Florin Bratu

Bratu was born on 2 January 1980 in Bucharest, Romania where in 1986, he started to play tennis for a year and a half, afterwards switching to football, playing a few years with the junior squads of Voința București. Then he moved for about one year at his childhood favorite team, Dinamo București where he was coached by Iosif Varga. As he was unsatisfied with the poor training conditions that were at Dinamo during that time, in 1992 after seeing an article in Gazeta Sporturilor that Rapid București was organizing trials, he went there and got accepted after impressing the coach with his speeding ability.

Rapid, Tractorul and Galatasaray

Shortly after joining Rapid's senior squad, Bratu was loaned to Divizia B club Tractorul Brașov in 2000 where, in his only season spent at the club, he scored eight goals in 27 league games. He then returned to Rapid, and on 5 August 2001, made his Divizia A debut under coach Viorel Hizo in a 3–0 away victory against UM Timișoara. By the end of the season, he won the first trophy of his career, the 2001–02 Cupa României, where in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo in the final, coach Mircea Rednic used him as a starter until the 68th minute, when he was substituted by Dennis Șerban. In the following season, Rednic had Bratu form a partnership in the offence with Daniel Niculae, and the team's first achievement was winning the 2002 Supercupa României, with Bratu opening the scoring in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo. They finished the season champions, and Bratu was the team's top-scorer with 11 goals in 27 matches. In 2003, Bratu began his season at Rapid by winning another Supercupa României, a match where Rednic utilized him until the 68th minute before replacing him with Robert Niță, who subsequently scored the decisive goal in the 1–0 victory over Dinamo. Bratu also netted a goal against Anderlecht during the second leg of the 2003–04 Champions League, helping Rapid secure a 2–0 halftime lead before the team ultimately failed to qualify after losing the match 3–2. In September 2003, Turkish club Galatasaray announced they had reached…

Bratu played 14 games and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 12 February 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 90+2nd minute to replace Adrian Mutu in a 2–1 friendly victory against Slovakia. He scored his first goal in a friendly which ended in a 1–0 win over Lithuania. Bratu appeared in four games and scored one goal in a 4–0 victory against Luxembourg in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. He also played one game in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, one in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and two during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

In August 2014, Bratu started his coaching career as head coach at Dinamo București II in Liga III. One year later, he moved to Tunari in the same league, and in 2016, he took charge of Dinamo București's under-19 team, winning the 2017 Liga Elitelor. Subsequently, Bratu continued to work with juniors as he led Romania's under-18 national team from 2017 to 2018. On 25 February 2018, Bratu was appointed head coach of Liga I club Dinamo București. He was sacked in September 2018, following three consecutive defeats, and replaced by Claudiu Niculescu. Afterwards, he worked for several teams in Liga II such as Aerostar Bacău, Turris Turnu Măgurele and Concordia Chiajna. On 9 August 2021, he was named the head coach of Romania U21. One year later, he was dismissed after the team earned two victories, two draws and four losses during his tenure. In March 2023, Bratu became the head coach of Cypriot First Division club Karmiotissa, where he had compatriot Răzvan Grădinaru as one of his players. He managed to help them avoid relegation at the end of the season. However, in September 2024, he left the club after earning a single point in the first five rounds of the 2023–24 season. In August 2024, Bratu took over third league team CS Dinamo București. He helped them gain promotion to the second league at the end of the 2024–25 season. In March 2026, Bratu left CS Dinamo to take charge of first league club Metaloglobus București. He left Metaloglobus after failing to help them avoid…