Sergiu Cătălin Hanca (; born 4 April 1992) is a 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 plays as a winger or a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

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. Hanca began his senior career with spells at Snagov, Bihor Oradea, and his hometown club ASA Târgu Mureș, before making a name for himself at Dinamo București. He moved abroad for the first time by signing with Cracovia in 2019, for which he appeared in over 100

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

matches. Three years later, Hanca returned to Romania at Universitatea Craiova. Internationally, Hanca recorded his debut for

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 ...

in June 2017, in a 1–3 FIFA World Cup qualifier loss to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Club career

Early career

Hanca played football as a youngster for his hometown club FCM Târgu Mureș. In 2009, he joined

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 ...

team Snagov, for which he amassed 38 league games and one goal. At the start of 2012, Hanca had a brief stint at Bihor Oradea.

Return to Târgu Mureș

During mid-2012, Hanca was brought back by his former youth side FCM Târgu Mureș. He made 22 appearances and scored two goals during the 2013–14 season, as his team achieved promotion to the

. On 8 July 2015, Hanca won his first career trophy after his club—which was renamed ASA Târgu Mureș—defeated

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 ...

1–0 in the

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 ...

. He recorded his debut in European competitions on 6 August 2015, starting in a 2–1 away victory over

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

in the Europa League play-off round.

Dinamo București

On 8 January 2016, Hanca signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with fellow Liga I team Dinamo București. He made his official debut for "the Red Dogs" in a 1–0 league win over

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 14 February. On 17 May, he started in the

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 ...

final played against

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

, which Dinamo lost 4–5 at the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Hanca scored his first goal on 17 October 2016, in a 2–1 victory against Universitatea Craiova in the Liga I. On the 30th the next month, he converted a penalty in a 3–1

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

defeat of FC Steaua București. On 20 May 2017, he won the Cupa Ligii trophy after his side defeated ACS Poli Timișoara 2–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Cracovia

Universitatea Craiova

On 29 July 2022, Hanca returned to Romania and its Liga I by signing a three-year deal with Universitatea Craiova. He scored his only goal in a 2–1 local derby win over FC U Craiova, on 7 August. Hanca soon fell out of favour with head coach

Mirel Rădoi Mirel Matei Rădoi (born 22 March 1981) is a Romanian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club CS Universitatea Craiova, Universitatea Craiov ...

and the club's directors, being sent to the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

and suing them for €2 million. He terminated his contract on 18 June 2023, after receiving €120,000 in compensations.

Petrolul Ploiești

On 5 July 2023, Hanca agreed to a contract with Petrolul Ploiești.

International career

In March 2017, Hanca was selected by manager

Christoph Daum Christoph Paul Daum (24 October 1953 – 24 August 2024) was a German professional Association football, football manager and player. As a manager, he won eight trophies with clubs from Germany, Turkey and Austria. In 1992, he won the Bundesliga ...

's squad for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. On 10 June that year, he made his debut by coming on as a substitute in a 1–3 loss to

in the same competition.

Personal life

Hanca married his girlfriend Andreea in May 2016, and their wedding took place in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

in the summer of the same year. The couple is known for its

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

work.

Career statistics

International

Honours

ASA Târgu Mureș *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Dinamo București *

runner-up: 2015–16 * Cupa Ligii: 2016–17 Cracovia *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

: 2019–20 *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Individual *

Team of the Season: 2016–17 * Digi Sport Liga I Player of the Month: April 2017, August 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanca, Sergiu 1992 births Living people Footballers from Târgu Mureș Romanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players Ekstraklasa players FC Bihor Oradea (1958) players ACS Olimpic Snagov players ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș players FC Dinamo București players KS Cracovia players CS Universitatea Craiova players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Romania men's international footballers 21st-century Romanian sportsmen