Florin Bratu

Florin Daniel Bratu (born 2 January 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is currently in charge of Kategoria Superiore club Partizani Tirana.

Early life and youth career Bratu was born on 2 January 1980 in Bucharest, Romania where in 1986, he started to play tennis for a year and a half, afterwards switching to football, playing a few years with the junior squads of Voința București. Then he moved for about one year at his childhood favorite team, Dinamo București where he was coached by Iosif Varga. He then returned to Rapid, and on 5 August 2001, made his Divizia A debut under coach Viorel Hizo in a 3–0 away victory against UM Timișoara. By the end of the season, he won the first trophy of his career, the 2001–02 Cupa României, where in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo in the final, coach Mircea Rednic used him as a starter until the 68th minute, when he was substituted by Dennis Șerban.

In the following season, Rednic had Bratu form a partnership in the offence with Daniel Niculae, and the team's first achievement was winning the 2002 Supercupa României, with Bratu opening the scoring in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo. They finished the season champions, and Bratu was the team's top-scorer with 11 goals in 27 matches. In 2003, Bratu began his season at Rapid by winning another Supercupa României, a match where Rednic utilized him until the 68th minute before replacing him with Robert Niță, who subsequently scored the decisive goal in the 1–0 victory over Dinamo. Bratu also netted a goal against Anderlecht during the second leg of the 2003–04 Champions League, helping Rapid secure a 2–0 halftime lead before the team ultimately failed to qualify after losing the match 3–2.

In September 2003, Turkish club Galatasaray announced they had reached an agreement with Rapid for the transfer of Bratu, who agreed to a four-year deal, with Galatasaray paying Rapid $2.75 million. He eventually spent only one season alongside compatriots Gabriel Tamaș and Ovidiu Petre with the Cim Bom Bom side, being used regularly by coach Fatih Terim, but when fellow Romanian Gheorghe Hagi came as head coach to the club, he played less frequently.

Nantes and loans In July 2004, Galatasaray sold him to French side Nantes for €2.5 million, signing a four-year contract. Bratu made his Ligue 1 debut on 7 August, as coach Loïc Amisse used him as a starter in a 1–0 away loss to Metz. Until the end of the season, he netted two league goals in two away losses to AS Monaco and Caen.

In 2005 Nantes wanted to loan him to Romania, so Bratu went to train with his former club Rapid București for a few weeks, but they did not want to keep him because they considered they had enough forwards in the squad. He also played in eight games in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when the team eliminated Everton against whom he scored a double in a historical 5–2 win on aggregate, reaching the group stage.

In 2006 Bratu returned to Ligue 1 football, playing one season for Valenciennes on loan from Nantes, scoring his only goal for them in the last round of the season, a 3–1 loss to Auxerre. He has a total of 35 appearances with three goals netted in the French league. He scored a goal in the second leg of the third qualifying round against Lazio after a prolonged sprint, leaving his opponent Guglielmo Stendardo behind and defeating Marco Ballotta with a precise shot, but they failed to qualify, losing 4–2 on aggregate. Bratu formed a partnership in Dinamo's offence with Ionel Dănciulescu, and the Romanian press called them "BD in action", a nickname inspired by the first letters of their family names and the Romanian movie "BD in action". By the end of the 2007–08 season, the team had no chance of winning the title, but rivals Steaua were in first position, having scheduled a match on Dinamo's ground. The match ended with a 2–1 victory for Dinamo with Bratu scoring a goal and providing an assist to the one netted by Dănciulescu. However, in the 32nd minute of a match against CFR Cluj, due to the difficult terrain and after a duel with the strong Álvaro Pereira, Bratu suffered a sprained knee, with damage to the cruciate ligaments which kept him off the field for about one year.

Late career In January 2011, he signed for Liga I team Gaz Metan Mediaș where he spent a year and a half, playing only 11 league games there, scoring one goal in August 2011 against Voința Sibiu. In the summer of 2012, Bratu signed a one-year contract with Gloria Bistrița. He made his last Liga I appearance on 2 November 2012 in Gloria's 1–1 draw against Viitorul Constanța, totaling 135 matches with 45 goals in the competition.

International career Bratu played 14 games and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 12 February 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 90+2nd minute to replace Adrian Mutu in a 2–1 friendly victory against Slovakia. He scored his first goal in a friendly which ended in a 1–0 win over Lithuania. Bratu appeared in four games and scored one goal in a 4–0 victory against Luxembourg in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. He also played one game in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, one in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and two during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Managerial career In August 2014, Bratu started his coaching career as head coach at Dinamo București II in Liga III. One year later, he moved to Tunari in the same league, and in 2016, he took charge of Dinamo București's under-19 team, winning the 2017 Liga Elitelor. He was sacked in September 2018, following three consecutive defeats, and replaced by Claudiu Niculescu. Afterwards, he worked for several teams in Liga II such as Aerostar Bacău, Turris Turnu Măgurele and Concordia Chiajna. One year later, he was dismissed after the team earned two victories, two draws and four losses during his tenure. In March 2023, Bratu became the head coach of Cypriot First Division club Karmiotissa, where he had compatriot Răzvan Grădinaru as one of his players. He managed to help them avoid relegation at the end of the season. However, in September 2024, he left the club after earning a single point in the first five rounds of the 2023–24 season.

In August 2024, Bratu took over third league team CS Dinamo București. In March 2026, Bratu left CS Dinamo to take charge of first league club Metaloglobus București. He left Metaloglobus after failing to help them avoid relegation at the end of the 2025–26 season.

On 6 July 2026, Bratu was appointed as manager of Partizani Tirana on a one-year contract with an option for a further year.

Career statistics Club

International + Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours Player Rapid București Divizia A: 2002–03 Cupa României: 2001–02 Supercupa României: 2002, 2003 Dinamo București Supercupa României: 2005 Litex Lovech Bulgarian Supercup: 2010

Manager CS Dinamo București Liga III: 2024–25