Florin Bratu

Club career

Youth career

Bratu was born on 2 January 1980 in Bucharest, Romania where in 1986 he started to play tennis for a year and a half, afterwards switching to football, playing a few years with the junior squads of Voința București. Then he moved for about one year at his childhood favorite team, Dinamo București where he was coached by Iosif Varga. As he was unsatisfied with the poor training conditions that were at Dinamo during that time, in 1992 after seeing an article in Gazeta Sporturilor that Rapid București was organizing trials, he went there and got accepted after impressing the coach with his speeding ability.

Rapid, Tractorul and Galatasaray

Shortly after joining Rapid's senior squad, Bratu was loaned to Divizia B club Tractorul Brașov in 2000 where, in his only season spent at the club, he scored eight goals in 27 league games. He then returned to Rapid, and on 5 August 2001, made his Divizia A debut under coach Viorel Hizo in a 3–0 away victory against UM Timișoara. By the end of the season he won the first trophy of his career, the 2001–02 Cupa României where in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo in the final, coach Mircea Rednic used him as a starter until the 68th minute when he replaced him with Dennis Șerban.

In the following season, Rednic had Bratu form a partnership in the offence with Daniel Niculae, and the team started the season by winning the 2002 Supercupa României with Bratu opening the score in the 2–1 victory against Dinamo. They finished the season champions, and Bratu was the team's top-scorer with 11 goals in 27 matches. In 2003, Bratu started the season at Rapid, winning another Supercupa României as Rednic used him until the 68th minute when he replaced him with Robert Niță who scored the goal in the 1–0 win over Dinamo.

In September 2003, Turkish club Galatasaray announced they had reached an agreement with Rapid for the transfer of Bratu, who agreed to a four-year deal, with Galatasaray paying Rapid $2.75 million. He eventually spent only one season alongside compatriots Gabriel Tamaș and Ovidiu Petre with the Cim Bom Bom side, being used regularly by coach Fatih Terim, but when fellow Romanian Gheorghe Hagi came as head coach to the club, he played less frequently.

Nantes and loans

In July 2004, Galatasaray sold him to French side Nantes for €2.5 million, signing a four-year contract. Bratu made his Ligue 1 debut on 7 August, as coach Loïc Amisse used him as a starter in a 1–0 away loss to Metz. Until the end of the season, he netted two league goals in two away losses to AS Monaco and Caen.

In 2005 Nantes wanted to loan him to Romania, so Bratu went to train with his former club Rapid București for a few weeks, but they did not want to keep him because they considered they had enough forwards in the squad. He also played in eight games in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign when the team eliminated Everton against whom he scored a double in a historical 5–2 win on aggregate, reaching the group stage.

In 2006 Bratu returned to Ligue 1 football, playing one season for Valenciennes on loan from Nantes, scoring his only goal for them in the last round of the season, a 3–1 loss to Auxerre. He has a total of 35 appearances with three goals netted in the French league.

Dinamo and Litex

In June 2007, he was signed by Dinamo București from Nantes for a €700,000 fee, reuniting with his former coach from Rapid, Mircea Rednic with the objective of reaching the Champions League group stage. He scored a goal in the second leg of the third qualifying round against Lazio after a prolonged sprint, leaving his opponent Guglielmo Stendardo behind and defeating Marco Ballotta with a precise shot, but they failed to qualify, losing 4–2 on aggregate. Bratu formed a partnership in Dinamo's offence with Ionel Dănciulescu, 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 2007–08 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 2–1 victory for Dinamo with Bratu scoring a goal and providing an assist to the one netted by Dănciulescu. After Bratu scored his goal from a penalty, he celebrated by taking the corner flag and "machine-gunning" Steaua's fans with it, thus earning the nickname "Mitraliera" (the machine gun). That victory helped CFR Cluj advance to the first position and become champions after the final round of the season.

In the following season, after 10 games Dinamo was in first position, with Bratu in good shape, as he scored six goals. However, in the 32nd minute of a match against CFR Cluj, due to the difficult terrain and after a duel with the strong Álvaro Pereira, Bratu suffered a sprained knee, with damage to the cruciate ligaments which kept him off the field for about one year. He was unable to fully recover after that, and Dinamo eventually lost the title that season.

In the summer of 2010 Bratu joined Litex Lovech on loan from Dinamo where he stayed until December of the same year, winning a Bulgarian Supercup.

Late career

In January 2011, he signed for Liga I team Gaz Metan Mediaș where he spent a year and a half, playing only 11 league games there, scoring one goal in August 2011 against Voința Sibiu. In the summer of 2012, Bratu signed a one-year contract with Gloria Bistrița. He made his last Liga I appearance on 2 November 2012 in Gloria's 1–1 draw against Viitorul Constanța, totaling 135 matches with 45 goals in the competition and 29 games with seven goals in European competitions.

International career

Bratu played 14 games and scored two goals for Romania, making his debut on 12 February 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 90+2nd minute to replace Adrian Mutu in a 2–1 friendly victory against Slovakia. He scored his first goal in a friendly which ended in a 1–0 win over Lithuania. Bratu appeared in four games and scored one goal in a 4–0 victory against Luxembourg in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. He also played one game in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, one in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and two during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Career statistics

International

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

After retirement

Since retiring from football in the middle of the 2012–13 season, Bratu has gone into punditry and worked for a while as a commentator for Digi Sport.

In March 2014, Bratu became the head of the scouting department at his former club Dinamo București.

Coaching career

In August 2014, Bratu started his coaching career as head coach of the second team at Dinamo II București. On 25 February 2018, he was appointed head coach of Dinamo București. He was sacked in September 2018.

On 9 August 2021, he was named the head coach of Romania U-21.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Rapid București

• Divizia A: 2002–03
• Cupa României: 2001–02
• Supercupa României: 2002, 2003 Dinamo București
• Supercupa României: 2005 Litex Lovech
• Bulgarian Supercup: 2010

Coach

CS Dinamo București

• Liga III: 2024–25

References

References

1. {{RomanianSoccer. 276/florin-daniel-bratu
2. (2 July 2021). "Anunțul din ziar care i-a schimbat cariera lui Florin Bratu: "Eram dinamovist, dar ne antrenam cu o singură minge!"". Gsp.ro.
3. (29 April 2021). "Florin Bratu, vitezist încă de mic. Modul inedit în care a ajuns la Rapid. "Ok, de astăzi rămâi la antrenament!" De ce a plecat de la Dinamo". As.ro.
4. (26 May 2021). "Meciul pe care Florin Bratu nu a vrut să-l rateze:"Un spectacol, iar peste doi ani era antrenorul meu!"". Digisport.ro.
5. "Romanian Cup – Season 2001–2002". RomanianSoccer.
6. (22 July 2004). "Bratu completes Nantes switch". [[UEFA]].
7. "Florin Bratu. Ligue 1 2003/2004". WorldFootball.
8. "FC Metz - FC Nantes 1:0". WorldFootball.
9. "Florin Bratu. Ligue 1 2006/2007". WorldFootball.
10. (5 May 2008). "BD in actiune si Clujul aproape campioana! Se pregateste statuia spartanului necunoscut!". Sport.ro.
11. (23 February 2008). "Talnar: "A intrat in actiune BD"". Prosport.ro.
12. (4 May 2020). "Se împlinesc 12 ani de la un meci istoric. Florin Bratu se amuză pe seama partidei cu Steaua: "Am avut noroc! Dacă dădeam gol la cealaltă poartă, se descărca mitraliera până ajungeam în dreptul galeriei rivalilor"". Prosport.ro.
13. (17 February 2022). ""Nu mi-am mai revenit niciodată" Florin Bratu a vorbit despre cel mai greu moment din carieră, dar și despre marele său regret". Gsp.ro.
14. (29 May 2010). "UPDATE: Bratu la Litex". Prosport.ro.
15. "Florin Bratu". European Football.
16. "Romania – Slovakia 2:1". European Football.
17. "Lithuania – Romania 0:1". European Football.
18. (12 March 2014). "Florin Bratu s-a intors la Dinamo". LPF.ro.
19. "Florin Bratu, antrenor principal la FC Dinamo II București". fcdinamo.ro.
20. "El e alesul! Dinamo și-a găsit antrenor: un mare dinamovist a semnat contractul în această seară". gsp.ro.
21. (23 September 2018). "GALERIE FOTO OFICIAL Niculescu a semnat cu Dinamo! Staff-ul noului antrenor, detaliile contractului, imagini de la RIN". Gazeta Sporturilor.
22. (9 August 2021). "Florin Bratu îl înlocuiește pe Adrian Mutu pe banca României U21". ProSport.
23. (29 April 2019). "Florin Bratu, prezentat oficial la Dinamo: "Disciplină, respect reciproc, atitudine!"". [[Digi Sport (Romania).
24. {{Soccerway. florin-bratu/2096