Claudiu Iulian Niculescu (born 23 June 1976) is a Romanian
football coach and former
striker. He is currently in charge of
Liga II club
1599 Șelimbăr.[1]
Club career
"Claudiu is one of the strikers with the highest qualities I have ever met."
–José Ramón Alexanko, former Universitatea Craiova manager[1]
In 2001 he went to play for
Dinamo București where in his first season he won the
Divizia A title, being the second top-goalscorer of the league with 15 goals, as coaches
Cornel Dinu and
Marin Ion gave him 28 appearances.[2][11][12] In 2002, shortly after scoring a spectacular goal from a free kick against goalkeeper
Iker Casillas in a friendly which ended with a 5–2 loss against
Real Madrid, Niculescu was transferred to
Genoa in
Serie B for a fee estimated by the Romanian press between €700.000 and €1 million.[2][5][13][14][15][16] He spent only one year with The Griffin, being teammate with compatriots
Adrian Mihalcea and
Paul Codrea, making only 13 appearances in which he scored three goals as his stay there was affected by injuries, returning to Dinamo who agreed to pay the Genovese team €800.000 to get him back.[2][17][18][19][20] In the
first season, following his return to The Red Dogs, he helped them win
The Double, contributing with 16 goals scored in the 28 league matches in which he was used by coach
Ioan Andone, also scoring the second goal of the 2–0 victory in front of
Oțelul Galați from the
Cupa României final and giving his contribution to the elimination of
Shakhtar Donetsk by scoring a goal in each leg of the 5–2 victory on aggregate from the
UEFA Cup.[2][11][21][22] On 21 November 2004, Niculescu was in the center of a controversy when during an away game with his former team, Universitatea Craiova, a fan entered the field and threw a "U" Craiova scarf in his face, after which he screamed:"You are a stinking traitor!", shortly after, his teammate
Adrian Mihalcea tackled the fan to the ground.[23][24] In the
2004–05 season he scored 21 goals, including all the goals in a 4–0 with
CFR Cluj, sharing with
Gheorghe Bucur the top-goalscorer of
Divizia A title, forming a couple in Dinamo's offence with
Ionel Dănciulescu, the Romanian press calling them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired from the first letters of their family name and the Romanian pop band "N&D".[2][12][6][7][8][25][26][27][28] Niculescu started the
following season by scoring the final goal of the 3–2 victory against
rivalsSteaua București which helped the team earn for the first time in its history the
Supercupa României, also Andone used him in the
2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when the team eliminated
Everton against whom he scored a goal in a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage where he defeated goalkeeper
Fabien Barthez by scoring a goal from a 20 meters free kick in a 2–1 away loss in front of
Olympique Marseille.[2][29][30][31][32] In the
2006–07 season under the guidance of coach
Mircea Rednic, Niculescu won another championship title with Dinamo and became the top-goalscorer of the league with 18 goals, four of these were scored in a 4–1 against rivals
Rapid București and two in a 4–2 victory in a
derby against
Steaua București.[2][12][6][33][34] With eight goals scored in the
2006–07 UEFA Cup, of which four were in the group stage against
Beşiktaş,
Club Brugge and a double in the 2–1 victory in front of
Bayer Leverkusen for which he received a 10 in the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper, Niculescu was the second best goal-scorer of the competition, having three less than
Espanyol's
Walter Pandiani, helping The Red Dogs reach the sixteenths-finals where they were eliminated by
Benfica.[35][36][37][38][39] In the following season, Dinamo had the objective of reaching the
Champions League group stage, Niculescu playing in both legs of the third qualifying round against
Lazio Roma, which however was lost with 4–2 on aggregate.[2][40][41][42][43][44]
In January 2008, Niculescu was transferred by
Dinamo at
MSV Duisburg for 700.000€, where he was wanted by coach
Rudi Bommer, being teammate with fellow Romanians
Mihai Tararache and
Iulian Filipescu, playing 15
Bundesliga matches in which he scored four goals against
VfL Wolfsburg,
VfB Stuttgart,
VfL Bochum and
Eintracht Frankfurt but at the end of the season he was transferred in
Cyprus at
Omonia for 200.000€.[2][5][45][46][47][48][49][50] In 2009 he returned for a third spell at
Dinamo which lasted one year and a half, a period in which he helped the club fulfill "The wonder from
Liberec" after winning with 3–0 the away game against
Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the
2009–10 Europa League.[2][51][52][53] In the summer of 2010 he went to play for
Universitatea Cluj, the highlights of this period being a brace in a 4–3 victory over his former team, Dinamo, then another goal against them in a 2–1 win, also he scored a goal directly from a corner kick in a 1–1 with
Astra Ploiești.[2][6][7][8][54][55][56][57] He made his last Liga I appearance on 12 March 2012, playing for "U" Cluj in a 1–0 home loss in front of Steaua.[2][6][7][8] Claudiu Niculescu was a
striker skilled in
free kicks, being nicknamed "Lunetistul" (The Sniper) by the Romanian press and he is 11th in an all-time ranking for the goalscorers in
Liga I with 156 goals scored in 326 matches played, also with 43 games and 18 goals scored for Dinamo in European matches, he is the player with the most appearances and top scorer in European competitions for the club.[2][6][7][8]
International career
Claudiu Niculescu played 8 games at international level for
Romania, making his debut when coach
László Bölöni sent him on the field in order to replace
Marius Niculae in the 81st minute of a friendly which ended with a 2–1 victory against
FR Yugoslavia.[58][59] He also played two games at the
2006 World Cup qualifiers and one at the
Euro 2008 qualifiers.[58] Niculescu's last appearance for the national team took place on 22 August 2007 in a 2–0 home win in a friendly with
Turkey.[58]
His first experience as a coach was in November 2010 for two matches at
Universitatea Cluj, where he was at the same time an active player.[60] His second experience as a coach started in March 2012 which was also at
Universitatea Cluj and also being in the same time an active player.[61] In 15 games under his command, the club won four games, draw in six and lost five. Niculescu resigned after the first game of the
2012–13 season, a loss 6–2 at
Pandurii Târgu Jiu.[62]
On 25 September 2012, Niculescu was installed as the head coach of
Liga II team
Bihor Oradea with an objective to help the team promote to the first division.[63] In December, Niculescu ended his contract, after only eight games (two wins, three draws and three losses).[64]
Claudiu Niculescu's brothers Mihai and Dragoș and his cousin Ovidiu were footballers in the Romanian lower leagues.[3][69] His father Marin was a football coach in the Romanian lower leagues.[3][69] In 1998 he married Lidia and they had together two kids, Alexandru and Rebecca.[70][71] They divorced in 2006.[71][72] In June 2007, he married Diana Munteanu who was a TV host, their wedding was considered the wedding of the year by the Romanian press.[73] Together they had a son named David Cristian.[73][74] Claudiu and Diana divorced in 2014.[75]
^"Genoa a pus ochii pe Claudiu Niculescu" [Genoa set their sights on Claudiu Niculescu] (in Romanian). Ziaruldeiasi.ro. 27 August 2002. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
^"Claudiu Niculescu, parasit de sotie" [Claudiu Niculescu, left by his wife] (in Romanian). Jurnalul.antena3.ro. 12 February 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2019.