Liviu Ciobotariu (born 26 March 1971) 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 ...

manager and former player, who is currently in charge of

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 ...

club Petrolul Ploiești.

Club career

Ciobotariu debuted 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 ...

with Progresul București in 1992.

International career

Ciobotariu made his debut for the Romania national team in 1997 against

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, and represented his country at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

and

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

. He played his last international match in 2001, and got 32 caps and 3 goals in total.

Managerial career

Ciobotariu retired in 2005 and began to coach in 2006. Between July 2011 and April 2012, he was the manager of

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 ...

. In January 2015, he took control of ASA Târgu Mureș. Ciobotariu brought the team to the first position in

, but failed to win the championship after two losses in the last two games of the 2014–15 season. At the end of the season, Ciobotariu ended his contract with ASA on mutual agreement. On 4 June 2015, he was appointed as head coach of

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

side Al-Faisaly, before moving to

Al-Ta'ee Al-Tai Football Club () is a professional football club based in the city of Ha'il, in north-western Saudi Arabia, that plays in the Saudi First Division League, the second tier of Saudi football. History Al-Tai won the Saudi First Division ...

in 2017. After one season, Ciobotariu was appointed manager of

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

. On 3 June 2019, Ciobotariu was named manager of the Lebanon national team. After coaching for 10 games, on 17 June 2020 the

Lebanese Football Association The Lebanese Football Association (LFA; ; ) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. Formed in 1933, it is a member of both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, AFC. It is also one of the founding members of the West Asian ...

(LFA) decided not to extend Ciobotariu's contract, which had expired. On 15 January 2021, Ciobotariu was appointed head coach of Liga I club

Hermannstadt Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the ...

, signing a two-year contract. He was dismissed on 21 March after winning only one game out of 12. He became head coach of fellow Liga I side

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 ...

on 7 May 2021.

Personal life

His son

Denis Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, Bishop of Győr (13th century), Hungarian prelate * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), bar ...

is also a footballer.

Career statistics

International

:''Romania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ciobotariu goal.''

Honours

Player

Progresul București *

Divizia B 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 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

: 1991–92 *

Divizia C 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 ...

: 1989–90 *

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 ...

runner-up: 1996–97 Dinamo București *

: 1999–00 *

: 1999–00, 2004–05

Coach

Voluntari *

runner-up: 2021–22 Sepsi OSK *

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 ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

'' Romania Coach of the Month: September 2021, July 2023, August 2023

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciobotariu, Liviu 1971 births Living people Footballers from Giurgiu County Romanian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders FC Progresul București players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players FC Dinamo București players Standard Liège players R.A.E.C. Mons (1910) players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Liga I players Liga II players Belgian Pro League players Romania men's international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Romanian football managers FC Progresul București managers FCM Dunărea Galați managers CS Otopeni managers FC Internațional Curtea de Argeș managers CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu managers AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila managers FC Dinamo București managers FC Politehnica Iași (2010) managers FC Vaslui managers ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș managers Al Faisaly FC managers Al-Tai FC managers FC Botoșani managers Lebanon national football team managers FC Hermannstadt managers FC Voluntari managers Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe managers FC Petrolul Ploiești managers Liga I managers Liga II managers Saudi Pro League managers Saudi First Division League managers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate football managers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Lebanon Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon 20th-century Romanian sportsmen