Corneliu Cristian Pulhac (born 17 August 1984) is a Romanian former 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 lea ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Pulhac started his career at Dinamo București, making his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut on 23 March 2002 in a 3–0 away victory against UM Timișoara, which would remain his only appearance in that season as the team won the title. In the following two seasons, Pulhac was loaned by Dinamo at the club's then satellite team, Poiana Câmpina and at Sportul Studențesc. In 2004 he returned at Dinamo, helping the team win the 2004–05 Cupa României, being used by coach Ioan Andone in all the minutes from the 1–0 victory in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against Farul Constanța. At the beginning of the 2005–06 season he helped '' The Red Dogs'' win for the first time in their history the

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

, as Andone used him in all the minutes of the 3–2 victory against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Steaua București, also Andone used him in 8 games from the

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

campaign when the team eliminated Everton with a historical 5–2 on aggregate, reaching the group stage. He played 32 games in the 2006–07 season under coach Mircea Rednic, helping Dinamo win the 18th title in the club's history, also appearing in 12 matches in which he scored one goal as the club reached the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

sixteenths-finals where they were eliminated with 3–1 on aggregate by Benfica. In the following season Dinamo had the objective of reaching the Champions League group stage, Pulhac providing the assist for

Ionel Dănciulescu Ionel Daniel Dănciulescu (born 6 December 1976) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward, currently head of youth development at Liga III club CS Dinamo Bucureșt ...

's header that opened the score in the 1–1 draw from the first leg of the third qualifying round against Lazio Roma, however they did not qualify, losing with 3–1 the second leg. In August 2010, Primera División club, Hércules signed Pulhac on a season-long loan with an option to buy him permanently, but he returned to Dinamo after only one season, as the Spanish club didn't trigger the buy-option. In 2012 he won the last trophies of his career with Dinamo, firstly the 2011–12 Cupa României as coach Dario Bonetti sent him on the field in the 67th minute in order to replace Marius Alexe in the 1–0 victory against

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

from the

, then Bonetti used him all the minutes in the victory from the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

against

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

from the 2012 Supercupa României. In January 2013 Pulhac terminated his contract with Dinamo after receiving an offer from

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

side Gabala, for whom he went on to sign a two-year contract. Shortly after the appointment of Yuri Semin as manager of Gabala, Pulhac was deemed surplus to requirements and told he can leave the club on 8 July 2013. In January 2014, Pulhac was still with Gabala and training with the youth team as he refused to leave the club. Pulhac's contract with Gabala was finally terminated in August 2014. In December 2014, he signed a contract for 18 months with the Ekstraklasa side Zawisza Bydgoszcz. He returned to Romania in 2015, to play one season in the first league for Petrolul Ploiești, retiring in 2017 at Academica Clinceni in the second league.

International career

Pulhac won six caps for the Romania U21s, scoring one goal. He appeared in three friendly games for Romania's senior side, making his debut under coach Victor Pițurcă on 26 May 2006 against

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in a 2–0 win at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, playing 88 minutes. In 2007, he played in a 2–0 victory against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, and made his last appearance for the national team on 20 August 2008 in a 1–0 win over

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Career statistics

Honours

Dinamo București *

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

: 2001–02, 2006–07 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 2004–05, 2011–12 *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulhac, Cristian 1984 births Living people Footballers from Iași Romanian men's footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football defenders FC Dinamo București II players FC Dinamo București players FC Sportul Studențesc București players FCM Câmpina players Hércules CF players Gabala SC players Zawisza Bydgoszcz players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Aris Limassol FC players LPS HD Clinceni players Liga I players Liga II players La Liga players Azerbaijan Premier League players Ekstraklasa players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 21st-century Romanian sportsmen