Gheorghe Grozav


Gheorghe "Gicu" Teodor Grozav is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Unirea Alba Iulia

Grozav started his career at his hometown club Unirea Alba Iulia, playing his first match in the 2007–08 Liga II season. In the summer of 2009, after two years in the Romanian Liga II, Grozav wanted to score a move away at Standard Liège as a free agent. He was later forced by UEFA to sign for another three years with the club for which he was a junior.
On 1 September 2009, Gicu Grozav made his Liga I debut in a 1–0 defeat against FC Brașov.

Standard Liège

eventually brought Grozav to Belgium in January 2010, signing for Standard Liège for an undisclosed fee, whilst Unirea Alba Iulia retained 15% of the players rights. He got limited playing time in his first two years with the team, only making 15 league appearances.
For the 2011–12 season Grozav was transferred to Liga I team Universitatea Cluj on a one-year loan move. He refound his form here as he helped his team to an eighth-place finish.

Petrolul Ploiești

In the summer of 2012 Gicu Grozav signed a three-year contract with Petrolul Ploiești after a number of his teammates also signed with the Yellow Wolves. On 8 August 2013, he scored the decisive goal against Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem in the 95th minute to make sure Petrolul Ploiești progressed to the Europa League last preliminary round for the first time in the club's history. On 25 August 2013, Grozav scored a consolation goal with a superb overhead kick at Swansea City in the play-off.

Terek Grozny

On 28 August 2013 he joined the Russian Premier League side Terek Grozny for a rumoured fee of €2.1 million.
On 2 February 2015, Grozav once again returned to Romania, signing for Dinamo București on loan.

Karabükspor

On 27 July 2017, Grozav joined Turkish Süper Lig side Kardemir Karabükspor on a three-year contract. On 19 August, he scored on his league debut for the club in a 3–1 home win over İstanbul Başakşehir.

Bursaspor

Grozav was signed by Bursaspor on a six-month contract with the option of another two years on 17 January 2018.

FC Dinamo București

On 2 October 2018, Grozav signed for FC Dinamo București. He was released from his contract on 2 November, after he missed a Panenka style penalty shootout kick and Dinamo was eliminated from the Romanian Cup against third tier opponent AFK Csíkszereda.

Kisvárda FC

On 16 January 2019, Grozav signed for Kisvárda FC. On 31 March 2020, Kisvárda terminated Grozav's contract when he and teammate Iasmin Latovlevici left for Romania without permission during the COVID-19 pandemic.

International career

Grozav made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Switzerland on 30 May 2012, where he scored the winning goal. This was the first-ever goal scored for the full side by a player born after the Romanian Revolution. On 12 October 2012, Grozav netted the only goal of a 1–0 victory over Turkey at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

Personal life

Grozav's uncle, Cornel Țălnar, is a former footballer and a coach.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
130 May 2012Swissporarena, Lucerne, Switzerland11–01–0Friendly
215 August 2012Stožice, Ljubljana, Slovenia33–43–4Friendly
312 October 2012Şükrü Saracoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey61–01–02014 World Cup qualification
49 November 2017Dr. Constantin Rădulescu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania221–02–0Friendly
59 November 2017Dr. Constantin Rădulescu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania222–02–0Friendly

Honours

Club

;Unirea Alba Iulia
;Standard Liège
;Petrolul Ploiești