Place of birth Bucharest, Romania Number 19 Name Cristian Sapunaru Height 1.87 m Career start 2002 | Playing position 1990–2002 National Bucuresti Role Footballer Weight 81 kg Salary 1 million EUR (2013) | |
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Full name Ionut Cristian Sapunaru Date of birth (1984-04-05) 5 April 1984 (age 31) Current team CS Pandurii Targu Jiu (Defender) Similar People Gabriel Torje, Artur Jorge, Jesualdo Ferreira, Fran Escriba, Vitor Pereira | ||
Cristian Sapunaru - FC Porto
Ionuț Cristian "Cristi" Săpunaru (born 5 April 1984) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for FC Astra Giurgiu and the Romania national team mainly a right back. He can also be deployed as a central defender or a defensive midfielder.
Contents
- Cristian Sapunaru FC Porto
- Early years Porto
- Zaragoza
- Elche
- Return to Romania
- International career
- Club
- References
He began his senior career in 2002 with Național București, and went on to make a name for himself at Rapid București. In 2008, he signed with Porto in Portugal where he won ten major honours over the course of four years, including the 2011 Europa League. After two additional seasons in Spain playing for Zaragoza and Elche, he returned to his native country in 2015.
A full international for Romania since 2008, Săpunaru represented the nation in two European Championships.
Early years / Porto
Săpunaru was born in Bucharest. A product of FC Național București, joining its youth system at the age of only 6, Săpunaru signed with FC Rapid București in July 2006. In the summer of 2008, he was sold for €2.5 million to FC Porto as a replacement for Chelsea-bound José Bosingwa and signed a five-year contract with the Primeira Liga club owning 50% of the player's rights – Romanian sources indicated the price was actually €6 million plus two players.
During his debut campaign, Săpunaru was first-choice right-back as the northerners achieved a double, and scored his first goal in a 1–2 away loss against C.D. Nacional for the League Cup. In early February 2010, he was suspended in Portugal – as his teammate Hulk – following incidents during a 0–1 league defeat at S.L. Benfica, so he returned to his country for a five-month loan and moved to former side Rapid; he did not manage to be played regularly at Porto during that time but, following his return for 2010–11, became a very important first-team unit as they won three major titles, appearing in 40 official games in the process.
On 17 February 2014, Săpunaru was condemned to pay a €90,000 fine for his participation in the assault of two stewards at the Estádio da Luz on 20 December 2009.
Zaragoza
On 31 August 2012, Săpunaru signed a one-year contract with La Liga club Real Zaragoza. He made his official debut on 16 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–2 loss at Real Sociedad.
In his first season in Aragon, Săpunaru started but also suffered team relegation. He also entered his name in the competition's history books, after breaking the record for the most bookings in a single campaign (19 yellow cards and one red).
Elche
After initially hesitating because of the requests of his partner, Săpunaru signed a one-year deal at fellow league team Elche CF on 25 July 2013. He totalled only nine appearances in his only campaign and was also sent off twice, while his sole goal opened a 1–2 loss at Valencian Community neighbours Levante UD on 13 December.
Elche could not support Săpunaru's €1 million wage demands, and released him on 21 August 2014. In October 2015, he took the club to court for the wages remaining in his contract.
Return to Romania
After four months back at Rapid, Săpunaru signed a season-long deal at CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu on 6 September 2015, including a clause that he could leave instantly if a foreign club wanted him. The following 21 July, he put pen to paper to a two-year contract with fellow league side FC Astra Giurgiu.
International career
Săpunaru made his debut for the Romanian national team on 31 May 2008 against Montenegro, and was selected to the nation's squad at UEFA Euro 2008, although he did not play in the final stages. From June 2011 to November 2015, he did not appear in any games for his country due to a conflict with manager Victor Pițurcă.
On 17 May 2016, Săpunaru was picked by manager Anghel Iordănescu for his Euro 2016 squad. He started at right-back in the group stage opener, a 1–2 loss against the hosts France.