Daniel Pancu
FullnameDaniel Gabriel Pancu
Birth date17 August 1977 (age 49)
Birth placeIași, Romania
Height1.84 m
PositionForward, attacking midfielder
CurrentclubRapid București (head coach)
Youthyears 11986–1994
Youthclubs 1Politehnica Iași
Years 11994–1996
Clubs 1Politehnica Iași
Caps 155
Goals 14
Years 21997–1999
Clubs 2Rapid București
Caps 277
Goals 223
Years 31999–2000
Clubs 3Cesena
Caps 336
Goals 33
Years 42000–2002
Clubs 4Rapid București
Caps 445
Goals 428
Years 52002–2006
Clubs 5Beşiktaş
Caps 580
Goals 516
Years 62006
Clubs 6→ Rapid București (loan)
Caps 613
Goals 62
Years 72006–2007
Clubs 7Bursaspor
Caps 732
Goals 73
Years 82008
Clubs 8Rapid București
Caps 88
Goals 82
Years 92008–2009
Clubs 9Terek Grozny
Caps 933
Goals 910
Years 102010
Clubs 10CSKA Sofia
Caps 107
Goals 102
Years 112010
Clubs 11Vaslui
Caps 115
Goals 110
Years 122011–2015
Clubs 12Rapid București
Caps 1296
Goals 1221
Years 132015–2016
Clubs 13Voluntari
Caps 1324
Goals 135
Years 142017–2018
Clubs 14Rapid București
Caps 1423
Goals 1418
Totalcaps534
Totalgoals137
Nationalyears 11994
Nationalteam 1Romania U16
Nationalcaps 14
Nationalgoals 10
Nationalyears 21995
Nationalteam 2Romania U18
Nationalcaps 22
Nationalgoals 20
Nationalyears 31996–1997
Nationalteam 3Romania U21
Nationalcaps 38
Nationalgoals 32
Nationalyears 42001–2005
Nationalteam 4Romania

Daniel Gabriel Pancu (daniˈel gabriˈel– ˈpaŋku; born 17 August 1977) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club Rapid București.

Club career

Pancu began his playing career at Politehnica Iași. He made his debut in Divizia A in 1995. In the winter of 1996 he was transferred to Rapid București for the sum of US$200,000. This was, at that time, the highest fee ever paid for a Iași player. After two and a half seasons, he moved to A.C. Cesena, in the Italian Serie B, for US$1,200,000. After a year, Cesena was relegated from the Serie B and Pancu returned to Rapid for US$800,000, where he stayed for two seasons. During this tenure he gained the nickname "the Giulești Ronaldo".

In 2002, he was bought by Beşiktaş, at the request of the manager who discovered him, Mircea Lucescu, for a fee of US$2,250,000.[1] It was at Beşiktaş that Lucescu turned Pancu from striker into central midfielder with impressive results. In the winter of 2005/2006, he returned to Rapid on loan with the possibility of becoming a permanent transfer in the summer. He was then bought by Bursaspor, but returned to Rapid again in the spring of 2008, scoring on his first appearance. In July 2008 he moved to FC Terek Grozny and left the club on 30 November 2009.[2]

On 11 December 2009, it was announced in the Bulgarian media that CSKA Sofia had an interest in signing the midfielder. On 12 January 2010, CSKA signed Pancu on a one-a-half-year deal.[3] Pancu made his official debut for CSKA Sofia in the 3–2 win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Sofia, again scoring on his debut.

After a short spell in Bulgaria at CSKA Sofia, Pancu returned to Romanian football later in 2010 to play for FC Vaslui, but had a difficult time breaking into the first eleven with strong competition from Wesley and Mike Temwanjera. During the summer transfer window of 2011 he re-signed yet again for Rapid București.

Curiosity

On the 28th gameweek of the 2004/05 Süper Lig season, during a derby match against Fenerbahçe, with the score at 2–3, Pancu replaced Óscar Córdoba, after the goalkeeper received a red card and Beşiktaş had already used all their substitutes. After conceding a penalty, Pancu kept Fenerbahçe at bay until Koray scored the fourth goal for Beşiktaş in the fifth minute of added time. Beşiktaş thus sealed a sensational away win over their rivals at Kadiköy Stadium. Pancu was given the nickname "Kadıköy Panteri" (the panther of Kadıköy) and dressed in a regular goalkeeper's jersey with the number "1" the following season.[4][5][6] He later stated that he felt uncomfortable being labelled as a goalkeeper, as his native playing position was a forward.[7]

Managerial career

On 2 October 2018, Daniel Pancu was appointed as Rapid’s new manager. He obtained the promotion from Liga III to Liga II after losing only 1 game. In 2020, he was named President of Rapid București.[8]

Career statistics

International

[9]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania200130
200262
200392
200454
200541
Total279
Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pancu goal.[9]
List of international goals scored by Daniel Pancu
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
127 March 2002Stadionul Gheorghe Hagi, Constanța, RomaniaUkraine2–04–1Friendly
23–0
36 September 2003Stadionul Astra, Ploiești, RomaniaLuxembourg2–04–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
410 September 2003Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, DenmarkDenmark2–12–2UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
531 March 2004Hampden Park, Glasgow, ScotlandScotland2–02–1Friendly
64 September 2004Stadionul Ion Oblemenco, Craiova, RomaniaNorth Macedonia1–02–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
78 September 2004Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella, AndorraAND2–05–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
85–1
99 February 2005GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, CyprusSlovakia1–12–2Friendly

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamFromToRecord
GWDLGFGAGDWin %
Rapid Bucuresti2 October 201810 March 2020
Politehnica Iași10 August 202028 January 2021
Romania U2016 August 202225 July 2023
Romania U2125 July 202330 June 2025
CFR Cluj1 November 202527 May 2026
Rapid Bucuresti27 May 2026present
Total

Honours

Player

Rapid București

Beşiktaş

Coach

Rapid București

References

  1. ^ "DANIEL GABRIEL PANCU". TFF. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  2. ^ ""Терек" расстался с шестью легионерами.". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Панку официално е играч на ЦСКА" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  4. ^ ""Kadıköy Panteri" UEFA'da". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  5. ^ "ÖZEL | 'Kadıköy Panteri' Pancu: Gerçek bir kaleci gibi kurtarışlar yapmıştım | Goal.com Türkçe" (in Turkish). Goal. 2016-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  6. ^ Er, İsmail (2005-07-26). "Pancu 1 numara" (in Turkish). Hürriyet. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  7. ^ ""Kadıköy panteri" Pancu'nun, 10 dakika rahatsızlığı!" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  8. ^ Constanttin Schumacher a fost inlocuit de Daniel Pancu. fcrapid.ro (in Romanian)
  9. ^ "Daniel Pancu". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 11 September 2024.