 Prodan withRomania at the1994 World Cup | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Claudiu Prodan | ||
| Date of birth | (1972-03-23)23 March 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Satu Mare, Romania | ||
| Date of death | 16 November 2016(2016-11-16) (aged 44) | ||
| Place of death | Voluntari, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1991 | Olimpia Satu Mare | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1992 | Olimpia Satu Mare | 43 | (3) |
| 1992–1996 | Steaua București | 121 | (10) |
| 1997–1998 | Atlético Madrid | 34 | (4) |
| 1998–2001 | Rangers | 0 | (0) |
| 2000 | →Steaua București (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2000 | →Rocar București (loan) | 15 | (3) |
| 2001–2003 | Naţional București | 12 | (0) |
| 2002 | →Messina (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| Total | 231 | (21) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–1993 | Romania U21 | 10 | (0) |
| 1993–2002 | Romania | 54 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006 | Romania U21 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Daniel "Didi"ClaudiuProdan (23 March 1972 – 16 November 2016) was a Romanian professionalfootballer who played mainly as acentre-back.
In a career marred by injuries, he played mainly forSteaua București and represented theRomania national team in oneWorld Cup and oneEuropean Championship.
Born inSatu Mare, Prodan came to prominence with national giantsSteaua București, having signed in late 1992 from his hometown sideOlimpia Satu Mare. With thecapital club, he won five consecutiveLiga I titles, almost always featuring as a starter; his debut in the league came on 8 November in a 3–1 win atFarul Constanța, aged 20.[1]
In January 1997, Prodan moved to Spain withAtlético Madrid.[2] He scored fourLa Liga goals in only half a season in1996–97 (17 matches), and appeared in the same number of games inthe next.[1] However, it was noted that his disciplinary record was poor, including two red cards.[3]
In the summer of 1998, Prodan joinedRangers (a club against which he had scored a memorable goal for Steaua in theUEFA Champions League in 1995)[4][5] for£2.2 million, but made no first-team appearances in two-and-a-half years in Scotland due to a seriousknee injury, which he sustained whilst with theColchoneros.[6][7] Rangers' doctor,Stewart Hillis, later revealed that no medical had been conducted, and the transfer was rushed to completion on the strength of falsified documents;[8] theGlasgow club threatened to sue Atlético Madrid, but backed down and released the player in January 2001.[9]
During the last five years of his career – Rangers included – Prodan only appeared in 33 matches combined while representing four teams, retiring at the age of 31 withNaţional București.
Prodan won 54caps forRomania between 1993 and 2001,[10] and was in the squads for the1994 FIFA World Cup (playing every minute at the tournament as the team reached the quarter-finals)[11] andUEFA Euro 1996. His only international goal arrived on 12 November 1994, as he contributed with the winner in a 3–2 victory againstSlovakia for thelatter competition's qualifiers inBucharest,[12] with the points helping Romania qualify for the finals.[1]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 1993 | 5 | 0 |
| 1994 | 17 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 54 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 November 1994 | Stadionul Steaua,Bucharest, Romania |  Slovakia | 3–2 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 1996 Qualifying |
Prodan's younger brother,Ciprian, was also a footballer.[14] On 16 November 2016, Prodan died of aheart attack at the age of 44.[15][16][4] The stadium fromSatu Mare known asStadionul Olimpia was renamed in February 2017 as theStadionul Daniel Prodan in his honor.[17]
Steaua București
Rangers
Rocar București
Național București
Romania squads | |||||||
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