Romanian footballer
Marius Constantin Niculae (born 16 May 1981) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a striker.
Niculae started his career with Dinamo București, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his first team debut in 1996 while he was still 15 years old and finished his time at the club having scored 44 goals in 100 Divizia A appearances. He joined Primeira Liga club Sporting CP in 2001 after signing for a reported transfer fee of $3,000,000. However, the actual transfer fee is believed to be around $4,500,000. His spell in Portugal is marked by many injuries netting only 14 goals in 59 league appearances, before leaving the club in 2005. He subsequently played for Standard Liège, Mainz 05 and Inverness, before returning to Dinamo in July 2008. Most of his four-year second spell for Dinamo, he activated as team captain until his departure to Vaslui in July 2012.
His honours include two league titles (one with Dinamo and one with Sporting), three Romanian Cups, one UEFA Cup runner-up, one Romanian Super Cup and one Portuguese Supercup. In 2001, Niculae won Divizia A Golden Boot netting 20 times. In the same year, Niculae came second in voting for the Romanian Footballer of the Year.
Described as a physical striker, with great ability in the air, Niculae made his international debut in 2000 at only 18 years old and has represented Romania at the Euro 2008. Niculae first captained his country in 2012, in the friendly match against Turkmenistan in the absence of regular captain Răzvan Raț. He managed 44 caps for Romania, scoring 15 goals.
Early life.
Niculae's father Constantin Niculae is a former judoka, who worked for Dinamo București as a Fitness Coach since 1996 until his departure in 2006. Niculae began judo at the age of five, and had attained a black belt while he was trained by his father. He later stated: "The fact that I practiced this sport [judo] in the childhood, helped me to develop both mentally and physically. I think I avoided many injuries just for the fact that I learned how to fall without any danger for my health".
Niculae began his football career in 1990, playing for Dinamo under the guidance of Gheorghe Timar. Niculae spent six years at Dinamo's youth academy, before he was promoted by Cornel Dinu at the first team squad. During his first two years as a professional, he activated for both first team as well for the youth squad. During the 1997–98 season, while playing in the youth championship, goalkeeper Cristian Munteanu was sent-off, and since there were no substitutes left, Niculae replaced him without receiving any goal from Petrolul Ploiești.
Club career.
Dinamo.
On 22 November 1996, Niculae became the third youngest-ever player to debut in Divizia A, at 15 years and 190 days, after coming on as a substitute in Dinamo's 5–2 win at home against Farul Constanța.
He started the 1997–98 season, playing his first match in a European competition, appearing 
in a 0–2 historical defeat against Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur on 23 July 1997. On 4 April 1998, he was in the start-up team in a 0–5 away defeat against Steaua, Dinamo's biggest margin defeat in the Eternal derby. One week later, Niculae managed to score his first league goals, netting a brace in a 7–1 home win against Jiul Petroșani. On 19 April, he scored another brace against FC Național in a 4–2 home win. He scored four goals in 12 appearances, in his second season as a professional. On 13 May, he scored another two goals against FC Național, in a 5–0 League Cup win, in the second round of the South Group.
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"Marius is a force of nature, he knows how to use his strength and his body in front of the goal. Look how many goals he scored with his style of play, besides he has a powerful shot."
–Cornel Țălnar, former Dinamo București manager
Following Cornel Dinu's appointment as team manager, the 17-year-old's career began to take off, as he was used more often. He later stated: "The most close [manager] to me is Cornel Dinu. When he was Dinamo's manager, I made my first-team debut at 15 years and a half and I ended up winning two cups and one championship." He scored his first league goal from the 1998–99 season on 26 September, helping his team to demolish Universitatea Cluj 8–0. He did not find the net again until 21 November when he opened the scoreboard against Petrolul Ploiești in a 3–2 away win. His final goals of 1998 came on 9 December in a 2–0 cup win against UM Timișoara, netting a brace. He scored his first goal for Dinamo in 1999 on 2 April in a 5–0 home win against Olimpia Satu Mare. He scored again against Universitatea Cluj on 21 April in a 6–0 away win, establishing the final score. He scored a late goal against Petrolul Ploiești on 26 May, thus being his final goal of the season. He ended up second in the league with Dinamo, netting seven times in 28 appearances. He also reached Romanian Cup semi-finals, scoring twice for his team.
The start of the 1999–00 season saw Niculae partnering Adrian Mutu and Adrian Mihalcea in the forward line, replacing Ion Vlădoiu who eventually left Dinamo since he became just a back-up player. On 12 August, he scored his first goal in a European competition in the 6–2 away win against Mondercange, netting Dinamo's sixth. Three days later, he scored the match-winning goal against Universitatea Craiova in a 2–1 league win. He scored again next round in a 4–1 home win over Petrolul Ploiești. On 26 August, Niculae netted his first hat-trick in the second leg against Mondercange, helping his team to win 7–0. Niculae managed to score in six consecutive games in all competitions, after he netted two more goals against Astra Ploiești and Rocar București, netting eight times overall. On 16 September, he played in a 1–0 away victory over Benfica in the UEFA Cup, coming in as a substitute for Daniel Iftodi. However, Dinamo failed to qualify further since they lost the second leg 0–2. Despite his excellent start, he did not managed to reproduce his form in the following months, netting only three goals until the end of 1999; once in the cup in a 3–1 win against Rocar București, and twice in the league against FCM Bacău and FCM Reșița. During the winter break, Niculae was close to a move to Serie A side U.S. Lecce, but according to Pantaleo Corvino, the player had a change of heart during the Cyprus Four Nations Football Tournament, when he was called for the first time at the national team, so therefore the transfer collapsed. During the Cyprus Tournament, Niculae suffered an injury that forced him out from the field for more than one month and a half. He made his come-back on 2 April, when he scored a brace in a 2–1 victory against FCM Bacău, opening his league account for 2000. He scored again three days later, in a 3–4 away defeat against FC Brașov. On 12 April, he scored in the second leg of the Romanian Cup semi-finals against Oțelul Galați, helping his team to win 3–1 and advance into the final. On 3 May, Niculae scored a brace against FC Argeș and he also wore the captain's armband for the first time for the closing stages of the match, after both Ioan Lupescu and Adrian Mihalcea were substituted off. Niculae won his first major trophy of his career as Dinamo bagged their first top-flight title in eight years, by a twelve-point margin, contributing with 13 goals in 27 appearances. Dinamo manage The Double on 13 May, as they won 2–0 against Universitatea Craiova in the Romanian Cup final, with Niculae opening the scoreboard from the penalty spot in the 31st minute. Since Niculae was not included in the squad for the Euro 2000 final tournament, he was selected for Romania U21 as they were allowed to participate in the League Cup. He scored a hat-trick against Rocar București and a brace against FC Național for Romania U21, before he was allowed to return to Dinamo for the final match of the South Group against Steaua București. Niculae scored his first goals in the Eternal derby against Steaua, netting twice as Dinamo gained an emphatic 7–0 win, highest margin of goals between the two teams.
With the departure of Ioan Lupescu during the summer of 2000, Niculae was handed the Number 10 jersey for Dinamo, switching his old squad number 16. He opened the 2000–01 season netting with a header in a UEFA Cup game against Polonia Warsaw in a 3–4 home defeat on 26 July. His league account started barely in the 5th round on 13 September, netting Dinamo's first in a 2–0 away win against Gaz Metan Mediaș. He failed to score again until 15 October, when he netted against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț in a 3–3 away draw. He repeated the process two more rounds, when he scored twice against Rocar București in a 3–1 away win and once against FC Brașov in 2–0 away win. On 11 November, he scored with a header against Foresta Fălticeni giving his team a 4–0 lead in the 47th minute, only to receive five goals in the last 30 minutes of play, Dinamo losing the game 4–5. Despite the team was struggling in the championship, he was having an excellent run continuing to score against Universitatea Craiova and a brace against Astra Ploiești. On 30 November, he converted a controversial penalty against Rapid București, helping his team to qualify in the Romanian Cup semi-finals. He was selected by the fans "Dinamo Player of the Year", gaining 58% of the votes. In March 2001, Niculae continued where he left off the previous year, netting against FC Național and Rapid București from the penalty spot. He helped his team to reach the Romanian Cup final, netting in both legs of the semi-finals against Sportul Studențesc, Dinamo claiming a 5–3 win on aggregate. On 14 April, Niculae scored his first league hat-trick against Gaz Metan Mediaș in a 4–2 home win. In May, Niculae continued his quest for the Golden Boot, scoring three more goals against FCM Bacău, Petrolul Ploiești and Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, taking his league tally of goals up to 17. On 19 May, he scored twice against Gloria Bistrița in a 3–1 home win. On 9 June, he scored in a 3–1 win against Universitatea Craiova, ending his tally of goals at 20, just enough for him to win the Golden Boot. He ended up second in the league with Dinamo, managing to play in 27 games. On 16 June, he scored a brace against Rocar București in the Romanian Cup final, helping his team to claim the trophy after winning 4–2. Niculae dedicated his goals to former team captain Cătălin Hîldan, who died on the pitch in a friendly match against Șantierul Naval Oltenița on 5 October 2000. After the match, he stated: "We played this game thinking of Cătălin Hîldan, in his memory. I dedicate the goals I've scored to Cătălin and his family". Niculae was selected player of the season by Radio România Actualități, being rewarded with a Dacia SupeRNova, which he later gave to his father.
Sporting.
On 7 July 2001, Niculae completed his move to Primeira Liga side Sporting Lisboa, signing a three-year contract with the option of a further two seasons for a reported fee of $3,000,000, despite it is believed that the real transfer fee is estimated around $4,500,000. He was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Ivaylo Yordanov. He made his debut for Sporting in a friendly match against Académica Coimbra, coming in as a substitute in the 75th minute and netting five minutes later in a 5–2 victory. After he scored, he kissed the crest of the shirt, dedicating his goal to the team supporters.
On 12 August, he made his official debut for Sporting netting the winning goal against archrivals Porto in a 1–0 home victory. Following his goal against Porto, shirt sales featuring Niculae's name and number went crazy making an income of nearly $65,000 that day. He received the first red card of his career next round,