Daniel Claudiu Prodan (23 March 1972 – 16 November 2016) was a Romanian footballer who played mainly as a central defender. In a career marred by injuries, he played mainly for

Steaua București Steaua or Steaua București may refer to: * CSA Steaua București, a Romanian multi-sports club * CSA Steaua București (football), the football team of the multi-sports club * Fotbal Club FCSB, a football team that used this name between 2003 ...

and represented the Romania national team in one World Cup and one European Championship.

Club career

Born in

Satu Mare Satu Mare (; hu, Szatmárnémeti ; german: Sathmar; yi, סאטמאר or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the ...

, Prodan came to prominence with national giants FC Steaua București, having signed in late 1992 from his hometown side FC Olimpia Satu Mare. With the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

club, he won five consecutive Liga I titles, almost always featuring as a starter; his debut in the league came on 8 November in a 3–1 win at FC Farul Constanța, aged 20.Daniel Prodan şi "golul de aur". Are în palmares cinci titluri şi o Cupă a României cu Steaua (Daniel Prodan and the "golden goal". He also won five titles and one Romanian Cup with Steaua)

Adevărul ''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...

, 10 June 2013 (in Romanian) In January 1997, Prodan moved to Spain with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

. He scored four La Liga goals in only half a season in 1996–97 (17 matches), and appeared in the same number of games in the next. However, it was noted that his disciplinary record was poor, including two red cards. In the summer of 1998, Prodan joined

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

(a club against which he had scored a memorable goal for Steaua in the UEFA Champions League in 1995)Stephen Halliday: The tragic death of Daniel Prodan
the Scotsman, 18 November 2016 for £2.2 million, but made no first-team appearances in two-and-a-half years in Scotland due to a serious

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, which he sustained whilst with the ''Colchoneros''. Rangers' doctor,

Stewart Hillis William Stewart Hillis (28 September 1943 − 21 July 2014) was a Scottish physician who held a professorship in cardiology and exercise medicine. He was doctor for the Scotland national football team for 228 full international matches, part of ...

, later revealed that no medical had been conducted, and the transfer was rushed to completion on the strength of falsified documents; the Glasgow club threatened to sue Atlético Madrid, but backed down and released the player in January 2001. During the last five years of his career – Rangers included – Prodan only appeared in 33 matches combined while representing four teams, retiring at the age of 31 with FC Progresul București.

International career

Prodan won 54 caps for Romania between 1993 and 2001, and was in the squads for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

(playing every minute at the tournament as the team reached the quarter-finals) and UEFA Euro 1996. His only international goal arrived on 12 November 1994, as he contributed with the winner in a 3–2 victory against Slovakia for the latter competition's qualifiers in Bucharest, with the points helping Romania qualify for the finals.

Personal life

Prodan's younger brother, Ciprian, was also a footballer. On 16 November 2016, Daniel died of a heart attack at the age of 44. The stadium from

known as ''Stadionul Olimpia'' was renamed in February 2017 as

Stadionul Daniel Prodan Stadionul Daniel Prodan is a multi-use stadium located in Satu Mare, Romania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of CSM Satu Mare. For almost all its existence, the stadium was the home ground of Olimpia Satu ...

in his honor.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prodan, Daniel 1972 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Satu Mare Romanian footballers Association football defenders Liga I players Liga II players FC Olimpia Satu Mare players FC Steaua București players AFC Rocar București players FC Progresul București players La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers Rangers F.C. players Serie B players A.C.R. Messina players Romania under-21 international footballers Romania international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players Romanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland