Marius Predatu (born 15 August 1967) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a striker.
Predatu was born on 15 August 1967 in Sibiu, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club Inter. In the 1989âÂÂ90 season he started his senior career, playing 26 Divizia A games in which he scored six goals for Inter. In the middle of the following season he went to play for ArgeàPiteÃÂti for one and a half years.
In 1992 he signed with Universitatea Cluj where in his first season under the guidance of coach Remus Vlad he scored a personal record of 14 goals. Among these were four in a 5âÂÂ0 win against Rapid BucureÃÂti which earned him the nickname "ÃÂl Principe", and he also became a fan-favorite, the team's gallery chanting:Marius Predatu, va bÃÂga patru (Marius Predatu, will give four). In the following two seasons he appeared and scored regularly for "U". Subsequently, he went to play for the 1995âÂÂ96 season in the Greek first league at Panionios, alongside fellow Romanians Marian Ivan and coach Emerich Jenei, scoring eight goals in 28 matches.
In 1997, Predatu returned for a short while at Universitatea Cluj, but spent the rest of the season at Gloria BistriÃÂa. Afterwards he went for a third spell at "U" Cluj, staying two seasons. Then he signed for a second spell at BistriÃÂa where he stayed one year, making his last Divizia A appearances, totaling 253 games with 67 goals in the competition.
In the 2000âÂÂ01 season, Predatu played for the last time for Universitatea Cluj, on this occasion in Divizia C, under player-coach Ioan SabÃÂu, helping the team win promotion to Divizia B.
Predatu played one game for Romania, when on 14 April 1993, coach Cornel Dinu sent him in the 64th minute to replace Gheorghe CeauÃÂilàin a 2âÂÂ1 victory against Cyprus in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers.
After he ended his playing career, Predatu worked as a youth coach for Universitatea Cluj. He coached the senior side of ArieÃÂul Mihai Viteazu in the 2021âÂÂ22 Liga IV season, but resigned after a loss in the first round.
Universitatea Cluj