Ionuț Rada

Ionuț Alin Rada (born 6 July 1982) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or a left-back.

After starting out with hometown club FC Universitatea Craiova, Rada played for București - Ilfov sides Rocar, Rapid, Național, Steaua and Otopeni until 2010, when he moved abroad for the first time with a brief stint at Al-Nasr. He returned to Romania the same year to sign for CFR Cluj, and also represented Karlsruher SC, Bari, Fidelis Andria and Sănătatea Cluj before retiring in 2020.

Internationally, Rada earned two caps for Romania's national team between 2003 and 2004.

Club career Early career Rada was born on 6 July 1982 in Craiova, Romania. He began playing junior-level football at CSS Craiova, then moving to Gheorghe Popescu's football school. In the first half of the 2001–02 season, he was loaned to Divizia B side Rocar București, returning afterwards to "U" Craiova. Rada scored his first league goal in a 3–1 home win over Astra Ploiești. In early 2004, Rapid București transferred him and Ionuț Stancu, paying €500,000 to Universitatea, of which €400,000 was for Rada.

Rapid București and Național București His limited playing time in his first year at Rapid resulted in a half-year loan to Național București in 2005.

Afterwards, Rada returned to The Railwaymen, playing 15 matches in their 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign, where they defeated Feyenoord with 2–1 on aggregate and reached the group stage. There, they finished first in a group composed of Shakhtar Donetsk, VfB Stuttgart, PAOK and Rennes. The team finished the season by winning the 2005–06 Cupa României, with Rada playing the entire match under coach Răzvan Lucescu in the 1–0 extra-time win against his former side, Național, in the final.

Rada netted a goal that helped Rapid eliminate Nacional and reach the 2006–07 UEFA Cup group stage, where he made four appearances. He ended the season by winning another Cupa României, with coach Lucescu using him the full 90 minutes in the 2–0 victory against Politehnica Timișoara in the final.

Steaua București, Otopeni and Al-Nasr

On 25 July 2007, Rada signed with Steaua București, which paid €1.6 million to Rapid. He was wanted there by Gheorghe Hagi as a replacement for injured Sorin Ghionea. Rada helped them eliminate Zagłębie Lubin and BATE Borisov in the Champions League qualifying rounds, reaching the group stage. There, he played in all six matches facing Arsenal, Sevilla and Slavia Prague, but earned only one draw against the latter, losing the other matches. He scored his only goal for Steaua in September 2007 in a 1–0 league victory over FC Vaslui with a header, following a corner kick executed by Bănel Nicoliță.

In February 2009, Rada was loaned, at his request, to CS Otopeni for half a year. Subsequently, he returned to The Military Men, playing six games in the 2009–10 Europa League group stage.

On 28 December 2009, Steaua announced that Rada was sold to Al-Nasr for €300,000. However, he made only four league appearances there.

CFR Cluj and Karlsruher SC On 11 June 2010, Rada signed with CFR Cluj. He played six matches in the 2010–11 Champions League group stage, scoring two goals, one in a win over Basel and another in a loss to AS Roma. However, he was loaned for the second half of the season to 2. Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC, but CFR still managed to win the title without him. Subsequently, they qualified for the round of 32 in the Europa League, where he featured in both legs of their defeat to Inter Milan. On 7 December 2017, Rada made his last Liga I appearance in CFR's 0–0 draw against CS Universitatea Craiova, totaling 246 matches with 11 goals in the competition and 64 matches with three goals in European competitions (including four appearances in the Intertoto Cup).

Late career On 19 January 2015, Rada signed a contract with Serie B outfit Bari. In August 2016, he joined Serie C side Fidelis Andria for a two-year spell.

International career Between 2000 and 2004, Rada was consistently featured for Romania's under-18, under-19, under-21 and B sides.

Rada played two matches for Romania, making his debut on 20 August 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 88th minute to replace Răzvan Raț in a 2–0 friendly victory against Ukraine. His second appearance occurred on 18 February 2004 in a 3–0 win over Georgia during the Cyprus International Football Tournament.

Writing Rada wrote an autobiographical book titled Vreau să joc (I want to play), which was released on 29 June 2022. He was inspired to start writing by his former Al-Nasr teammate, Carlos Tenorio.

Honours Rapid București Cupa României: 2005–06, 2006–07 CFR Cluj Liga I: 2011–12