Florin Niță

Florin Constantin Niță (Romanian pronunciation: [floˈrin konstanˈtin ˈnit͡sə]; born 3 July 1987) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Czech club Sparta Prague.

Florin Niță
Niță with Sparta Prague in 2018
Personal information
Full name Florin Constantin Niță
Date of birth (1987-07-03) 3 July 1987
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Sparta Prague
Number 1
Youth career
1994–2001 Steaua București
2001–2005 Rapid București
2005–2006 Astra Ploiești
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2013 Concordia Chiajna 117 (0)
2013–2018 FCSB 87 (0)
2018– Sparta Prague 63 (0)
National team‡
2017– Romania 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2019

He started his senior career at Concordia Chiajna, before returning to FC Steaua București where he was previously a junior. Niță won six honours during his spell with the capital team, and at the start of 2018 transferred to the Czech Republic with Sparta Prague.

Niță earned his first cap for the Romanian national team in November 2017, in an exhibition match against Turkey.

Club career

Early years

Born in Bucharest, Niță started playing football at the age of seven for Steaua București.[1] In 2001, he moved to local rivals Rapid București, where he stayed for four years. He spent his last season as a junior at Astra Ploiești.[2]

Concordia Chiajna

In 2006, at the age of 19, Niță joined Concordia Chiajna and played his first senior matches in the Liga III,[2] the third level of the Romanian football league system.

He made his debut in the first division in a 1–2 home loss to Sportul Studențesc on 25 July 2011.[3]

Steaua București

In December 2012, it was announced that Niță signed a contract with FC Steaua București, with the goalkeeper due to join the team in the summer of the following year.[4]

Niță started to appear frequently for the Roș-albaștrii in the 2015–16 season, in which he recorded 32 matches in all competitions. On 16 August 2016, he saved one of the two penalty kicks missed by Sergio Agüero in the Champions League play-off defeat to Manchester City.[5]

In May 2017, Niță agreed to a new deal with the club, now named FCSB, that would have kept him in Bucharest until 2021.[6][7] His good display throughout the year also earned him the third place in Gazeta Sporturilor's Romanian Footballer of the Year award, which he shared with Ștefan Radu.

Sparta Prague

Niță was transferred to Czech team Sparta Prague on 1 February 2018 for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be €2 million plus €500,000 in bonuses.[8][9]

International career

On 18 March 2017, following Silviu Lung Jr.'s injury, Niță was picked by manager Christoph Daum in Romania's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Denmark.[10] Later that year, former Romanian internationals Helmuth Duckadam, Gheorghe Hagi and Laurențiu Reghecampf claimed that Niță's omissal from the squad was "unjust";[11][12] Hagi even went as far as to say that the goalkeeper should claim the starting spot of Ciprian Tătărușanu.[13]

He made his debut for the full side on 9 November 2017, entering as a 71st-minute substitute for Costel Pantilimon in a 2–0 friendly win over Turkey in Cluj-Napoca.[14]

Career statistics

Club
As of 23 November 2019[15]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Concordia Chiajna 2007–08 70??–––70
2008–09 150??–––150
2009–10 290??–––290
2010–11 27000–––270
2011–12 21000–––210
2012–13 18020–––200
Total 1170200000001190
FCSB 2013–14 5030–000080
2014–15 301020000060
2015–16 29010101000320
2016–17 290202090–420
2017–18 21000–80–290
Total 8707050180001170
Sparta Prague 2017–18 14000–0000140
2018–19 26000–2000280
2019–20 11020–2000150
Total 51020–4000570
Career total 255011050220002930

International
As of 19 November 2019[16]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Romania
201710
201810
Total20

Honours

Club
Steaua București[15]
Sparta Prague[15]

Individual

References
  1. ""La Steaua n-am avut nicio şansă!" Povestea EMOŢIONANTĂ a portarului care a eliminat liderul din Cupă! Şi-a pierdut părinţii şi casa" ["I had no chance at Steaua!" The HEARTWARMING story of the goalkeeper who eliminated the leader from the Cup! He lost his parents and his home] (in Romanian). ProSport. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  2. "Veteran la 24 de ani! A fost şcolit la Steaua şi Rapid" [24-year-old hotshot! He spent his youth career at Steaua and Rapid] (in Romanian). ProSport. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  3. "ETAPA 1, CONCORDIA CHIAJNA – SPORTUL STUDENŢESC" (in Romanian). ProSport. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  4. "Steaua a transferat un portar din Liga 1! Becali a dat deja banii pe el: "Stati linistiti, are Tatarusanu competitie din vara!" Cine a semnat cu Steaua" [Steaua transferred a Liga 1 goalkeeper! Becali already paid the money for him: "Stay calm, Tătărușanu will face competition from the summer!" Who signed for Steaua] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  5. "Sergio Aguero hat trick as Man City cruise at Steaua Bucharest". ESPN FC. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  6. "FCSB i-a prelungit contractul lui Florin Niță până în 2021". DolceSport. 19 May 2017.
  7. "Veste uriaşă pentru Niţă!". Digi Sport. 19 May 2017.
  8. "Florin Nita přichází na Letnou" [Florin Niță is coming to Letná] (in Czech). Sparta Prague. 1 February 2018. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  9. "Florin Nita, despartire emotionanta de FCSB – Portarul va evolua la Sparta Praga" [Florin Niță, emotional parting from FCSB – The goalkeeper will play for Sparta Prague] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  10. "OFICIAL! Florin Niţă a fost convocat la echipa naţională, în locul lui Silviu Lung" [OFFICIAL! Florin Niță has been called up for the national team, replacing Silviu Lung] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  11. "EXCLUSIV Niţă, sfătuit să renunţe la echipa naţională: "În locul lui, aşa aş face! Nu are rost!"" (in Romanian). ProSport. 14 March 2017.
  12. "Cum a comentat Reghecampf faptul că Daum nu l-a luat pe Niță la "națională"" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 17 March 2017.
  13. "Niţă, propus de Hagi la naţională: "Ar merita să fie titular, cu noi a fost cel mai bun din lume"" (in Romanian). Fanatik. 8 March 2017.
  14. "România-Turcia, 2 – 0. Gheorghe Grozav a marcat de două ori pentru echipa națională" [Romania-Turkey, 2–0. Gheorghe Grozav scored twice for the national team] (in Romanian). Pro TV. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  15. "F. Niță". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  16. "Florin Niță". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 26 March 2018.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.