Bogdan Lobonț

Corvinul Hunedoara

Lobonț was born on 18 January 1978 in Hunedoara, Romania and began playing junior-level football at age 12 at local club Corvinul under the guidance of coach Marian Ioniță. He started to play at senior level during the 1995–96 Divizia B season when coach Gabriel Stan used him in a 1–1 draw against Suceava, delivering an appreciated performance. In the following season, he appeared more often, helping the club finish in seventh place.

Rapid București

In 1997, Rică Răducanu noticed his talent after watching a training session of Corvinul, then recommended him to Rapid București's manager, Mircea Lucescu. Lobonț made his Divizia A debut on 2 August 1997, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. At the end of his first season at Rapid, he won the first trophy of his career, the 1997–98 Cupa României, being used the entire match by Lucescu in the final where he kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 win over Universitatea Craiova. In the following season he made 31 appearances in the league as the club won the title. During the middle of the 1999–2000 season, he was sold by Rapid to Ajax for $3 million.

Ajax Amsterdam and Dinamo București

Lobonț made his Ajax debut on 26 November 2000 when coach Co Adriaanse sent him in the 18th minute of an away Eredivisie match against Utrecht to replace Shota Arveladze because the starting goalkeeper, Fred Grim, received a red card. Eventually, he conceded two goals and the match…

Between 1997 and 1998, Lobonț made 10 appearances for Romania's under-21 team. During this time, he was part of the squad that managed a first-ever qualification to a European Championship in 1998, which Romania subsequently hosted. In the final tournament that was composed of eight teams, coach Victor Pițurcă used him in all three games which were losses to Netherlands, Germany and Russia, as they finished in last place. Lobonț played 86 matches for Romania, making his debut on 2 September 1998 when coach Pițurcă sent him in the 82nd minute to replace Bogdan Stelea in a 7–0 victory over Liechtenstein in the successful Euro 2000 qualifiers. In those qualifiers he would make three further appearances as a starter in three victories, two over Azerbaijan and one against Hungary, keeping a clean sheet in all of them. He was selected by coach Emerich Jenei to be part of the squad that participated in the Euro 2000 final tournament, but did not play in any games there. In the following years, he appeared in three games during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, including another win with a clean sheet kept over rivals Hungary, and then played in four games in the Euro 2004 qualifiers, conceding three goals, two of which were from penalty kicks. Afterwards, Lobonț established himself as a key member for Romania, appearing in 11 games during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. Subsequently, he played in 10 matches in the successful Euro 2008 qualifiers where he conceded only six goals,…

Lobonț started coaching in January 2019 at Liga II side Universitatea Cluj, finishing the season in third place, and then played a promotion play-off against FC Hermannstadt which was lost with 3–0 on aggregate. Afterwards, he worked as Cosmin Contra's assistant at Romania's national team for a few months, then he was a scout for Roma. Lobonț left Roma to coach Romania's under-20 side for about a year in friendly matches, gaining three 2–1 victories over Poland, Czech Republic and Portugal, but also suffering some severe defeats, such as 1–6 to England, 0–7 against Italy and 0–5 to Switzerland. In August 2023, he got appointed as the goalkeeper coach of Rapid București. By the end of the 2023–24 season, after head coach Cristiano Bergodi was dismissed, Lobonț was selected to lead the team for the final rounds of the season. However, his spell was unsuccessful, as the team lost four matches, drew one and earned only one victory in the last round in a derby against FCSB. After Neil Lennon was appointed head coach of Rapid, he remained in his staff as an assistant, but after a poor start in the 2024–25 season, Lennon was replaced with Marius Șumudică and Lobonț left the club.

Club

International