Sergiu Radu

Early career

Radu was born on 10 August 1977 in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania and began playing junior-level football at Petrolul Drăgășani. Subsequently, he moved to FC Vâlcea, ending his junior period at Viitorul Oradea. He started his senior career at Jiul Petroșani where he made his Divizia A debut on 25 August 1996 in a 1–0 victory against Dinamo București. In the following season, Radu played for Olimpia Satu Mare in Divizia B, scoring 12 goals that helped them finish the championship in first place and gain promotion to Divizia A.

Rapid București

Radu was transferred by coach Mircea Lucescu to Rapid București where in his first season he scored two goals in 15 matches which helped the club win the title. They also reached the Cupa României final, but he did not play in the loss to Steaua București. In the following season he scored a hat-trick against Steaua in the 5–0 victory in the Supercupa României and 11 league goals as the team finished in second place. During this period, assistant coach Nicolae Manea gave him the nickname "Schijă" (The Shrapnel) after he described Radu's style of play as "quick and penetrating like a shrapnel bouncing off a bomb".

Național București and Le Mans

In the middle of the 2000–01 season, Radu joined Național București. There, under coach Cosmin Olăroiu, he helped them achieve a runner-up position in the 2001–02 season. In the following season the team was coached by Walter Zenga and he scored 12 goals in the…

In 2007, during his prolific season spent at Energie Cottbus together with Vlad Munteanu, the Romanian press insisted that they should be called-up for the national team but coach Victor Pițurcă did not agree, stating about the Bundesliga championship:"It's not what it once was! The clubs are at a low level and the players are of average value." However, later that year, in September after he was transferred to VfL Wolfsburg, Radu was called-up by Pițurcă to play for Romania. He played as a starter until he was replaced in the 57th minute with Florentin Petre in a 3–1 away victory against Belarus in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Olimpia Satu Mare

Divizia B: 1997–98 Rapid București

Divizia A: 1998–99 Supercupa României: 1999 VfL Wolfsburg

Bundesliga: 2008–09