Marius Niculae

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Marius Niculae
Personal information
Full name	Marius Constantin Niculae
Date of birth	May 16, 1981 (1981-05-16) (age 27)
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.84 m (6 ft +1⁄2 in)
Playing position	striker
Club information
Current club	Inverness CT
Number	18
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-2001 2001-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-	Dinamo Bucharest Sporting CP Standard Liège FSV Mainz Inverness CT	100 (43) 059 (14) 026 0(4) 006 0(0) 035 (8)
National team2
2000-	Romania	030 (13)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 January, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of March 26, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Marius Constantin Niculae (born May 16, 1981 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian football (soccer) player who plays for Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

His former clubs include Dinamo Bucuresti (1996-01), Sporting CP (2001-05), Standard Liège (2005-07) and FSV Mainz (2007). He also plays for the Romania national football team. Other than the fact that they are both from Bucharest, he has no connection with his namesake Daniel Niculae who currently plays for AJ Auxerre.

[edit] Career

On July 17, 2007 following a brief trial he signed a two year contract with Scottish club Inverness CT. Marius had his application for a work permit rejected as he had not met requirements, but Inverness appealed and asked fans to sign a petition to have the player's permit granted.

After his appeal, Niculae was granted a work permit and became eligible to play for Inverness. He scored his first league goals for Inverness on December 8, 2007 netting a goal in each half in a 2-0 win over Hibernian. On January 10, 2007, he was awarded the Clydesdale Bank Player of the Month award for his performances in the SPL in December.

Niculae quickly became a fans' favourite at Caley Thistle, and earned almost legendary status when he jumped into the North Stand at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium and celebrated with the fans after scoring in Inverness's 3-0 win over Kilmarnock.

On 28th May, Niculae gave an interview to The Scottish Sun, saying he would be interested to return to his former club, Sporting, where he spent four years.

[edit] International Career

Niculae is a member of the Romania national football team. He has a total of 29 caps, along with 13 goals. After a long period of absence from the international team, he was recently recalled to the Romanian national squad for the friendly against Russia in Bucharest on March 26th, scoring in a 3-0 win.

[edit] Honours

Dinamo Bucureşti

• Romanian League Title: 1999/00
• Romanian League Runner-up: 1998/99, 2000/01
• Romanian Cup Winners: 1999/00, 2000/01
• Romanian League Top scorer (20 goals): 2000/01

Sporting CP

• Portuguese League Title: 2001/02
• Portuguese Cup Winners: 2001/02
• Portuguese Supercup: 2001/02
• UEFA Cup Runner-up: 2004/05

Standard Liège

• Belgian League Runner-up: 2005-06

[edit] External links

• Marius Niculae career stats at Soccerbase
• Marius Niculae Official Site

v • d • e Romania squad - UEFA Euro 2008 1 Lobonţ • 2 Contra • 3 Raţ • 4 Tamaş • 5 Chivu • 6 Rădoi • 7 Petre • 8 Codrea • 9 Marica • 10 Mutu • 11 Cociş • 12 Popa • 13 Săpunaru • 14 Ghionea • 15 Goian • 16 Nicoliţă • 17 Moţi • 18 M. Niculae • 19 Cristea • 20 Dică • 21 D. Niculae • 22 Radu • 23 Stăncioiu • Coach: Piţurcă

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