Ionel Daniel DÃÂnciulescu (born 6 December 1976) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently general manager at Liga II club CS Dinamo BucureÃÂti.
He holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in Liga I, with 515 games played over the course of twenty years. He is the second-highest scorer in the history of Liga I with 214 goals, only behind Dudu Georgescu who netted 252. He also scored 35 goals in the Cupa României and he is the player with the most appearances, 36, in the Dinamo â Steaua derby in which he scored 13 goals (eight for Steaua and five for Dinamo) which makes him the top-scorer alongside Florea Voinea.
DÃÂnciulescu was born on 6 December 1976 in Slatina, Romania. He began playing junior-level football in his hometown at CSàSlatina, alongside Claudiu Niculescu, IonuàLuÃÂu and Augustin ChiriÃÂàunder coach Ion Pârvulescu.
In 1993, DÃÂnciulescu joined Electroputere Craiova, making his Divizia A debut at age 16 on 6 October 1993 under coach Ovidiu Drânceanu in a 2âÂÂ2 draw against the city rival Universitatea Craiova. Over the course of two seasons with Electroputere, he scored eight goals in 31 league games, his first goal was in a 2âÂÂ2 draw against Dinamo BucureÃÂti, and he also netted a double in a 4âÂÂ2 loss to Steaua BucureÃÂti. During this period he played alongside the likes of ÃÂtefan Nanu, Gabriel Popescu, Sabin Ilie and Claudiu RÃÂducanu.
In 1995, Electroputere was relegated to the second league, DÃÂnciulescu having offers to remain in the first division, choosing to sign with Dinamo BucureÃÂti after being convinced by the club's officials Mircea Stoenescu and Cornel Dinu. He spent two seasons with The Red Dogs, scoring 22 goals in 64 games Divizia A games, including his first hat-trick in the competition in a 3âÂÂ0 win over AS BacÃÂu.
During the first half of the 1997âÂÂ98 season, DÃÂnciulescu had a brief spell in the Turkish Super League with Altay. The Turkish club paid a fee around $400,000 to Dinamo for him and Marius Coporan, because coach Marian Bondrea wanted them there, where they were teammates with another Romanian, DÃÂnuà £ Moisescu. He played seven games for them and scored one goal against Beà Âiktaà Â.
DÃÂnciulescu and Coporan returned to Romania from Turkey, after Steaua BucureÃÂti paid Altay the same money they paid for their acquisition from Dinamo. DÃÂnciulescu helped the club win the title in his first season spent at the club, being used by coach Mihai StoichiÃÂàin 25 games in which he scored 14 goals, being the team's second top-scorer with three goals behind CÃÂtÃÂlin Munteanu. In the following season, he won the 1998âÂÂ99 Cupa României, being used by coach Emerich Jenei in the first 51 minutes when he replaced him with IonuàLuÃÂu in the victory at the penalty shoot-out in the final against Rapid BucureÃÂti. DÃÂnciulescu helped the club reach the round of 32 in the 1999âÂÂ2000 UEFA Cup, playing seven games in the campaign as they got past Levadia Tallinn, LASK Linz against whom he scored a goal, and West Ham United, being eliminated by Slavia Prague. He won another league title in the 2000âÂÂ01 season with The Military Men, contributing with six goals scored in the 26 appearances given to him by coach Victor PiÃÂurcÃÂ. He also earned the nickname "Corbul" (The Raven) from his teammate Adrian Matei during this period.
In the middle of the 2001âÂÂ02 season, DÃÂnciulescu had a conflict with coach PiÃÂurcÃÂ, having to leave the team.
He signed again with Dinamo BucureÃÂti who paid $350,000 to Steaua for his transfer. At the beginning of this second spell he had probably the hardest time of his career, as the team's fans were cussing him at games because he played for Steaua and scored against Dinamo. DÃÂnciulescu netted three goals in the 13 appearances given to him by coaches Cornel Dinu and Marin Ion as the team won the title at the end of the 2001âÂÂ02 season. During that period, he even played in the second league at Poiana Câmpina, then a satellite team of Dinamo. He came back strong during the following season, scoring 16 goals in 26 league games, also helping the club win the Cupa României, being used by coach Ioan Andone for the entire match in the 1âÂÂ0 victory against NaÃÂional BucureÃÂti in the final. The fans eventually accepted him as he became a top-scorer of the team. In the following years, DÃÂnciulescu made a successful partnership in the team's offence with Claudiu Niculescu, and the Romanian press called them the "N&D couple", a nickname inspired by the first letters of their family names and the Romanian pop band "N&D".
He helped the team win The Double in the 2003âÂÂ04 season, scoring 21 goals in the 29 league matches coach Andone used him, which made him the top-scorer of the season. However, DÃÂnciulescu did not play in the 2âÂÂ0 victory against OÃÂelul GalaÃÂi in the Cupa României final as he was suspended after receiving a red card. In the same season he contributed to the elimination of LiepÃÂjas Metalurgs and Shakhtar Donetsk by scoring two goals against the first and one against the latter in the UEFA Cup. The campaign ended when they were eliminated in the second round of the competition by Spartak Moscow against whom he scored a brace in the second leg. In the first half of the following season he scored 11 goals in 15 league appearances. He also played in the Champions League qualifying rounds, scoring the goals in both 1âÂÂ0 victories against à ½ilina. In the following round, his pressure led Quinton Fortune to score an own goal in the eventual 5âÂÂ1 aggregate loss to Manchester United. These performances and his double scored for the national team in the 5âÂÂ1 victory in the friendly against Germany, earned DÃÂnciulescu the 2004 Romanian Footballer of the Year award.
In the 2006âÂÂ07 season, he was the team's second top-scorer after Claudiu Niculescu as he netted the goal 15 times in the 31 appearances given to him by coach Mircea Rednic, including a spectacular scissors kick goal in a 4âÂÂ2 victory in a derby against Steaua, helping the team win the title. He also appeared in 12 matches in which he scored five goals as the club reached the round of 32 in the 2006âÂÂ07 UEFA Cup where they lost with 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate to Benfica. In the following season, Dinamo had the objective of reaching the Champions League group stage, DÃÂnciulescu managing to score a goal with a header after a pass from Cristian Pulhac in the 1âÂÂ1 draw from the first leg of the third qualifying round against Lazio Roma, but they did not qualify, losing with 3âÂÂ1 the second leg. DÃÂnciulescu formed a partnership in Dinamo's offence with Florin Bratu, and the Romanian press called them "BD in action", a nickname inspired by the first letters of their family names and the Romanian movie "BD in action". By the end of the 2007âÂÂ08 season the team had no chance of winning the title, but rivals Steaua were in first position, having scheduled a match on Dinamo's ground. The match ended with a 2âÂÂ1 victory for Dinamo with DÃÂnciulescu and Bratu scoring the goals. That victory helped CFR Cluj advance to the first position and become champions after the final round of the season. DÃÂnciulescu was the top-scorer of that season with 21 goals.
In August 2009 after scoring a double against CeahlÃÂul Piatra NeamÃÂ, he became the fourth overall scorer in the history of the Romanian First Division with 187 goals, only behind Dudu Georgescu, Rodion CÃÂmÃÂtaru and Marin Radu. DÃÂnciulescu helped the club fulfill "The wonder from Liberec" by winning with 3âÂÂ0 the away game against Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009âÂÂ10 Europa League. However, shortly afterwards he left Dinamo to go play for Hércules Alicante in Segunda División as he was not getting along with coach Dario Bonetti. His last game was a 1âÂÂ0 away victory against Steaua after which he was applauded by the 10,000 people who were at the stadium, including Steaua's fans.
In 2005, Dinamo loaned him out to Chinese side Shandong Luneng for $500,000, who paid DÃÂnciulescu a salary of $350,000 for 11 months. He worked with coach Ljubià ¡a TumbakoviÃÂ, scoring 10 goals in 26 league games which helped the team finish the championship in third place, and also they reached the Chinese FA Cup final where he played the entire match in the 1âÂÂ0 loss to Dalian Shide. During the same period, the team managed to reach the AFC Champions League quarter-finals with him netting a brace in a 4âÂÂ1 win over BEC Tero in the group stage.
In August 2009, DÃÂnciulescu signed a two-year contract with Spanish side Hércules Alicante in the Segunda División which paid Dinamo around â¬400,000, as he was wanted there by his former coach from The Red Dogs, Esteban Vigo. DÃÂnciulescu scored 10 goals in 25 league games which helped Hércules earn the second place at the end of the championship, thus promoting to La Liga after a 13 year-break. He also scored two goals in the Spanish Cup against SD Huesca and AlmerÃÂa.
After only one year with Hércules, his contract was terminated, so DÃÂnciulescu came back to Dinamo in July 2010, where he reunited with coach Ioan Andone. On 26 September 2011, he scored his 198th goal in Liga I in a match against Petrolul PloieÃÂti, thus joining Rodion CÃÂmÃÂtaru as the competition's second most prolific scorer. About three weeks later, he netted his 200th goal, during a win over CeahlÃÂul. He helped the team win the 2011âÂÂ12 Cupa României, with coach Dario Bonetti using him as a starter until the 71st minute when CÃÂtÃÂlin Munteanu replaced him in the 1âÂÂ0 victory in the final against Rapid BucureÃÂti. On 16 March 2013, after playing in a match against Petrolul, DÃÂnciulescu became the first footballer that reached 500 appearances in the Romanian top-league.
DÃÂnciulescu made his last Liga I appearance on 6 October 2013, exactly 20 years since he made his debut, playing for Dinamo in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against CeahlÃÂul, having a record of 515 matches played in the competition with 214 goals scored, which makes him the second best scorer after Dudu Georgescu who netted 252. He also scored 35 goals in the Cupa României and he is the player with the most appearances, 36, in the Dinamo â Steaua derby in which he scored 13 goals (eight for Steaua and five for Dinamo) which makes him the top-scorer alongside Florea Voinea.
Between 1994 and 2004, DÃÂnciulescu made several appearances for Romania's under-18, under-21 and B teams. During his time with the under-21 side, he was part of the team that managed a first-ever qualification to a European Championship in 1998, which Romania subsequently hosted. In the final tournament that was composed of eight teams, coach Victor PiÃÂurcÃÂ used him in all three games which were losses to Netherlands, Germany and Russia, as they finished in last place.
DÃÂnciulescu played eight games and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 3 March 1999 under coach PiÃÂurcàin a 2âÂÂ0 friendly win against Estonia. However, he was not in PiÃÂurcÃÂ's plans, and was never called up by him again due to a dispute they had when they worked at Steaua. During 2004 and 2009, DÃÂnciulescu played seven games, including three in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup qualifiers, being called up by Anghel IordÃÂnescu and RÃÂzvan Lucescu.
His best match for the national team was a friendly against Germany that ended with a 5âÂÂ1 victory when he scored a brace against goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.
On 13 November 2014, following Flavius Stoican's departure from Dinamo BucureÃÂti, the club's officials appointed DÃÂnciulescu to lead the team in the remaining four games until the end of the first half of the season. After a 6âÂÂ1 loss to Astra Giurgiu, he announced that he was not interested in continuing to coach the team. However, he stayed for the final game of the year when the team reached the Cupa Ligii semi-finals after eliminating Universitatea Cluj at the penalty shoot-out.
In 2025, DÃÂnciulescu was named Honorary Citizen of Slatina.
Steaua BucureÃÂti
Dinamo BucureÃÂti
Shandong Luneng
Individual
Records