Gabriel Cânu

Gabriel Cânu (born 18 January 1981) is a Romanian former footballer. He was best known for his impressive height, powerful header and aerial game effective both defensively and in attack. He was also regarded for his leadership qualities, becoming captain for Timișoara, Vaslui and Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. He is now football analyst for Eurosport Romania in Premier League Show covering the top English football league matches alongside Ioan Viorel and George Dobre.

Gabriel Cânu

Personal information
Date of birth	(1981-01-18) 18 January 1981
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s)	Centre back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2004	Național București	23	(0)
2000–2001	→ Cimentul Fieni (loan)	31	(1)
2001–2002	→ Baia Mare (loan)	26	(1)
2005–2008	Politehnica Timișoara	73	(6)
2008–2013	Vaslui	49	(6)
2013–2014	Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț	26	(2)
2014–2018	Poli Timișoara	96	(7)
Total		324	(23)
National team^‡
2008	Romania B	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 July 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2008

Career

Born in Bucharest, Cânu came through the youth ranks of local Național București, going on to finish his sporting formation with the Divizia B teams Cimentul Fieni and FC Baia Mare.

Național

Aged 18, he made his debut in Național's first team on 2 June 1999, coming as a substitute in a 2–0 win against Petrolul Ploiești. It was his only appearance that season. After one season, with no matches, he was loaned two years in a row to Divizia B sides Cimentul Fieni and FC Baia Mare, to build up his first team experience. After he returned, he failed to establish himself in the first team squad.

Cânu made one appearance in the Romanian first league in 1997/1998, while at FC Național. In the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 seasons he played in the Romanian second league, for Cimentul Fieni and FC Baia Mare respectively. He then returned to FC Național, playing 16 times in the Divizia A during the 2003/2004 season. Cânu joined Poli in the winter break of the 2004/2005 season, together with Național coach Cosmin Olăroiu and teammates Gabriel Caramarin, Gigel Coman and Marius Popa.

Statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Progresul București	2003–04	19	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
	2004–05	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	Total	22	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
Politehnica Timișoara	2004–05	15	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
	2005–06	20	0	1	0	0	0	21	0
	2006–07	17	3	4	0	0	0	21	3
	2007–08	21	3	2	0	0	0	23	3
	Total	73	6	7	0	0	0	80	6
Vaslui	2008–09	21	2	3	0	4	1	28	3
	2009–10	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
	2010–11	23	4	1	0	0	0	24	4
	2011–12	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
	2012–13	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	Total	46	6	5	0	7	1	58	7
Ceahlăul	2013–14	26	2	0	0	0	0	26	2
	Total	26	2	0	0	0	0	26	2
Poli Timișoara	2014–15	20	3	1	0	0	0	21	3
	2015–16	22	0	2	1	0	0	24	1
	2016–17	28	3	2	1	0	0	30	4
	2017–18	14	1	1	0	0	0	15	1
	Total	84	7	6	2	0	0	90	9
Career total		251	21	18	2	7	1	276	24

Statistics accurate as of match played 1 January 2018

Career honours

SC Vaslui

• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winner: 2008

Sporting positions
Preceded by Sorin Frunză	FC Vaslui captain 2008–2009	Succeeded by Bogdan Buhuș
Preceded by Marius Croitoru	Poli Timişoara captain 2017–	Succeeded by TBD

External links

• Gabriel Cânu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian) and StatisticsFootball.com
• Gabriel Cânu at Soccerway