Ciprian Marica

Dinamo București

Marica, nicknamed "The Samurai", was born on 2 October 1985 in Bucharest, Romania. He began playing junior-level football at age 11 in 1996 at local club Dinamo under coach Emil Ursu. At age 16, he made his Divizia A debut on 4 May 2002 when coaches Cornel Dinu and Marin Ion sent him in the 84th minute to replace Claudiu Drăgan in a 1–0 loss to Național București. Marica made another appearance before the end of the season as the team won the title. In the last round of the following season, he scored his first league goal in a 3–1 away loss to Universitatea Craiova. Dinamo won the 2002–03 Cupa României, but Marica was not played by coach Ioan Andone in the 2–0 win over Oțelul Galați in the final. He helped the club eliminate Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup, scoring once against them. In the first half of that season, Marica made 10 league appearances and scored three goals. Subsequently, he was transferred in the middle of the season to Shakhtar, but Dinamo still managed to win The Double without him.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Marica joined Shakhtar Donetsk for a $1.8 million fee paid to Dinamo, where he became teammates with fellow Romanians Flavius Stoican, Daniel Florea, Cosmin Bărcăuan and Răzvan Raț. He made his Vyshcha Liha debut on 14 March 2004 when coach Bernd Schuster sent him in the 65th minute to replace Brandão in a 2–0 home win over Metalurh Donetsk. He scored his first goal in the competition on 22 May in a 5–0 home victory…

Marica scored 25 goals in 72 caps for Romania, making his debut on 16 November 2003, as coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 81st minute to replace Daniel Pancu in a 1–0 friendly loss to Italy. He played four matches during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, scoring his first goal for the national team in a 1–1 draw against Armenia. Marica played 11 matches and scored five goals in the successful Euro 2008 qualifiers. On 25 March 2008, he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – (The Medal of "Sportive Merit") Class III for his performance in those qualifiers. Marica was called by Victor Pițurcă in the squad for the Euro 2008 final tournament, but did not get an opportunity to play. He played nine matches in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, scoring two goals: one in a 3–2 loss to Serbia and one in a 1–0 win over Lithuania. Subsequently, he played 10 matches during the Euro 2012 qualifiers and netted three goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina, including one in a 2–1 loss and two in a 3–0 win. Marica made 10 appearances and scored five goals during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, including opening the scoring in a 3–0 home win over rivals Hungary. He scored his only hat-trick for Romania on 4 June 2013 in a 4–0 friendly victory against Trinidad and Tobago. Marica's last match for the national team took place on 7 September 2014 during the Euro 2016 qualifiers in a 1–0 away win over Greece in which he served as captain, scored…

Club

International

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

Dinamo București

Divizia A: 2001–02, 2003–04 Cupa României: 2002–03, 2003–04 Shakhtar Donetsk

Vyshcha Liha: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08 Ukrainian Cup: 2003–04 Ukrainian Supercup: 2005 VfB Stuttgart

Intertoto Cup: 2008 Steaua București

Cupa Ligii: 2015–16