Florentin Matei (; born 15 April 1993) is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

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 plays as 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. ...

. He began his football career at Steaua București, before leaving his native country in 2011 to play for

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

. He then had spells with

Volyn Lutsk FC Volyn Lutsk ( ) was a Ukrainian association football, football club based in Lutsk. Since its establishment in 1960, the club became the only major (professional) football club within Volyn Oblast and uncontested leader of football in the reg ...

and

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, winning two domestic trophies in Croatia with the latter. At the beginning of 2018, Matei returned to Romania on loan with

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

, but then joined Ittihad Kalba in the summer of the same year. After being released by the Emirati side in January 2019, he was resigned by his boyhood club FCSB. Matei represented

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at under-17 and under-19 level.

Club career

Steaua București

Born in Bolintin-Vale,

Giurgiu County Giurgiu () is a county ('' județ'') of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Giurgiu. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 265,494 and the population density was . * Romanians – 96% * Romani ...

, Matei came through

FC Steaua București Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of th ...

's youth ranks, and in 2009 he was named the best player of the "Iulian Manzarov – International Football Tournament for Juniors" in Bulgaria. On 16 May 2010 he made his

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 ...

debut for the senior team, in a 2–0 victory against

FC Universitatea Craiova FCU 1948 Craiova Fotbal Club, commonly known as FC U Craiova 1948 or simply FC U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County, that competes in the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian league system. FC U ...

where he came on as a substitute for Romeo Surdu in the 82nd minute; in September, he was sent on loan at fellow league side

Unirea Urziceni Fotbal Club Unirea Urziceni, commonly known as Unirea Urziceni (), was a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County. Unirea became Divizia A Final Tables, national champions ...

along with several other teammates from Steaua's reserves. The following year, Matei terminated his contract with the capital-based club. As a result, Steaua owner

George Becali George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman, writer, politician and former convict, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club. Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and Decembe ...

criticised the youngster, stating in a controversial manner that he would never become an above average player.

Cesena

After eight months as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, Matei signed with

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 ...

from Italy on 11 September 2011. He was released only a year later.

Volyn Lutsk

In the autumn of 2013, Matei agreed to a three-year deal with Ukrainian side

, having been previously close to joining

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, the historical rival of his former club Steaua. During his spell with "the Crusaders" he made 61 appearances all competitions comprised, and scored 12 goals.

Rijeka

On 2 February 2016,

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

announced they had signed Matei on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He was given the number 10 jersey and made his debut a week later, as an 85th-minute substitute in a 2–0 home win over

NK Lokomotiva Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb (), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 19 ...

. He scored his first goal for his new team in the first leg of the

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

semi-final, helping to a 2–1 defeat of Slaven Belupo. On 9 January 2018, Rijeka loaned Matei to

in Romania until the end of the campaign.

Ittihad Kalba

In May 2018, after his loan at Astra Giurgiu expired, he moved to Emirati club Ittihad Kalba for a transfer fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

500,000. He netted his first goal on 28 September, in a 3–1 victory over

Al-Nasr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

Return to FCSB

Matei returned to his boyhood club Steaua București—now renamed FCSB—on 4 January 2019, seven years after stating that he did not regret leaving the ''Roș-albaștrii'' and being subsequently criticised by owner Gigi Becali.

Return to Astra Giurgiu

On 19 June 2019 he signed a 1-year contract with

side

Apollon Smyrnis

On 19 February 2022, Matei's contract with Greek club

Apollon Smyrnis Apollon Smyrnis Football Club () is a professional football club based in Athens, Greece, which competes in the Athens FCA first division. It is part of GS Apollon Smyrnis (Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης), ...

was terminated.

International career

Matei earned

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

's under-17 and under-19 teams. In early 2016, Romanian coach

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 ...

regarded him as a player who would deserve to be selected for the full side.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

;Rijeka *

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

: 2016–17 *

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matei, Florentin 1993 births Living people People from Bolintin-Vale Footballers from Giurgiu County Romanian men's footballers Romania men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players Serie A players Ukrainian Premier League players Croatian Football League players UAE Pro League players Cypriot First Division players Super League Greece players FCSB II players FCSB players FC Unirea Urziceni players AC Cesena players FC Volyn Lutsk players HNK Rijeka players FC Astra Giurgiu players Kalba FC players Apollon Limassol FC players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players FC UTA Arad players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece 21st-century Romanian sportsmen