Ionel Dănciulescu

Born in Slatina, Romania, Ionel Dănciulescu started playing football in his hometown as a youngster for CSȘ Slatina, and was said to have great potential for striking a ball and to score goals.[4]

In 1993, Dănciulescu joined Electroputere Craiova making his Divizia A debut on 6 October 1993 against the derby rival at that time Universitatea Craiova, which ended 2–2. Over the course of two seasons with Electroputere, he scored 8 goals in 31 league games playing alongside the likes of Ștefan Nanu, Gabriel Popescu, and two other (later teammates at Steaua), Sabin Ilie and Claudiu Răducanu.[5][6] In 1995, Electroputere Craiova were relegated to the second league. Dănciulescu signed for Dinamo Bucharest and went on to become a promising striker.[7]

Having arrived in 1995, Dănciulescu only spent two seasons at Dinamo București, scoring 22 goals in 64 games.[7] However, he did not win any trophies with Dinamo. He left the club for Turkey in 1997.[7]

During the half season of 1997–98, Dănciulescu had a brief spell with Altay in the Turkish Super League. He played there seven games and scoring one goal.[7]

After returning from Turkey, Dănciulescu decided to join Romanian team Steaua București. He played four seasons with Steaua, scoring 54 goals in 129 league games. In the seasons 1997–98 and 2000–01 Steaua won the championship titles as well as the Romanian Cup in 1998–99 and a Romanian Supercup title in 2001.[7]

In the second part of the season 2001–02 Dănciulescu had a conflict with both Gigi Becali, the boss of Steaua București, and Victor Pițurcă, Steaua's coach, and had to leave along with Ion Vlădoiu.[8]

He signed again with Dinamo Bucharest, but at the beginning of this second spell he had probably the hardest in his career as Dinamo's fans were cussing him at games because he played for Steaua and scored against Dinamo.[9] He even played in the second league at that time via Dinamo's satellite team Poiana Câmpina.[7] He came back strong during the 2002–03 season, after he scored 16 goals in 26 games.[7] The fans accepted him and he became the top-scorer of the team along with Claudiu Niculescu. The Romanian press called them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired from the first letters of their family name and the Romanian pop band "N&D".[4][10][11]

In 2004, he was named Romanian Footballer of the Year, after becoming the top goalscorer in the 2003–04 season of Divizia A and scoring 2 goals in 5 matches with the national team.[7][12][13] During his second spell with Dinamo, Dănciulescu won the Romanian League in the seasons 2003–04 and 2006–07, and two more Romanian Cups in 2002–03 and 2003–04.[7] As of August 2008 he was the fourth overall goalscorer in the history of the Romanian First Division (with 187 goals), after Dudu Georgescu, Rodion Cămătaru and Marin Radu. He was top scorer in the 2007–08 season, scoring 21 goals for Dinamo Bucharest, which he also captained several times that season.[14]

In the 2007–08 season he became the top goalscorer of Liga I, forming a couple in Dinamo's offence with Florin Bratu.[12] The Romanian press called them "BD in action", a nickname inspired from the first letters of their family name and the Romanian movie "BD in action".[15][16][17]

In 2005, he was loaned out to China side Shandong Luneng, which paid him US$350,000 for 10 months. Dănciulescu scored 10 goals in 25 league games being the top-scorer of the team and helping them to reach the Chinese FA Cup final, where they finished runners-up.[7][18]

On 1 September 2009, Dănciulescu signed for Spanish side Hércules Alicante in the Segunda División securing a two-year deal. On 19 June 2010, Dănciulescu helped Hércules to promote to La Liga, after a break of 13 years, contributing 10 goals in 25 league games. He also scored two goals in the Spanish Cup against SD Huesca and Almería and became the overall top scorer of the team.[7]

After only one year with Hércules, his contract was terminated so Dănciulescu came back to Dinamo in July 2010. He became a regular player for Dinamo in Ioan Andone's coaching spell and remained in the first squad in 2011, with Liviu Ciobotariu as manager. On 26 September 2011, he scored his 198th goal in Liga I in a match against Petrolul Ploiești, thus joining Rodion Cămătaru as the second most prolific goalscorer.[19] On 17 October, Ionel Dănciulescu scored his 200th goal in Liga I, during a match against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.[20] On 16 March 2013 after playing in a match against Petrolul Ploiești, Dănciulescu became the first footballer that reached 500 appearances in the Romanian top-league Liga I.[21][22]

In September 2013, Dănciulescu became the most prolific goalscorer in Cupa României after he scored once in a game against Sănătatea Cluj. He reached 41 goals in the competition, passing the record of Florea Voinea.[3][23]

As of 6 October 2013[27][7]

Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.[7][26]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 April 2004	Stadionul Giulești-Valentin Stănescu Bucharest, Romania	Germany	3–0	5–1	Friendly
2	28 April 2004	Stadionul Giulești-Valentin Stănescu Bucharest, Romania	Germany	4–0	5–1	Friendly

Steaua București

• Liga I: 1997–98, 2000–01[7]
• Cupa României: 1998–99[7]
• Supercupa României: 1998[7]

Dinamo București

• Liga I: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07[7]
• Cupa României: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2011–12[7]
• Supercupa României: 2012[7]

Shandong Luneng

• Chinese FA Cup: runner-up 2005[18]

• Liga I top scorer: 2003–04, 2007–08[12]
• Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year: 2004[13]

• Most appearances in Liga I: 515[2]
• Second-highest goalscorer in Liga I: 214[2]
• Highest goalscorer in Cupa României: 41[3]