Gheorghe Bucur

Gheorghe "Gigel" Bucur (born 8 April 1980, in Bucharest) is a former Romanian football player. He is a short and speedy forward.

Gigel Bucur

Bucur playing for Romania in September 2009
Personal information
Full name	Gheorghe Bucur
Date of birth	(1980-04-08) 8 April 1980
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s)	Winger / Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2005	Sportul Studenţesc	169	(76)
2005–2010	Politehnica Timișoara	124	(52)
2010–2016	Kuban Krasnodar	158	(28)
2017	Sportul Studenţesc	5	(0)
Total		500	(190)
National team^‡
2001	Romania U-21	2	(1)
2005–2013	Romania	26	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 September 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 June 2013

Bucur has won the top league goalscorer award in the Romanian Liga 1 twice, in the 2004–05 and in the 2008–09 seasons. He was tied on goals with another player on both occasions, first with Claudiu Niculescu and then with Florin Costea.

Club career

Before joining Politehnica, Bucur had only played for Sportul Studenţesc, where he appeared in 169 matches and scored 76 goals in the first two Romanian leagues. He made his debut in the Divizia A during the 2001–02 season. After winning the title of Romanian top league goal scorer of the Divizia A in 2006, he was transferred to Timișoara, for a rumored sum of US$800,000.[1] Sorin Rădoi also came to Poli as part of that deal.

In the autumn of 2009 he scored a brace in the Third Champions League Qualifying Round to help Timișoara knockout Shakhtar Donetsk.[2]

On 3 February 2010, he signed a 3-year contract with Russian club Kuban Krasnodar for a fee worth $1.8 million. [3]

International career

Gigel Bucur first played for the Romania national team in 2005 and amassed twenty six appearances until 2013, scoring four goals, including a brace against Armenia for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.[4]

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu for the results on Qualifying to EURO 2008 and qualification to UEFA Euro 2008 Group C with Medalia "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Medal "The Sportive Merit") class III.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 June 2005	Farul, Constanţa, Romania	Armenia	2–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	8 June 2005	Farul, Constanţa, Romania	Armenia	3–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	9 September 2009	Ghencea, Bucureşti, Romania	Austria	1–0	1–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	14 October 2009	Ceahlăul Stadium, Piatra Neamţ, Romania	Faroe Islands	2–0	3–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sportul Studențesc	1998–99	16	2	0	0	0	0	16	2
	1999–2000	28	6	0	0	0	0	28	6
	2000–01	27	4	5	1	0	0	32	5
	2001–02	29	12	2	1	0	0	31	13
	2002–03	12	2	0	0	0	0	12	2
	2003–04	28	29	0	0	0	0	28	29
	2004–05	29	21	2	1	0	0	29	22
Total		169	76	9	3	0	0	178	79
Timișoara	2005–06	20	2	2	1	0	0	22	3
	2006–07	29	9	4	2	0	0	33	11
	2007–08	28	16	2	1	0	0	30	17
	2008–09	31	17	4	2	2	1	37	20
	2009–10	16	8	0	0	6	3	22	11
Total		124	52	12	6	8	4	144	62
Kuban Krasnodar	2010	31	9	0	0	0	0	31	9
	2011–12	39	6	1	0	0	0	40	6
	2012–13	21	4	2	0	0	0	23	4
	2013–14	28	6	0	0	6	1	34	7
	2014–15	24	3	3	0	0	0	27	3
	2015–16	15	0	1	0	0	0	16	0
Total		158	28	7	0	6	1	171	29
Career Total		451	156	28	9	14	5	493	170

Statistics accurate as of match played 27 May 2016

Honours

Club

Sportul Studenţesc

• Liga II: 2000–01

Kuban Krasnodar

• Russian National Football League: 2010

Individual

• Divizia A Golden Boot : 2004–05, 2008–09

References

1. "Azi" article Archived 16 April 2012 at WebCite
2. "Gigel Bucur, despre dubla cu Sahtior". roportal.ro. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
4. "Romania-Armenia 3-0". hotnews.ro. 9 June 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2014.

External links

• Gheorghe Bucur at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian) and StatisticsFootball.com
• Gheorghe Bucur at Soccerway