Marius Niculae

Marius Constantin Niculae (born 16 May 1981) is a former Romanian footballer who played as a striker.

Niculae started his career with Dinamo București, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad.

Niculae began his football career in 1990, playing for Dinamo under the guidance of Gheorghe Timar.

Niculae spent six years at Dinamo's youth academy, before he was promoted by Cornel Dinu at the first team squad.

During his first two years as a professional, he activated for both first team as well for the youth squad.

He made his first team debut in 1996 while he was still 15 years old and finished his time at the club having scored 44 goals in 100 Divizia A appearances.

Niculae's father Constantin Niculae is a former judoka, who worked for Dinamo București as a Fitness Coach since 1996 until his departure in 2006.

Niculae began judo at the age of five, and had attained a black belt while he was trained by his father.

He later stated: "The fact that I practiced this sport [judo] in the childhood, helped me to develop both mentally and physically. I think I avoided many injuries just for the fact that I learned how to fall without any danger for my health".

On 22 November 1996, Niculae became the third youngest-ever player to debut in Divizia A, at 15 years and 190 days, after coming on as a substitute in Dinamo's 5–2 win at home against Farul Constanța.

During the 1997–98 season, while playing in the youth championship, goalkeeper Cristian Munteanu was sent-off, and since there were no substitutes left, Niculae replaced him without receiving any goal from Petrolul Ploiești.

He started the 1997–98 season, playing his first match in a European competition, appearing

in a 0–2 historical defeat against Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur on 23 July 1997.

On 4 April 1998, he was in the start-up team in a 0–5 away defeat against Steaua, Dinamo's biggest margin defeat in the Eternal derby.

One week later, Niculae managed to score his first league goals, netting a brace in a 7–1 home win against Jiul Petroșani.

On 19 April, he scored another brace against FC Național in a 4–2 home win.

He scored four goals in 12 appearances, in his second season as a professional.

On 13 May, he scored another two goals against FC Național, in a 5–0 League Cup win, in the second round of the South Group.

Following Cornel Dinu's appointment as team manager, the 17-year-old's career began to take off, as he was used more often.

He later stated: "The most close [manager] to me is Cornel Dinu. When he was Dinamo's manager, I made my first-team debut at 15 years and a half and I ended up winning two cups and one championship."

He scored his first league goal from the 1998–99 season on 26 September, helping his team to demolish Universitatea Cluj 8–0.

He did not find the net again until 21 November when he opened the scoreboard against Petrolul Ploiești in a 3–2 away win.

His final goals of 1998 came on 9 December in a 2–0 cup win against UM Timișoara, netting a brace.

He scored his first goal for Dinamo in 1999 on 2 April in a 5–0 home win against Olimpia Satu Mare.

He scored again against Universitatea Cluj on 21 April in a 6–0 away win, establishing the final score.

He scored a late goal against Petrolul Ploiești on 26 May, thus being his final goal of the season.

He ended up second in the league with Dinamo, netting seven times in 28 appearances.

He also reached Romanian Cup semi-finals, scoring twice for his team.

The start of the 1999–00 season saw Niculae partnering Adrian Mutu and Adrian Mihalcea in the forward line, replacing Ion Vlădoiu who eventually left Dinamo since he became just a back-up player.

Described as a physical striker, with great ability in the air, Niculae made his international debut in 2000 at only 18 years old and has represented Romania at the Euro 2008.

He joined Primeira Liga club Sporting CP in 2001 after signing for a reported transfer fee of $3,000,000.

However, the actual transfer fee is believed to be around $4,500,000.

In 2001, Niculae won Divizia A Golden Boot netting 20 times.

In the same year, Niculae came second in voting for the Romanian Footballer of the Year.

His spell in Portugal is marked by many injuries netting only 14 goals in 59 league appearances, before leaving the club in 2005.

He subsequently played for Standard Liège, Mainz 05 and Inverness, before returning to Dinamo in July 2008.

Most of his four-year second spell for Dinamo, he activated as team captain until his departure to Vaslui in July 2012.

His honours include two league titles (one with Dinamo and one with Sporting), three Romanian Cups, one UEFA Cup runner-up, one Romanian Super Cup and one Portuguese Supercup.

Niculae first captained his country in 2012, in the friendly match against Turkmenistan in the absence of regular captain Răzvan Raț.

He managed 44 caps for Romania, scoring 15 goals.