Ianis Zicu

Ianis Alin Zicu (born 23 October 1983) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.

Club career Early career, Dinamo București and loans Zicu was born on 23 October 1983 in Constanța, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club Farul, under the guidance of coach Iosif Bükössy. In 2000, Zicu joined Dinamo București, making his Divizia A debut at the age of 17, under coach Cornel Dinu on 14 April 2001 in a 4–2 win over Gaz Metan Mediaș. He won his first trophy when coach Dinu sent him in the 90th minute to replace Marius Niculae in the 4–2 victory against Rocar București in the 2001 Cupa României final. In the following season, Zicu helped the team win the title by scoring two goals in the 16 appearances given to him by coaches Dinu and Marin Ion. During the same season he also played a few games in Divizia B for Poiana Câmpina, then a satellite team of Dinamo. He made his debut in European competitions when he replaced Claudiu Niculescu in the 63rd minute of a 3–1 home loss to Grasshopper Zürich in the first round of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup. Zicu returned to Farul for the 2002–03 season, being loaned there by Dinamo to play more and gain experience. He came back to The Red Dogs for the first half of the 2003–04 season, performing well by scoring six goals in the 13 league matches coach Ioan Andone used him. However, he was transferred in the middle of the season to Inter Milan, but Dinamo still managed to win The Double without him. His Serie A debut for The Crusaders came under coach Cesare Prandelli on 21 February 2004 in a 2–1 win against Sampdoria, making a total of seven appearances in the competition by the end of the season. In the next season, as Prandelli left the club, Zicu was used rarely, but one of his appearances was in the group stage of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup in a 1–0 victory against Steaua București. However, he left in the middle of the season to go on loan to Dinamo for one and a half years. He started the following season by coming as a substitute to replace Vlad Munteanu in the 69th minute of the 3–2 victory against rivals Steaua which helped the club earn its first Supercupa României. Subsequently, the team reached the group stage of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, after eliminating Omonia Nicosia against whom he scored a brace in the first leg and Everton against whom he scored a goal in the historical 5–2 victory on aggregate. After the goal scored against the latter, the British newspaper Daily Mirror wrote about Zicu:"There is no doubt. The Romanian has class".

For the 2006–07 season he remained in his country, because Inter had loaned him this time to Rapid București. Zicu had a remarkable spell with The Railwaymen, as under coach Răzvan Lucescu he scored 12 league goals, and helped the club reach the UEFA Cup group stage. The team also won the Cupa României, with Zicu scoring the second goal of the 2–0 victory against Politehnica Timișoara in the final when he was also named "The man of the match".

Third spell at Dinamo București Freed from his contract with Inter Milan, Zicu returned to Dinamo București. However, in the 6th minute of the first leg in the third qualifying round against Lazio Roma, he left the field after having his right knee injured by Guglielmo Stendardo, and his side lost with 4–2 on aggregate. That injury kept him off the field for six months. After returning in February 2009, he suffered another injury in April of the same year during a 4–4 draw against Universitatea Craiova, leading to an 11-month absence from the field. He scored a spectacular goal for them by flicking the ball with the heel over the goalkeeper after receiving a 60-meter pass in a 5–2 loss to FC Botoșani.

Politehnica Timișoara On 21 July 2010, Zicu signed a five-year contract with Politehnica Timișoara which paid €300,000 to Dinamo for his transfer. He made his debut for the team in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 Europa League against MyPa. The Finns were leading 3–0 at half time, but Zicu scored his side's second goal in the 80th minute, and Marián Čišovský equalized in the 90+2 minute, completing an amazing comeback in the second half. Zicu enjoyed the most prolific season of his career, leading the league in scoring with a personal best of 18 goals, including three braces in victories against Rapid București, FCM Târgu Mureș and Gaz Metan Mediaș, which contributed to the team's second-place finish.

CSKA Sofia On 16 June 2011, Zicu moved abroad to sign with Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia for three years. On 30 July he made his competitive debut for CSKA under coach Milen Radukanov in the Bulgarian Supercup against Litex Lovech, scoring from a penalty to make the result 2–1 for CSKA, the match ending with a 3–1 victory, thus winning the trophy. In August he played in both legs of the Europa League play-off for the group stage against Steaua București, losing with 3–1 on aggregate. On 28 October, Zicu scored the only goal in the Eternal derby of Bulgaria to help CSKA earn a 1–0 home win over Levski Sofia. Subsequently, he scored a hat-trick on 12 November in a 3–1 home win over Minyor Pernik. He finished the first half of the 2011–12 A PFG season as the top-scorer of the league, having netted 13 times, forming a partnership in the team's offence with Júnior Moraes.

Pohang Steelers In late December 2011, Zicu was transferred to South Korean club Pohang Steelers for an undisclosed fee, though media reports estimated it to be €2.3 million. He made his official debut as a starter on 18 February 2012 in the 2–0 win over Chonburi in an AFC Champions League play-off match. This victory helped them advance to the group stage, where he made three more appearances. One week later he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw against Busan IPark, totaling six goals in 15 league appearances for Pohang. He also won the 2012 Korean FA Cup with them. During this period he scored nine goals in 17 K-League appearances, including a hat-trick in a 5–3 away loss to Daejeon Citizen. In January 2013, Zicu was permanently transferred to Gangwon, scoring six goals in 27 matches for the team in the 2013 K League season.

Petrolul Ploiești In January 2014, Zicu signed a contract for a year and a half with Petrolul Ploiești, a day after Adrian Mutu had joined the club. He was wanted there by coach Cosmin Contra who had been his teammate and coach at Politehnica Timișoara.

ASA Târgu Mureș In July 2014, Zicu moved to the newly promoted ASA Târgu Mureș, where he signed a contract for one season. The team was close to winning the league, and Zicu was one of its best players. A significant highlight was his decisive goal in a 1–0 away win against Steaua București, which propelled ASA to the top spot with five rounds left in the season.

Poli Timișoara For the 2015–16 season, Zicu played again for a newly promoted club, returning to Timișoara at ACS Poli. However, the one-year spell was unsuccessful as the team was mathematically relegated, but managed to keep its position in the league because Rapid București went bankrupt.

Second spell at ASA Târgu Mureș Zicu returned to ASA Târgu Mureș in July 2016. There, he spent the last season of his career, leaving in January 2017 as the club had financial problems and did not pay him for several months. The team was also relegated at the end of the season. The highlight of this period was a brace scored in a 2–1 win over his former club, Dinamo București. He made his last Liga I appearance on 10 December 2016 against the same team, this time losing with 1–0, totaling 278 games with 77 goals in the competition.

International career Between 2000 and 2005, Zicu made several appearances for Romania's under-18, under-19 and under-21 sides. He was banned alongside teammate Lucian Goian from representing his country at any level for two years in 2004, because the Romanian Football Federation considered they had a "defiant attitude" during a 4–1 loss against Czech Republic U21.

Zicu played 12 games and scored one goal for Romania, making his debut on 11 October 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 82nd minute to replace Daniel Pancu in a 1–1 friendly draw against Japan. He made three appearances in three victories during the successful Euro 2008 qualifiers. He also played three games in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, scoring the last goal in a 3–1 win over Luxembourg. Zicu made his last appearance for the national team on 11 June 2011 in a 2–0 friendly loss to Paraguay, played at Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción. He started coaching a senior team in July 2019, as he was named the head coach of Farul Constanța, a position he held until May 2021. Subsequently, he continued to work for second-tier teams such as Unirea Constanța, Concordia Chiajna and Metaloglobus București.

Personal life Zicu is an ethnic Aromanian.

Career statistics Club

Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zicu goal. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 29 March 2011 Stadionul Ceahlăul, Piatra Neamț, Romania 3–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying

Managerial statistics

Honours Dinamo București Divizia A: 2001–02, 2003–04