Alexandru Epureanu (born 27 September 1986) is a Moldovan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

Ümraniyespor Ümraniyespor is a Turkish professional Association football, football club located in Ümraniye, Istanbul. The club plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1938. They have secured promotion to Süper Lig for their ...

and the Moldova national team.

Club career

Born in Chișinau, Epureanu joined

FC Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff (russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan professional association football, football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the List of states with ...

in summer 2004. He has won

Moldovan Footballer of the Year Moldovan Footballer of the Year is an annual award to Moldovan footballer, organized by Football Association of Moldova. Players of the year Full rankings By titles Teams By position Coach of the year Other awards ;2001 *Best Goalke ...

in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2018. Since playing for FC Sheriff Tiraspol, he has gone on to play for

Dinamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

. On 2 July 2014, Epureanu signed for

İstanbul Başakşehir ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

. He made his league debut for the club on 30 August 2014 in a 1–1 home draw with Kasımpaşa, playing all ninety minutes of the match. He scored his first league goal for the club on 5 October 2014 in a 4–0 home victory over

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

. His goal, scored in the sixth minute, made the score 1–0 to İstanbul BB. In January 2023, Epureanu departed Başakşehir and subsequently joined

until the end of the season.

International career

Epureanu made his international debut in a 2–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying loss against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

on 6 September 2006, and has since been a regular in the national team, wearing the captain's armband on several occasions. In September 2019, Epureanu retired from the national team due to a knee injury. However, he returned in August 2020, and is still active for Moldova. He ranks first in terms of all-time appearances for Moldova. On 31 March 2021, he made his 100th appearance for Moldova in a

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tourn ...

match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Moldova's goal tally first.'' Note: Some sources have credited Epureanu with scoring the second goal in a 4–0 victory over Saudi Arabia in 2014, however this was a penalty converted by

Igor Picușceac Igor Picușceac (born 27 March 1983) is a Moldovan football coach and a former player who played as a striker. International career Picușceac scored his first goal for Moldova in a 2–1 defeat to Israel in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier ...

Honours

Club

Zimbru Chișinău *

Moldovan Cup The Moldovan Cup ( ro, Cupa Moldovei) is a football competition, held annually in Moldova. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. Finals The finals were: Goalscorers Soviet time winners * 194 ...

: 2003–04 Sheriff Tiraspol * Divizia Naţională: 2004–05, 2005–06 *

: 2005–06 *

Moldovan Supercup Supercupa Moldovei () is the national football super cup competition in Moldova, officially having the winners of the previous season's Moldovan Super Liga and Moldovan Cup face-off against each other. In case when the national cup was won by a n ...

: 2005 Dynamo Moscow * Russian Cup runner-up: 2011–12 İstanbul Başakşehir *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup (Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

runner-up: 2016–17 *

: 2019–20

Individual

: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2018 *

Defender of the Year: 2018–19 *

Team of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * 1986 births Living people Footballers from Chișinău Moldovan footballers Moldovan expatriate footballers Moldova international footballers Men's association football defenders Moldovan Super Liga players Russian Premier League players Süper Lig players FC Zimbru Chișinău players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players FC Moscow players FC Dynamo Moscow players PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara players FC Anzhi Makhachkala players İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Ümraniyespor footballers Moldovan expatriate sportspeople in Russia Moldovan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Turkey FIFA Men's Century Club {{Moldova-footy-bio-stub

Club career

International career

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Individual

See also

References

External links