Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian football manager and former player. A former striker, Moldovan most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

(he was the Nationalliga A top scorer in 1996 and 1997), for Fenerbahçe between 1998 and 2000 and for

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

between 2000 and 2004. He was a key player when Nantes won the French French Division 1 in 2001. He represented Romania in two editions of the World Cup, those held in the United States in 1994 and France in 1998, as well as two European Championships, in 1996 and 2000.

Club career

At club level, Moldovan played for Gloria Bistrița (1990–93), Dinamo București (1993–95), Neuchâtel Xamax (1995–96), Grasshoppers (1996–97), Coventry City (1998), Fenerbahçe (1998–2000),

(2000–04), Servette (2004), FCU Politehnica Timișoara (2005), and Rapid București (2006–2007). The most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in

(he was the Swiss Super League top scorer in 1996 and 1997), for Fenerbahçe between 1998 and 2000 and for

between 2000 and 2004. He was a key player when Nantes won the French French Division 1 in 2001. During his brief spell in England with Coventry City he scored twice, once in the FA Cup, scoring the winner against local rivals Aston Villa, and once in the league against Crystal Palace, also having a goal disallowed in the same game

International career

Moldovan was capped 70 times 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 ...

, scoring 25 goals. He represented his country at Euro 96, 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 ...

, during which he scored goals against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

in the first round, and Euro 2000.

Coaching career

Moldovan worked as the sporting director of Unirea Urziceni and after that started his coaching career at FC Vaslui. On 26 May 2009, the coach quit FC Vaslui after just seven months for failing to guide the team to European qualification. The squad was then managed by coaching assistant Cristian Dulca on a temporary basis until a new coach was hired. On 28 July 2009, the Italian coach Nicolò Napoli quit FC Brașov and was replaced by Moldovan, who signed a two-year deal.

Career statistics

International stats

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

Honours

Player

Gloria Bistrița * Divizia B: 1989–90 Grasshoppers * Nationalliga A: 1997–98 Nantes * French Division 1: 2000–01 * Coupe de la Ligue runner-up: 2003–04 * Trophée des Champions: 2001 Rapid București * Cupa României: 2005–06, 2006–07 * Supercupa României runner-up: 2006 Individual * Nationalliga A top scorer: 1995–96 (joint with Petar Aleksandrov), 1996–97 * Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1995–96, 1996–97

Coach

Chindia Târgoviște *

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 ...

: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moldovan, Viorel 1972 births Living people Footballers from Bistrița Romanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards ACF Gloria Bistrița players FC Dinamo București players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players Grasshopper Club Zurich players Coventry City F.C. players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers FC Nantes players Al Wahda FC players Servette FC players FC Politehnica Timișoara players FC Rapid București players Liga I players Liga II players Swiss Super League players Premier League players Süper Lig players Ligue 1 players UAE Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Romania men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players Romanian football managers Romanian expatriate football managers Ligue 2 managers Liga I managers Liga II managers FC Vaslui managers FC Brașov (1936) managers FC Sportul Studențesc București managers FC Rapid București managers AJ Auxerre managers AFC Chindia Târgoviște managers FC Petrolul Ploiești managers Expatriate football managers in France Romanian sports executives and administrators FC Rapid București non-playing staff 20th-century Romanian sportsmen