Romulus "Romică" Buia (born 15 June 1970 in

Baia Mare Baia Mare ( , ; ; ; ) is a Municipiu, city along the Săsar, Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramureș, a subregion of Transylvania. It is situated about from Buchare ...

) is a

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 ...

n former

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 ...

player and currently a manager. He was nicknamed "Figo from Berceni" by the fans of Rocar București which played the home games on the "Drumul Găzarului" field in the Berceni Neighborhood in Bucharest, because of the similarities with the Portuguese football star

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-t ...

. His son Darius Buia is also a footballer.

Career

Buia made his professional debut at the age of 18, playing for Minerul Cavnic in the Romanian

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 ...

, before joining

FC Baia Mare Minaur Baia Mare, known also as ''Minerul Baia Mare'', is a Romanian football club, based in Baia Mare, Maramureș County, northern Romania, founded in 1947. It currently plays in Romania's third division, Liga III. It played for seven seasons ...

at the age of 19, a club also from

. In 1991, at the age of 21, he made international debut against United States in a friendly game. He also played for

Romania national football team The Romania national football team () represents Romania in men's international Association football, football, and is administered by the Romanian Football Federation (), also known as FRF. They are colloquially known as ''Tricolorii'' ("the T ...

in 1992, this time against Mexico.

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

paid a close attention to him during the 1991–92 season. In the summer of 1992,

Johan Cruijff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest players in history and as the greatest Dutch footballe ...

, the Catalan side coach, invited him to train with the team but in the end the transfer did not materialised. Buia started the 1992–93 at

but was then transferred to Germinal Ekeren (3550) of Belgium during the season. He played in Belgium for two years, before being loaned back to Romania, this time at Universitatea Craiova, therefore making his debut in Romanian top league,

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 ...

. In 1995, he returned to

Ekeren Ekeren () is a northern district of the municipality of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The suburb celebrated its 850th birthday in 2005; the name of the town was first mentioned in 1155, as "Hecerna". The name possibly originates from ...

but after at half season he terminated his contract and returned in Romania, signing a contract with Sportul Studenţesc of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, before joining again Universitatea Craiova for two seasons. In 1998 his contract with Universitatea Craiova terminated and he failed to find another one with a top team, and therefore played for Progresul Şomcuta Mare, a team from the Romanian fourth division. In 2000, he returned to

after signing a contract with Rocar București. After only a year he joined

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 ...

but left the team at the end of 2001 to play for Gloria Bistriţa. In 2002, he was signed by Politehnica Timișoara, where he stayed until 2005, before being sacked by the new Timișoara coach,

Cosmin Olăroiu Cosmin Aurelian Olăroiu (born 10 June 1969) is a Romanian football manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of United Arab Emirates national team. As a manager, he guided Steaua București to the Divizia A title and Romani ...

and subsequently joining

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative b ...

. In the season 2005–06 he played at FCM Reșița in

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 ...

before signing for AS Covaci in Romanian

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...

. Between 2007 and 2011 he played for FC Chişoda in

and FCMU Baia Mare in

Liga III 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 ...

. Then he became the manager of FCMU Baia Mare between 2011 and 2013 until the dissolution of the club. From July 2015, he is the manager of

club, ACSF Comuna Recea.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buia, Romulus 1970 births Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Living people Footballers from Baia Mare CS Minaur Baia Mare (football) players Beerschot A.C. players FC U Craiova 1948 players FC Sportul Studențesc București players AFC Rocar București players FC Dinamo București players ACF Gloria Bistrița players FC Politehnica Timișoara players CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu players CS Progresul Șomcuta Mare players CS Minaur Baia Mare (football) managers CS Academica Recea managers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Liga I players Romanian football managers