Mirel Rădoi

Extensiv Craiova

Rădoi started to play football at the age of eight, first as a goalkeeper and then as a defender. He started his youth career at Turnu Severin and there he was spotted by Sorin Cârțu, the coach of Extensiv Craiova, who was so impressed by him that he purchased Rădoi in 1999, financing the transfer with his own money. Rădoi made his professional debut in Divizia A in a defeat against Dinamo București on 4 March 2000.

Steaua București

Just one year later, in the summer of 2000, Rădoi joined Steaua București for a fee of €110,000. Describing his first day at Steaua, he said, "It was like a positive shock for me. Suddenly I was in the same place with players like Iulian Miu, Marius Baciu and Miodrag Belodedici, players I saw on TV. It was like a dream." His coach at Steaua was Victor Pițurcă, the former Romania national team coach, who promoted him to the Steaua first team. He then became one of Steaua's most important players. In his first match for the club, a 4–3 victory over FCM Bacău at the Ghencea football stadium, Rădoi scored the equalizer in the ninth minute after Cătălin Cursaru had opened the scoring for Bacău less than a minute before. Steaua went on to win the Romanian league championship that year, as well as the Supercupa României against rivals Dinamo. In 2005, Rădoi won his second league title with the club, followed by a third in 2006. On 24 February 2005, he helped Steaua defeat defending champions Valencia in the UEFA Cup.…

Rădoi made his senior debut in a friendly match against Algeria on 5 December 2000. He has been capped 68 times for Romania, scoring two goals. In 2005, Romanian team manager Victor Pițurcă suspended him for leaving training camp without permission before matches against the Netherlands and Armenia. Coach Pițurcă recalled him in February 2006 for a friendly tournament in Cyprus after Rădoi apologised for his behaviour. Although he was included in Romania's squad for UEFA Euro 2008, he suffered an eye injury and broken nose during the second group game against Italy after clashing heads with team-mate Răzvan Raț, who emerged unscathed. Rădoi played no further part in the tournament. After a confrontation with Răzvan Lucescu in 2010, Rădoi declared that he would retire from the national team.

He began his managerial career in 2015 with former club Steaua București, where he served as head coach for six months. In 2018, he was appointed as the head coach of the Romania U21 national team. Under his guidance, the team achieved significant success, notably reaching the semi-finals of the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, making Romania's best performance in the tournament's history. Rădoi became the head coach of the Romania national team after the resignation of Cosmin Contra in November 2019. On 22 January 2023, Rădoi was appointed as manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Tai. He was sacked by the club on 18 May 2023. He coached Emirati club Al Jazira for three months in 2024. Rădoi was re-appointed as head coach of Universitatea Craiova on 28 January 2025, marking his second tenure at the club. His return came after a brief managerial hiatus and he took over the club during the latter half of the 2024–25 season. His first match back resulted in a 4–1 home victory against Politehnica Iași in Liga I. In European competition, Craiova entered the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League qualifying rounds, defeating FK Sarajevo 4–0 in the second qualifying round, Spartak Trnava 3–0 in the third qualifying round, and İstanbul Başakşehir 2–1 away and 3–1 at home in the play-off round, advancing to the league phase with a 5–2 aggregate score. On 10 November 2025, Rădoi left his position as head coach of Universitatea Craiova by mutual agreement with club owner Mihai Rotaru,…

Player

Steaua București

Divizia A: 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06 Supercupa României: 2001, 2006 Al-Hilal

Saudi Professional League: 2009–10, 2010–11 Crown Prince Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 Al-Ain

UAE Pro-League: 2011–12, 2012–13 UAE Super Cup: 2012 UAE President's Cup: 2013–14 Individual

Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year runner-up: 2005 Saudi Professional League Player of the Year: 2010