Dorin Goian

Dorin Nicolae Goian (born 12 December 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former football player.

He scored his team's second goal in the 4–2 loss away at Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup semi-final, when Steaua were denied qualification in the final by conceding a goal in the 89th minute (they had won the home leg 1–0 and had taken a 2–0 lead in the away game 25 minutes in).

In 1997, he signed for Foresta Fălticeni, a football club from Suceava County, where he played for the club's second team.

Two years later, he was promoted to the first team.

He made his first appearance in the Divizia A in 2000, when he was 20 years old in a match versus Gloria Bistriţa.

It was a happy début for the young centre back, as his team won the match 2–0.

During his Foresta Fălticeni years, he was also loaned to Gloria Buzău for a few months in 2000.

Goian was noticed by the officials of Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ, a small team from the Romanian First Division, and he was transferred there in the middle of the 2002–03 season.

After the 2003–04 season, Ceahlăul were relegated to the second division.

Goian, however, signed a contract with another small team from the first division, FCM Bacău.

In 2003, he signed with FCM Bacău and played for them in 26 league games, scoring two goals.

While he was playing there, Goian was called up to the Romania national team due to his impressive league performances.

After a great 2004–05 season with Bacău, Goian managed to impress Steaua București's scouts.

On 4 March 2005, Goian signed a five-year contract with Steaua București.

Steaua paid €100,000 in 2005 and €1 million in 2007 for Goian.

Even though he only played four games in his initial season with Steaua, Goian continued to fight for a place in the starting eleven and starting with the 2005–06 season, the young centre back managed to win the trust of his coach.

Goian scored his first goal in the UEFA Cup, against Vålerenga for Steaua with a perfect header inside the box.

He soon became a top scorer for Steaua in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup season after scoring against RC Lens, Halmstads BK, and also SC Heerenveen.

In the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League season, Steaua played against Zagłębie Lubin and BATE Borisov in order to qualify in the group stage.

With the help of Goian, who scored against both teams, Steaua managed to qualify in the group stage.

He would then score again for Steaua against Slavia Prague, but it was not enough, and Steaua lost the game with 2–1.

Goian was captain for the first time for Steaua on 24 October 2007 against Sevilla when Nicolae Dică, the first captain, was substituted.

The match ended 2–1 for Sevilla.

As Goian was co-owned with FCM Bacău, the team from which he transferred to Steaua, there was a clause in his contract that stated that if he would be sold to a foreign club, Steaua would have to pay Bacău 50% off the transfer fee, but not more than €1 million.

On 16 October 2007, Steaua paid €1 million to Bacău and bought the rest of his rights.

He scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season with a successful penalty against Oţelul Galaţi.

The game ended with Steaua's victory by five goals, being their largest win this season so far.

On 4 April 2009, Goian was named captain against Gloria Bistrita, as the main captain Sorin Ghionea was injured.

Although Petre Marin was the oldest player of the team, coach Marius Lacatus considered that Goian would make a better captain.

The match ended with Steaua's victory, Kapetanos scoring the only goal.

On 30 July 2009, he captained Steaua's victory with 3–0 against Motherwell F.C. and also contributed at the first goal with a header which led to an own goal by Motherwell's Stephen Craigan.

He also missed a penalty for which he was heavily criticised by chairman Gigi Becali, who decided to take him off the penalty kicker list.

On 6 August 2009, Palermo had showed interest in the central defender and bought him for €2m.

There he met up once again with his former coach, Walter Zenga, with his contract paying him €550,000 per season as salary.

He played his first game in a Palermo shirt in a friendly against Mallorca, of which the match ended as a 2–0 for the Spanish opposition.

Goian's Serie A début came against Roma, a match in which he played the full 90 minutes.

In his first season at the club, Goian was mostly used as a covering replacement for defensive regulars Simon Kjær and Cesare Bovo.

Following Kjær's departure to Steve McClaren's VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, Goian was originally expected to achieve considerably more first team opportunities; however, he sustained a number of injuries which prevented him from doing so.

Upon fully recovering and returning to the starting lineup later in March, and in doing so making his first 2011 appearance in the league, Goian scored the winning goal against league-leaders A.C. Milan; and coincidentally, it was also Goian's first Serie A league goal, as well as his first goal as Palermo player.

On 25 July, Palermo agreed an undisclosed fee with Scottish Champions Rangers regarding Goian, who subsequently signed a three-year contract.