Daniel Gabriel Pancu (; born 17 August 1977) is a Romanian professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach and a former player who played mainly as a
forward or an
attacking midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
.
Club career
Pancu began his playing career at
Politehnica Iași. He made his debut in
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 ...
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
AC Cesena, commonly referred to as Cesena (), was an Italian football club based in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. The club spent most of its history in professional leagues such as Serie A and Serie B, but went bankrupt and folded in 2018. Another cl ...
, in the Italian
Serie B
The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had 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
Giulești () is a neighbourhood in northwestern Bucharest, located in Sector 6. The Giulești Stadium, Giulești Theatre, Podul Grant are located in Giulești. Also, the Grivița Railway Yards and Lacul Morii are located nearby.
History
T ...
Ronaldo".
In 2002, he was bought by BeÅŸiktaÅŸ, at the request of the manager who discovered him,
Mircea Lucescu
Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...
, for a fee of US$2,250,000. It was at BeÅŸiktaÅŸ 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
Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...
, but returned to Rapid again in the spring of 2008, scoring on his first appearance. In July 2008 he moved to
FC Terek Grozny
Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League.
History
The club was foun ...
and left the club on 30 November 2009.
On 11 December 2009, it was announced in the Bulgarian media that
CSKA Sofia
CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...
had an interest in signing the midfielder. On 12 January 2010, CSKA signed Pancu on a one-a-half-year deal. Pancu made his official debut for CSKA Sofia in the 3–2 win against
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...
in
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, again scoring on his debut.
After a short spell in Bulgaria at
CSKA Sofia
CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...
, Pancu returned to Romanian football later in 2010 to play for
FC Vaslui
Fotbal Club Vaslui, commonly known as FC Vaslui, or simply as Vaslui (), was a Romanian professional football club based in Vaslui, Vaslui County, founded in 2002 and dissolved in 2014. Its official club colours were yellow and green, hence t ...
, but had a difficult time breaking into the first eleven with strong competition from
Wesley and
Mike Temwanjera
Mike Temwanjera (born 21 May 1982) is a Zimbabwean former professional association football, footballer who usually played as a centre-forward, but also as a second striker. A member of FC Vaslui from January 2007 until summer 2014, he was one ...
. 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 BeÅŸiktaÅŸ in the fifth minute of added time. BeÅŸiktaÅŸ thus sealed a sensational away win over their rivals at
Kadiköy Stadium. Pancu was given the nickname "Kadıköy Panteri" (the panther of
Kadıköy
Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...
) and dressed in a regular goalkeeper's jersey with the number "1" the following season. He later stated that he felt uncomfortable being labelled as a goalkeeper, as his native playing position was a forward.
Managerial career
On 2 October 2018, Daniel Pancu was appointed as
Rapid
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 ...
’s new manager. He obtained the promotion from
Liga III
The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...
to
Liga II
The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...
after losing only 1 game. In 2020, he was named President of
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 ...
.
Constanttin Schumacher a fost inlocuit de Daniel Pancu
fcrapid.ro
Career statistics
International stats
:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pancu goal''.[
]
Honours
Club
Player
Rapid București
*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 ...
: 1998–99
*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 ...
: 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06
*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 ...
runner-up: 1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
* Liga IV – Bucharest: 2017–18
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ
*Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
: 2002–03
Coach
Rapid București
*Liga III
The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...
: 2018–19
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pancu, Daniel
1977 births
Living people
Footballers from Iași
Romanian men's footballers
Romanian expatriate men's footballers
Romania men's international footballers
FC Politehnica Iași (1945) players
FC Rapid București players
AC Cesena players
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ J.K. footballers
Bursaspor footballers
FC Akhmat Grozny players
PFC CSKA Sofia players
FC Vaslui players
FC Voluntari players
Liga I players
Liga II players
Serie B players
Süper Lig players
Russian Premier League players
First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players
Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Expatriate men's footballers in Russia
Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia
Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football forwards
Romanian football managers
Liga I managers
Liga II managers
FC Rapid București managers
FC Politehnica Iași (2010) managers
FC Rapid București presidents
FC Rapid București non-playing staff
Romanian sports executives and administrators