Florin Lucian Cernat (born 10 March 1980) is a former Romanian 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, currently sporting director at

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 ...

club

Voluntari Voluntari () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located at a distance of 1 km from the northern border of Bucharest (on the DN2 road towards Urziceni) and is thus frequently viewed as a suburb of Bucharest. The population ...

Club career

Oțelul Galați & Dinamo București

Florin Cernat started his professional career at Oțelul Galați. In 2000, he was noticed by

Dinamo Bucharest 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 Yekaterinb ...

. Dinamo ended up buying him. The rising star was played most of the entire 2000–01 season, appearing for 25 out of 30 league matches. He helped the team finish second in the league and qualify for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. Cernat also participated in the team's

UEFA Champions League 2000-01 The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, ...

campaign, which ended prematurely in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

Dynamo Kyiv

During that period, Dynamo Kyiv's coach,

Valeriy Lobanovskiy Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi (, ; 6 January 1939 – 13 May 2002) was а Soviet and Ukraine, Ukrainian association football, football player and manager. He was Master of Sports of the USSR, Distinguished Coach of the USSR, and a laureate of ...

was looking for players to replace the stars that he had recently sold. This included

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest Striker (association football), strik ...

and

Kakha Kaladze Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ "კახა" კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who has served as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he ...

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

Serhii Rebrov Serhiy Stanislavovych Rebrov (; born 3 June 1974) is a Ukrainian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of Ukraine. Rebrov gained international fame as an attacking partner of Andr ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, and

Oleh Luzhnyi Oleh Romanovych Luzhnyi (; born 5 August 1968) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Club career Luzhnyi is a product of the Karpaty sports school (coached by Yuriy Hdanskyi and Yuriy Dyachuk-Stavytskyi) an ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. In July 2001 Cernat transferred to Dynamo Kyiv, where he contributed to the team and won many titles. Returning from loan to Dynamo, Cernat was rarely able to prove himself under new coach

Yuri Semin Yury Pavlovich Syomin (; born 11 May 1947) is a Russian football coach. He has managed FC Lokomotiv Moscow for 4 different stints, for a total of over 23 years. The recent history of the Russian club has been associated with him, as he was also ...

. On 24 December 2008, Cernat announced that he would leave Kyiv in the summer after 8 years. One of his most notable games for Dynamo occurred in the

2004–05 UEFA Champions League The 2004–05 UEFA Champions League was the 50th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the 13th since it was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League in 1992. The competition was won by Liverpool, who beat Milan on penalt ...

, Group Stage game 2 (28 September 2004) against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. Cernat came off as a substitute and scored the third and fourth goal for Dynamo in a 4–2 victory at Olympiskiy stadium.

Hajduk Split

With new coach

Anatoliy Demyanenko Anatoliy Vasilyovych Demyanenko (, born 19 February 1959), sometimes referred to as Anatoli Demianenko, is a Ukrainian football coach and former player. As a player, he was deployed at left-back and notably represented Dynamo Kyiv and the USSR ...

in 2005, Florin Cernat came out of favour with the coach and rarely saw the field. For the 2007–08 season, Demyanenko loaned him off to the Croatian Premier League club

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

for a transfer fee of 312,000 £. There, his team earned second place in 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 ...

, losing in the final to

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

. After the completion of the

Ukrainian Premier League 2008-09 Ukrainian may refer or relate to: * Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe * Ukrainians, an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine * Demographics of Ukraine * Ukrainian culture, composed of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian peopl ...

season Cernat signed new deal with his former club Hajduk Split.Чернат возвращается в "Хайдук" (Cernat returns to "Hajduk")
- 26 June 2009

Kardemir Karabükspor

In August 2010 he signed a five-year deal with Turkish

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 ...

club

Kardemir Karabükspor Kardemir Demir Çelik Karabükspor, known simply as Kardemir Karabükspor or Karabükspor, was a Turkish sports club based in Karabük. The team was founded in 1969 after a merger between "Karabük Gençlikspor" and "Demir Çelik Spor". The club ...

Çaykur Rizespor

In March 2013, he signed for newcomers

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...

. He immediately was given the number 10 and was awarded the captainship. Cernat helped his side to get promoted to the

Return to Oțelul

In September 2014, Cernat accepted the offer to return to Oțelul Galați, the first club of his career. He signed a contract for a season, with an option to extend the deal for an extra season.

Style of play

Cernat was known for his excellent passing play, great vision on field, and highly precise free-kicks and exceptional dribbling ability.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cernat goal''.

Honours

Dinamo 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 ...

: 1999–2000 *

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 ...

: 1999–2000 Dynamo Kyiv *

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

: 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09 *

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( ) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qu ...

: 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07 *

Ukrainian Super Cup The Ukrainian Super Cup () is an association football game of the Ukrainian Premier League in traditional super cup format that acts as the grand-opening for every new football (soccer), football competition season in Ukraine. Originally it was s ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

* Independent States Cup:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Hajduk Split *

: 2009–10 Voluntari *

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual *

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 ...

Player of the Month: May 2015

References

External links

* * *
Florin Cernat
at Nogometni Magazin * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cernat, Florin 1980 births Living people Footballers from Galați Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders ASC Oțelul Galați players FC Dinamo București players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players HNK Hajduk Split players Kardemir Karabükspor footballers Çaykur Rizespor footballers FC Viitorul Constanța players FC Voluntari players Liga I players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Croatian Football League players Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Romanian sports executives and administrators 21st-century Romanian sportsmen