ref>

==Club career==

===Rapid București===
Daniel Niculae started his professional career at [[FC Rapid București|Rapid București]] in 2000. Despite a period playing for the B team in 2001, Nico proved he is one of the most gifted players of the club, and helped his club to win the championship in the 2002–03 season – his first as a first-team regular.

Niculae was Rapid's leading scorer in the 2004–05 season, with 14 goals – the third highest total in Romania's [[Liga I|Liga 1]].

In the [[2005–06 UEFA Cup|2005–06]] [[UEFA Cup]] campaign, he and [[Mugurel Buga]] formed one of the most powerful striker pairs of the competition, with Niculae scoring 8 goals, as Rapid reached the Quarter-Finals of the competition. The season also saw Rapid claim the 2006 [[Cupa României|Romanian Cup]], with Niculae scoring the winning goal in the first minute of extra-time, against [[FC Progresul București|Național București]].

===Auxerre===
Niculae was transferred to French club [[AJ Auxerre]] in the summer of 2006, for €3.3 million. His first season with the club saw him score 4 goals in the UEFA Cup, but he struggled for goals in [[Ligue 1]]. However, the following season his form improved, as he scored 11 goals to help keep the club in Ligue 1.

The [[2008–09 Ligue 1|2008–09]] season was one to forget for Niculae. He was deeply affected by the loss of his father, and despite threatening to score on several occasions, he failed to find the net in 32 games.

Things got back on track in [[2009–10 Ligue 1|2009–10]] however. [[Jean Fernandez]] initially wanted to loan out Niculae for the season, but the latest signing [[Alexandre Licata]] was ruled out for most of the season with a serious ankle injury. Daniel Niculae found a new role in the Auxerre side, as a creator of goals rather than a scorer of them. As of April 2010, he lies third in the table for assists in Ligue 1 with a total of 8. He has a brilliant entente with Polish goalscorer [[Ireneusz Jeleń]] and has helped the Burgundian side to reach second in the table and to thus push for the Champions League places.

===Monaco===
After the expiration of his contract with AJ Auxerre on 15 June 2010, Niculae signed a three-year deal with [[Ligue 1]] rivals [[AS Monaco FC|AS Monaco]].<ref>[http://www.asm-fc.com/article.aspx?id=11776 Daniel Niculae s’engage avec l’AS Monaco FC] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726012755/http://www.asm-fc.com/article.aspx?id=11776 |date=26 July 2011 }}</ref>

On 31 August 2011, Niculae signed for French side [[AS Nancy]] on a season-long loan. In a game against his former club, AJ Auxerre, on 30 January 2012, Nicuale scored a double giving his team the win.<ref>[http://www.gsp.ro/international/stranieri/video-daniel-niculae-si-el-dubla-seara-lui-nico-301798.html Niculae dubla]</ref> Although, before the game started, Auxerre's supporters booed him, at the end he got a [[standing ovation]] for his impressive performance.<ref>[http://www.digisport.ro/niculae-laudat-in-franta/ Niculae aplaudat]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Kuban Krasnodar===
On 6 June 2012, he joined the Russian club [[FC Kuban Krasnodar|Kuban Krasnodar]], on a two-year contract. Here he will be coached by Yuri Krasnozhan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fckuban.ru/news/3942/ |title=Niculae becomes Kuban |access-date=6 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709023803/http://www.fckuban.ru/news/3942 |archive-date=9 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==International career==
Niculae won his first international cap for [[Romania national football team|Romania]] in 2003, but did not become a regular squad member until the 2005–06 season.<ref name=EU/>

He was selected for Romania's [[Euro 2008]] squad, and started his country's first two matches. He came on as a substitute for their final group game against the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]], but could not help Romania to a win, which would have taken the country into the Quarter-Finals.<ref name=EU/><ref name="nft">{{NFT player|5382}}</ref>

Other than the fact that they share birthplace, he has no connection with namesake and fellow international [[Marius Niculae]].

==Career statistics==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="10"|[[Romania national football team|Romania]]
|2003||1||0
|-
|2004||1||0
|-
|2005||4||1
|-
|2006||7||1
|-
|2007||7||2
|-
|2008||6||1
|-
|2009||1||1
|-
|2010||8||2
|-
|2011||1||1
|-
|2012||3||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!39!!9
|}

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Niculae goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Daniel Niculae<ref name=EU/><ref name="nft"/>
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1 || 16 November 2005 || [[Stadionul Steaua (1974)|Stadionul Steaua]], [[Bucharest]], Romania || {{fb|Nigeria}} || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|3–0 || [[Friendly (association football)|Friendly]]
|-
| style="text-align:center"|2 || 26 May 2006 || [[Soldier Field]], [[Chicago]], United States || {{fb|Northern Ireland}} || style="text-align:center"|2–0 || style="text-align:center"|2–0 || Friendly
|-
| style="text-align:center"|3 || rowspan="2"|21 November 2007 || rowspan="2"|[[Stadionul Național (1953)|Stadionul Lia Manoliu]], Bucharest, Romania || rowspan="2"|{{fb|Albania}} || style="text-align:center"|3–0 || rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|6–1 || rowspan="2"|[[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group G|UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying]]
|-
| style="text-align:center"|4 || style="text-align:center"|4–0 
|-
| style="text-align:center"|5 || 26 March 2008 || Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania || {{fb|Russia}} || style="text-align:center"|2–0 || style="text-align:center"|3–0 || Friendly
|-
| style="text-align:center"|6 || 14 November 2009 || [[Stadion Wojska Polskiego]], [[Warsaw]], Poland || {{fb|Poland}} || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || Friendly
|-
| style="text-align:center"|7 || 29 May 2010 || [[Ukraina Stadium]], [[Lviv]], Ukraine || {{fb|Ukraine}} || style="text-align:center"|2–1 || style="text-align:center"|2–3 || Friendly
|-
| style="text-align:center"|8 || 5 June 2010 || [[Jacques Lemans Arena]], [[Sankt Veit an der Glan]], [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]], Austria || {{fb|Honduras}} || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|3–0 || Friendly
|-
| style="text-align:center"|9 || 11 November 2011 || [[Stade Maurice Dufrasne]], [[Liège]], Belgium || {{fb|Belgium}} || style="text-align:center"|1–2 || style="text-align:center"|1–2 || Friendly
|}

==Honours==
'''Rapid București'''
*[[Liga I|Divizia A]]: [[Divizia A 2002-03|2002–03]]
*[[Cupa României]]: [[2002 Cupa României Final|2001–02]], [[2006 Cupa României Final|2005–06]]
*[[Supercupa României]]: [[2002 Supercupa României|2002]], [[2003 Supercupa României|2003]]
*[[Liga IV Bucharest|Liga IV – Bucharest]]: [[2017–18 Liga IV|2017–18]]

'''Auxerre'''
*[[UEFA Intertoto Cup]]: [[UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006|2006]]

'''Astra Giurgiu'''
*[[Liga I]]: [[2015–16 Liga I|2015–16]]
*[[Cupa României]] runner-up: [[2016–17 Liga I|2016–17]]
*[[Supercupa României]]: [[2016 Supercupa României|2016]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{RomanianSoccer|1400/daniel-george-niculae}}
* {{NFT}}
* {{FIFA}}
* {{ESPN FC|25116}}
* {{Soccerway}}

{{Romania Squad 2008 UEFA Euro}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niculae, Daniel}}
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Romania men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:Romania men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Footballers from Bucharest]]
[[Category:Romanian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:FC Rapid București players]]
[[Category:AJ Auxerre players]]
[[Category:AS Monaco FC players]]
[[Category:AS Nancy Lorraine players]]
[[Category:FC Kuban Krasnodar players]]
[[Category:FC Astra Giurgiu players]]
[[Category:Liga I players]]
[[Category:Liga II players]]
[[Category:Ligue 1 players]]
[[Category:Russian Premier League players]]
[[Category:Romanian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco]]
[[Category:Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France]]
[[Category:Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Russia]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players]]
[[Category:FC Rapid București presidents]]
[[Category:Romanian sports executives and administrators]]
[[Category:21st-century Romanian sportsmen]]