Ionuț Rada

Early career

Rada was born on 6 July 1982 in Craiova, Romania. He began playing junior-level football at CSS Craiova, then moving to Gheorghe Popescu's football school. Subsequently, Rada joined FC Universitatea Craiova where he made his Divizia A debut on 17 March 2001 under coach Ilie Balaci in a 4–2 away loss to Gloria Bistrița. In the first half of the 2001–02 season, he was loaned to Divizia B side Rocar București, returning afterwards to "U" Craiova. He made his European competitions debut by playing four matches in the 2001 Intertoto Cup. Rada scored his first league goal in a 3–1 home win over Astra Ploiești. In early 2004, Rapid București transferred him and Ionuț Stancu, paying €500,000 to Universitatea, of which €400,000 was for Rada.

Rapid București and Național București

His limited playing time in his first year at Rapid resulted in a half-year loan to Național București in 2005. There, he scored two goals in a 1–0 victory against Steaua București and in a 2–1 win over FCM Bacău. Afterwards, Rada returned to The Railwaymen, playing 15 matches in their 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign, where they defeated Feyenoord with 2–1 on aggregate and reached the group stage. There, they finished first in a group composed of Shakhtar Donetsk, VfB Stuttgart, PAOK and Rennes. Subsequently, they advanced past Hertha Berlin and Hamburg, reaching the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by rivals Steaua on the away goal rule after 1–1 on aggregate. The team…

Between 2000 and 2004, Rada was consistently featured for Romania's under-18, under-19, under-21 and B sides. Rada played two matches for Romania, making his debut on 20 August 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 88th minute to replace Răzvan Raț in a 2–0 friendly victory against Ukraine. His second appearance occurred on 18 February 2004 in a 3–0 win over Georgia during the Cyprus International Football Tournament.

On 29 March 2006, Rada was decorated by the President of Romania, Traian Băsescu, with the Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" (Order of "Sporting Merit"), Class II, for his contribution to reaching the 2005–06 UEFA Cup quarter-finals with Rapid București.

Rapid București

Cupa României: 2005–06, 2006–07 CFR Cluj

Liga I: 2011–12