Mirel Rădoi

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography

Mirel Matei Rădoi (born 22 March 1981) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club Universitatea Craiova.

A defensive midfielder or a centre-back, Rădoi began his playing career at Extensiv Craiova in 1999, before signing for Steaua București one year later. Following eight-and-a-half seasons in the capital, he spent his later career with Al-Hilal, Al-Ain, Al-Ahli and Al-Arabi. Internationally, Rădoi was capped 68 times by Romania, which he represented at the UEFA Euro 2008.

Rădoi's first stint as a head coach was Steaua București in 2015, where he stayed for six months. Three years later, he was appointed at the helm of the Romania under-21 national team, which he led to the semi-finals of the 2019 UEFA European Championship. This resulted in his promotion to the senior team in November 2019, but left after two years with less success.

Playing career

Extensiv Craiova

Rădoi started to play football at the age of eight, first as a goalkeeper and then as a defender. He started his youth career at Turnu Severin and there he was spotted by Sorin Cârțu, the coach of Extensiv Craiova, who was so impressed by him that he purchased Rădoi in 1999, financing the transfer with his own money. Rădoi made his professional debut in 1999, in a defeat against Dinamo București on 4 March 2000. he left the club.

Steaua București

Just one year later, in the summer of 2000, Rădoi joined Steaua București for a fee of €110,000. Describing his first day at Steaua, he said, "It was like a positive shock for me. Suddenly I was in the same place with players like Iulian Miu, Marius Baciu and Miodrag Belodedici, players I saw on TV. It was like a dream."

His coach at Steaua was Victor Pițurcă, the former Romania national team coach, who promoted him to the Steaua first team. He then became one of Steaua's most important players. In his first match for the club, a 4–3 victory over FCM Bacău at the Ghencea football stadium, Rădoi scored the equalizer in the ninth minute after Cătălin Cursaru had opened the scoring for Bacău less than a minute before.

Steaua would go on to win the championship of the Romanian league that year, as well as the Supercupa României against rivals Dinamo.

In 2005, Rădoi won a second championship title; and in 2006, yet another: his third. On 24 February 2005, he won an important match in the UEFA Cup against holder Valencia. In 2006 Rădoi captained the team in the UEFA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough which Steaua lost 4–3 on aggregate.

File:Mirel Rădoi.jpg
Rădoi with Steaua București in 2007.

In the summer of 2006, a rumour circulated that Rădoi would sign for Premier League club Portsmouth as soon as the transfer window opened in England, with the transfer fee estimated at £11 million. The transfer did not materialize, however, and many speculated that the £11 million offer was no more than a ploy to jack up the player's potential transfer value before a move elsewhere. In the end, Steaua's owner Gigi Becali stated that he would not be selling Rădoi after all.

Due to injury, he only played his first official game in the 2006–07 season on 12 November, a 6–0 victory against Național București.

Later career

In January 2009, Rădoi signed a three-year contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal which earned him 1.4 million annually. The transfer fee Steaua București received was in the region of €6 million.[1] Rădoi made his debut for Al-Hilal in the local derby against Al-Nassr, which Al-Hilal won 2–0 with Rădoi scoring the second goal.

In his sixth game with the club, he won the Prince's Cup, defeating Al-Shabab in the final. Nicknamed "The Warrior" by his fans in Saudi Arabia, he was voted Saudi Professional League Player of the Year in 2010.[2] They even made a complete book about his career and has been published online with official website MRadoi.com. Rădoi spent three years at the club, becoming a legend, and the team's captain, before he was reunited with ex-Al-Hilal and Steaua manager Cosmin Olăroiu at Al Ain.[3]

In June 2011, Rădoi was transferred to Al Ain for a fee of €4.2 million.[4] He signed a two-year deal worth €2.5 million annually.[5]

International

File:RO B ROMAUT Mirel Radoi 1 (cropped).jpg
Rădoi playing for Romania in 2009.

Rădoi has been capped 67 times for the Romania, scoring two goals. In 2005, Romanian team manager Victor Pițurcă suspended him for leaving training camp without permission before matches against the Netherlands and Armenia. Coach Pițurcă recalled him in February 2006 for a friendly tournament in Cyprus after Rădoi apologised for his behaviour.

Although he was included in Romania's squad for UEFA Euro 2008, he suffered an eye injury and broken nose during the second group game against Italy after clashing heads with team-mate Răzvan Raț, who emerged unscathed. Rădoi played no further part in the tournament.[6] After a confrontation with Răzvan Lucescu in 2010, Rădoi declared that he would retire from the national team.

Coaching career

Rădoi became the head coach of the Romania national team after resignation of Cosmin Contra in November 2019.[7][8][9]

On 22 January 2023, Rădoi was appointed as manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Tai.[10] He was sacked by the club on 18 May 2023.[11] He coached Emirati club Al Jazira for three months in 2024.[12]

Playing statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Extensiv Craiova 1999–2000 14 0 14 0
Steaua București 2000–01 25 1 3 0 28 1
2001–02 22 1 5 1 3 0 1 0 31 2
2002–03 23 1 2 0 25 1
2003–04 29 2 2 1 6 0 37 3
2004–05 20 1 0 0 8 0 28 1
2005–06 24 4 1 0 17 3 0 0 42 7
2006–07 14 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 19 1
2007–08 16 0 0 0 3 0 19 0
2008–09 13 1 0 0 7 0 20 1
Total 186 12 14 2 48 3 1 0 249 17
Al-Hilal 2008–09 13 2 0 0 6 3 19 5
2009–10 19 2 10 2 8 0 37 4
2010–11 20 6 7 4 7 1 34 11
Total 52 10 17 6 21 4 0 0 90 20
Al Ain 2011–12 19 0 9 3 0 0 0 0 28 3
2012–13 20 2 5 0 6 0 4 0 35 2
2013–14 14 0 5 1 6 0 3 0 28 1
Total 53 2 19 4 12 0 7 0 91 6
Al-Ahli 2014–15 7 0 3 0 10 0
Al-Arabi 2014–15 6 0 6 0
Career total 318 24 53 12 81 7 8 0 460 43

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Romania 2000 2 0
2001 9 0
2002 7 1
2003 10 0
2004 3 0
2005 3 0
2006 5 0
2007 3 0
2008 8 0
2009 10 0
2010 8 1
Total 68 2
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 October 2002 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg {{ Template:Yesno alias = Luxembourg flag alias = Flag of Luxembourg.svg flag alias-civil = Civil Ensign of Luxembourg.svg size = name = altlink = national football team variant =

}} ||align="center"|3–0 ||align="center"|7–0 || UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.

2 5 June 2010 Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia, Austria {{ Template:Yesno alias = Honduras flag alias = Flag of Honduras (2022-).svg flag alias-1839 = Flag of Honduras (1839-1866).svg flag alias-1866 = Flag of Honduras (1866-1898).svg flag alias-1898 = Flag of Honduras (1898-1949).svg flag alias-1949 = Flag of Honduras (1949-2022).svg flag alias-naval = Naval Ensign of Honduras.svg link alias-naval = Honduran Navy link alias-air force = Honduran Air Force link alias-army = Honduran Army flag alias-army = Flag of the Honduran Army.svg flag alias-navy = Naval Ensign of Honduras.svg link alias-navy = Honduran Navy link alias-military = Armed Forces of Honduras size = name = altlink = national football team variant =

}} ||align="center"|3–0 ||align="center"|3–0 || Friendly

Managerial statistics

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Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Template:Flagicon Steaua București 1 June 2015 30 November 2015

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Template:Flagicon Romania U21 3 August 2018 26 November 2019

Template:WDL

Template:Flagicon Romania 26 November 2019 30 November 2021

Template:WDL

Template:Flagicon Romania Olympic 1 July 2021 7 August 2021

Template:WDL

Template:Flagicon Universitatea Craiova 9 August 2022 7 December 2022

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Template:Flagicon Al-Tai 22 January 2023 18 May 2023

Template:WDL

Template:Flagicon Al Bataeh 25 May 2023 25 December 2023

Template:WDL

Template:Flagicon Al Jazira 5 January 2024 9 April 2024

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Template:Flagicon Universitatea Craiova 28 January 2025 present

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Total

Template:WDLtot

Honours

Player

Steaua București

Al-Hilal

Al-Ain

Individual

References

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External links

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