Radio România Internațional

Tag: Anderlecht Brussels

  • Athlete of the Week on RRI: Footballer Nicolae Stanciu

    Athlete of the Week on RRI: Footballer Nicolae Stanciu

    Romania no longer has any representative in European inter-club competitions. Astra Giurgiu was the last Romanian team to be knocked out from European competitions this season. Astra lost in the Europa League round of 32 by Genk of Belgium. Under these circumstances, only a handful of Romanian players performing for other European clubs are newsworthy in the Romanian football press.



    Once such club is Anderlecht Brussels, the team of two Romanian players, Alexandru Chipciu and Nicolae Stanciu. The Belgian side made it to the Europa League round of 16 and holds good chances of advancing to the next phase. Last Thursday, Anderlecht defeated APOEL of Cyprus 1-nil away from home, the only goal of the match being scored by Nicolae Stanciu. The Romanian midfielder was designated Player of the Week by the UEFA website, grabbing 37% of the votes, followed by Ruslan Malinovski, Genks Ukrainian midfielder, with 25% of the votes, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Manchester Uniteds Armenian midfielder, with 23% of the votes.



    For his achievement, we have designated Nicolae Stanciu Athlete of the Week on RRI.



    Nicolae Stanciu was born on May 7, 1993 in Cricau, Alba County, central Romania. He made his debut with the local side Unirea Alba Iulia. He played his first match in professional competitions at the age of 15, in a second-tier league match against Corvinul Hunedoara, which Unirea won 4-1. He made his debut in the Romanian First League in 2010 at only 17 years of age, in a match against Steaua Bucharest, which Alba Iulia won 2-1.



    In June 2010 the German club VfB Stuttgart signed Stanciu for a 500k Euro fee, but shortly released him on loan back to his home club, Unirea Alba Iulia. In 2011 he was signed by FC Vaslui, and in 2013 he got transferred to Steaua Bucharest. In 2016 Steaua sold Stanciu to Anderlecht.



    Nicolae Stanciu made his debut for Romanias national team on March 23, 2016, in a friendly game against Lithuania, scoring the only goal of the match. His first official cap for Romania was last years opening match of the European Football Championship against the host country, France. Romania lost the game 2-1, the goal for Romania being scored by Bogdan Stanc from a penalty kick obtained by Nicolae Stanciu. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Footballer Alexandru Chipciu

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Footballer Alexandru Chipciu

    Romanian football player Alexandru Chipciu scored another goal for his club Anderlecht Brussels in the 4-2 win against Zulte Waregem, a match played on Sunday on home turf, counting towards the 26th round of Belgium’s first football league. With this win Anderlecht has the same number of points as the leader FC Bruges, securing a 5-point lead over Waregem, the team in third place.



    Chipciu scored the last goal of the game in stoppage time, which sealed the win for Brussels. For his achievement, we have designated him Athlete of the Week on Radio Romania International.



    Alexandru Chipciu was born in Braila, on May 18, 1989. He made his debut with the local side Dacia Unirea’s under-17 team. He then played his first match for FC Brasov’s first team at only 17 years of age. He was loaned to Forex Brasov for a short period before he returned to Braila. The 2009-2010 season brought Chipciu to the Romanian First League with his team. His first appearance was against Politehnica Iasi. In August 2011 he made his debut for Romania’s national team, in a friendly match against San Marino. In late 2011he penned down a five-year contract with Steaua Bucharest. He won the Romanian Championship three times, the League Cup two times, and the Romanian Cup and Supercup once, respectively. He has 26 caps for Romania’s national team. Since 2016 he has been playing for Anderlecht, alongside another former Steaua player, Nicolae Stanciu. Alexandru Chipciu has scored 3 goals in 20 matches. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Footballer Nicolae Stanciu

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Footballer Nicolae Stanciu

    Romanian midfielder Nicolae Stanciu has scored yet another goal for his club RSC Anderlecht, which grabbed a 3-1 away win against Kortrijk, in a fixture counting towards the 17th round of Belgium’s domestic championship. Stanciu opened on 29 minutes, got yellow-booked in minute 36 and was sent off in minute 59, due to a second booking. Another Romanian footballer currently playing for Anderlecht Alex Chipciu was on the pitch from minute 62 and got yellow-booked in minute 90. So far, Nicolae Stanciu has scored four goals in the domestic championship and two other in the Europa League, for his team. At the moment, Anderlecht are 3rd placed in the Belgian championship, with 31 points. Because of his excellent run in recent games, Radio Romania International has designated Nicolae Stanciu Athlete of the Week.



    The young Romanian footballer was born on May 7, 1993, in the village of Cricau in central Romania’s Alba County. Nicolae Stanciu made his debut with Unirea Alba Iulia. He played his first Second League fixture when he was 15, against Corvinul Hunedoara, a game Unirea Alba Iulia won, 4-1. Stanciu made his League One debut at the age of 17, in a game against Steaua Bucharest on May 1st, 2010, a match Unirea Aba Iulia won, 2-1.



    In June 2010, German team VfB Stuttgart transferred Stanciu for the sum of 500,000 Euros, but for one season Stanciu was on loan to the team he had been transferred from, Unirea Alba Iulia. In 2011 Stanciu was signed up by FC Vaslui and in 2013 he played for Steaua Bucharest. This year he was transferred to Anderlecht.



    Nicolae Stanciu made his debut with Romania’s national squad on March 23rd, 2016, in a friendly game against Lithuania, and scored the only goal of the match. His first official game with the national squad was the opening match against France at the European Championship this year, when Romania sustained a 1-2 defeat. We recall the national squad’s only goal was scored by Bogdan Stancu through a penalty granted to Stanciu who was fouled by Patrice Evra.


    (Translated by E. Nasta)