Ștefan Radu

Ștefan Daniel Radu (Romanian pronunciation: [ʃteˈfan daniˈel ˈradu]; born 22 October 1986) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a left-back or a centre-back.

Ștefan Radu
Radu captaining Lazio in 2015
Personal information
Full name Ștefan Daniel Radu
Date of birth (1986-10-22) 22 October 1986
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1999–2004 Dinamo București
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Dinamo II București 23 (1)
2005–2008 Dinamo București 61 (1)
2008 → Lazio (loan) 11 (0)
2008–2023 Lazio 338 (5)
Total 433 (7)
International career
2003 Romania U17 1 (0)
2005 Romania U19 3 (0)
2006–2008 Romania U21 13 (1)
2006–2013 Romania 13[lower-alpha 1] (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

After a stint in his home country with Dinamo București during which he earned three domestic honours, including one national title, Radu moved to Lazio on an initial loan in 2008. He spent the rest of his career with the Biancocelesti, gaining team captaincy and winning the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana on three occasions each.[3] Radu became the leading appearance maker for Lazio in all competitions in 2021, and two years later retired from football.

Radu registered his senior debut for the Romania national team in 2006, and made thirteen appearances before retiring early in 2013, at age 26.

Club career

Dinamo București

Ștefan Radu was born on 22 October 1986 in Bucharest, growing up in the Colentina neighborhood.[4][5] On 27 April 2005, Radu made his debut for Dinamo București under coach Ioan Andone in a 3–0 league victory over FCM Bacău.[4][5] In the 2006–07 Liga I season, helped by the fact that Dinamo had a defender emergency, he was established in the starting eleven by coach Mircea Rednic, making couple in the central defense alongside Cosmin Moți and eventually managing to win the Liga I trophy that season, also managing to pass the group stage of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, reaching the sixteenths-finals where the team was eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Benfica.[5][6]

Lazio

In January 2008, Italian Serie A side Lazio signed Radu on a €1 million loan deal until the end of the 2007–08 season. Shortly after joining the squad, he made his Lazio debut in a Coppa Italia match against Fiorentina.[7] He was a revelation for Delio Rossi's team, as the young starlet added extra quality to the backline and started all the matches he featured in. At the end of the season, Radu signed with Lazio permanently for a €3.5 million transfer fee.[8]

On 17 June 2011, Radu signed a five-year contract extension. He became an important player for Lazio, a team which he captained during the 2011–12 season.[9] Radu won his third trophy with Lazio in the 2012–13 season when they defeated rivals Roma in the Coppa Italia final. In 2017, Lazio won the Supercoppa Italiana, as they beat Juventus 3–2.[10] On 15 May 2019, Lazio beat Atalanta in the 2018–19 Coppa Italia final.[3] On 22 December 2019, Lazio beat Juventus in the 2019 Supercoppa Italiana, with help from Radu. He retired at the end of the 2022–23 season.[11][12]

International career

Ștefan Radu played 13 games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 15 November 2006 under coach Victor Pițurcă who sent him on the field in the 89th minute in order to replace Răzvan Raț in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 victory against Spain.[1][13][14] He played two games at successful Euro 2008 qualifiers, being also part of the squad that went to the final tournament without playing.[1][2] He also played one game at the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, making his last appearance for the national team on 22 March 2013 in a 2–2 against Hungary at the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.[1] Radu retired from international football in April 2013, citing his strained relationship with the national football federation. Despite continuing to be one of the most prominent Romanian expatriate players in later years, he did not reverse his decision.[15]

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by President of Romania Traian Băsescu for Romania's successful Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with the Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.[16][17]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[4][18][19][20]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo II București 2004–05 Divizia B 12110——131
2005–06 11000——110
Total 23110——241
Dinamo București 2004–05 Divizia A 2000——20
2005–06 8000——80
2006–07 Liga I 32120121—462
2007–08 190004010240
Total 6112016110802
Lazio (loan) 2007–08 Serie A 11020——130
Lazio 2008–09 19000——190
2009–10 2802060—360
2010–11 26010——270
2011–12 2100050—260
2012–13 2314191—363
2013–14 251105010321
2014–15 24051——291
2015–16 130209010250
2016–17 29220——312
2017–18 310306010410
2018–19 2802030—330
2019–20 291100010311
2020–21 3100020—330
2021–22 1000020—120
2022–23 100020—30
Total 3495252491404278
Career total 43372826525053111

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[1]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania 200610
200750
200830
200900
201000
201120
201200
201320
Total130

Honours

Dinamo București

Lazio

Records

Notes
  1. Ștefan Radu previously earned a cap for Romania in a match against Belgium, hence the statistical inaccuracies.[1][2]

References
  1. "Ștefan Radu". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. "Povestea retragerii lui Ștefan Radu de la națională. Fundașul lui Lazio are amintiri neplăcute cu noul selecționer. Cosmin Contra l-a acuzat de indolență în 2008" [The story of Ștefan Radu's withdrawal from the national team. The Lazio defender has unpleasant memories with the new coach. Cosmin Contra accused him of indolence in 2008] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. "Ştefan Radu, a treia Cupă a Italiei cu Lazio" [Ştefan Radu, third Italian Cup with Lazio]. Digi Sport (in Romanian). 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  4. "Ștefan Daniel RADU" [Ștefan Daniel RADU]. romaniansoccer.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  5. "SPECIAL. Băiatul din rândul de jos care a ajuns atât de sus. Povestea lui Radu din Colentina, devenit "Șeful" pe Olimpico: "Unii antrenori de la națională l-au făcut să renunțe"" [SPECIAL. The boy in the bottom row who got so high. The story of Radu from Colentina, who became "Chief" on Olimpico: "Some coaches from the national team made him give up"] (in Romanian). Playsport.ro. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  6. "Dinamo a luat ultimul titlu într-o altă lume" [Dinamo won last title in a different world]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 3 July 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  7. "Impresa Lazio, è in semifinale" [Impressive Lazio are in the semifinals]. la Repubblica (in Italian). 4 January 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  8. "Bilancio separato e consolidato S.S.Lazio SpA" (PDF). SS Lazio (in Italian). 23 October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  9. "COMUNICATO" [Communication]. SS Lazio (in Italian). 17 June 2011. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  10. "Lazio, Strakosha: l'uomo di Coppa" [Lazio, Strakosha: the cup man]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 13 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  11. "Lazio, Radu si ritira: l'omaggio dell'Olimpico per il recordman di presenze". 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  12. "Watch: Lazio Say Goodbye to Record Appearance Holder Radu". 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  13. "Spain 0-1 Romania". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  14. "România și Spania, la egalitate" [Romania and Spain, equals]. Digi Sport (in Romanian). 25 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  15. "Ufficiale, Lazio: Radu dà l'addio alla Nazionale". 4 April 2013.
  16. "DECRET privind conferirea Ordinului și Medaliei Meritul Sportiv" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României Nr. 241. 28 March 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  17. "Decorarea unor personalități ale fotbalului românesc". Administrația Prezidențială. 25 March 2008. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  18. Ștefan Radu at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  19. Ștefan Radu at WorldFootball.net
  20. "Ștefan Radu's 2004–05 Romanian Cup appearance". Romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
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