Mirel Matei Rădoi (born 22 March 1981) is a Romanian professional football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Tai. A

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, Rădoi began his playing career at Extensiv Craiova in 1999, before signing 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 ...

one year later. Following eight-and-a-half seasons in 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 fo ...

, he spent his later career with

Al-Hilal Hilal or Al-Hilal may refer to: *Hilal ( ar, هلال, ''hilāl''), a crescent ** the crescent Moon visible after a new Moon, determining the beginning of a month in the Islamic calendar * Banu Hilal, a confederation of tribes of Arabia Arts ...

Al-Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...

, Al-Ahli and Al-Arabi. Internationally, Rădoi was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

68 times by

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

, which he represented at the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

. Rădoi's first stint as a head coach was Steaua București in 2015, where he stayed for six months. Three years later, he was appointed at the helm of the Romania under-21 national team, which he led to the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

of the 2019 UEFA European Championship. This resulted in his promotion to the senior team in November 2019, but left after two years with less success.

Playing career

Extensiv Craiova

Rădoi started to play football at the age of eight, first as a goalkeeper and then as a defender. He started his youth career at

Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern t ...

and there he was spotted by Sorin Cârțu, the coach of Extensiv Craiova, who was so impressed by him that he purchased Rădoi in 1999, financing the transfer with his own money. Rădoi made his professional debut in 1999, in a defeat against Dinamo București on 4 March 2000. he left the club.

Steaua București

Just one year later, in the summer of 2000, Rădoi joined

for a fee of €110,000. Describing his first day at Steaua, he said, "It was like a positive shock for me. Suddenly I was in the same place with players like Iulian Miu, Marius Baciu and

Miodrag Belodedici Miodrag Belodedici (; sr, Миодраг Белодедић, Miodrag Belodedić; born 20 May 1964) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a sweeper. Nicknamed ''the deer'' due to his elegant tackles, he spent the majority o ...

, players I saw on TV. It was like a dream." His coach at Steaua was Victor Pițurcă, the former Romania national team coach, who promoted him to the Steaua first team. He then became one of Steaua's most important players. In his first match for the club, a 4–3 victory over

FCM Bacău Asociația Sportivă a Suporterilor FCM 1950 Bacău, commonly known as ASS FCM 1950 Bacău, FCM 1950 Bacău or simply as FCM Bacău, is a Romanian football club based in Bacău, Bacău County. Founded in 1950 as ''Dinamo Bacău'', the club fro ...

at the Ghencea football stadium, Rădoi scored the equalizer in the ninth minute after Cătălin Cursaru had opened the scoring for Bacău less than a minute before. Steaua would go on to win the championship of the Romanian league that year, as well as the

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian 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 ...

against rivals Dinamo. In 2005, Rădoi won a second championship title; and in 2006, yet another: his third. On 24 February 2005, he won an important match in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

against holder

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. In 2006 Rădoi captained the team in the UEFA Cup semi-final against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

which Steaua lost 4–3 on aggregate. Mirel Rădoi

In the summer of 2006, a rumour circulated that Rădoi would sign for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

as soon as the transfer window opened in England, with the transfer fee estimated at around £11 million. The transfer did not materialize, however, and many speculated that the £11 million offer was no more than a ploy to jack up the player's potential transfer value before a move elsewhere. In the end, FCSB's owner

Gigi Becali George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman and former politician, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club. Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and December 2012, and a Memb ...

stated that he would not be selling Rădoi after all. Due to injury, he only played his first official game in the 2006–07 season on 12 November, a 6–0 victory against Național București.

Later career

In January 2009, Rădoi signed a three-year contract with Saudi Arabian club

which earned him

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1.4 million annually. The transfer fee FCSB received was in the region of €6 million. Rădoi made his debut for Al-Hilal in the local derby against

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yellow ...

, which Al-Hilal won 2–0 with Rădoi scoring the second goal. In his sixth game with the club, he won the Prince's Cup, defeating Al-Shabab in the final. Nicknamed "The Warrior" by his fans in Saudi Arabia, he was voted

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

Player of the Year in 2010. They even made a complete book about his career and has been published online with official website MRadoi.com. Rădoi spent three years at the club, becoming a legend, and the team's captain, before he was reunited with ex-Al-Hilal and Steaua manager

Cosmin Olăroiu Cosmin Aurelian Olăroiu (born 10 June 1969) is a Romanian professional football manager and former footballer in charge of UAE Pro League Sharjah FC. As a manager, he guided Steaua Bucharest to the Romanian League title and Romanian Supercup b ...

at Al Ain. In June 2011, Rădoi was transferred to Al Ain for a fee of €4.2 million. He signed a two-year deal worth €2.5 million annually.

International

Rădoi has been capped 67 times for the

, scoring two goals. In 2005, Romanian team manager Victor Pițurcă suspended him for leaving training camp without permission before matches against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

. Coach Pițurcă recalled him in February 2006 for a friendly tournament in Cyprus after Rădoi apologised for his behaviour. Although he was included in Romania's squad for

, he suffered an eye injury and broken nose during the second group game against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

after clashing heads with team-mate

Răzvan Raț Răzvan Dincă Raț (; born 26 May 1981) is a Romanian former footballer who mainly played as a left-back. He made a name for himself in Romania at Rapid București, with which he won two national titles, one national cup and one supercup betwe ...

, who emerged unscathed. Rădoi played no further part in the tournament. After a confrontation with

Răzvan Lucescu Răzvan Lucescu (; born 17 February 1969) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club PAOK. As a player, he operated as a goalkeeper and spent most years of his career at ...

in 2010, Radoi declared that he would retire from the national team.

Coaching career

Rădoi became the head coach of the Romania national team after resignation of Cosmin Contra in November 2019. On 22 January 2023, Rădoi was appointed as manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Tai.

Career statistics

Club

''Correct as of 1 June 2015''

International

International goals

Managerial

Honours

Player

Steaua București *

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

: 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06 *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, 2006 Al-Hilal *

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10,

Al-Ahli *

UAE Pro-League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

UAE Super Cup The UAE Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر الإماراتي), is the curtain raiser of the United Arab Emirates football season. It is played between the previous season's Pro-League winners and President's Cup Winners. The first edition was pl ...

: 2012 *

UAE President's Cup The UAE President's Cup, or simply the President Cup, is a football tournament that takes place in United Arab Emirates, between clubs in the UAE Pro League and the UAE First Division League. The winner qualifies for the AFC Champions League. Hi ...

: 2013–14 Individual *''

Gazeta Sporturilor ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' ( en, The Sports Gazette) is a daily Romanian newspaper, and the country's largest and most read sports-related publication. It is owned by Ringier Sportal S.R.L—a joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L. and the Bulgarian ...

'' Romanian Footballer of the Year runner-up: 2005 *Saudi Professional League Player of the Year: 2010

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Radoi, Mirel 1981 births Living people People from Drobeta-Turnu Severin Romanian footballers Romania international footballers Romanian expatriate footballers FC Drobeta-Turnu Severin players FC Steaua București players Association football fullbacks UEFA Euro 2008 players Liga I players Liga II players Saudi Professional League players UAE Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Al Hilal SFC players Al Ain FC players Al Ahli Club (Dubai) players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Qatar Romanian football managers Liga I managers Saudi Professional League managers FC Steaua București managers CS Universitatea Craiova managers Al-Ta'ee managers Romania national football team managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia