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Florin Daniel Bratu (born 2 January 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga II club CS Dinamo București.
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.
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.
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. Thus he went to play for Dinamo București where in his first game, coach Ioan Andone used him as a starter and he scored a goal in the 3–2 victory against rivals Steaua București which helped the team earn for the first time in its history the Supercupa României.
In 2006 Bratu returned to Ligue 1 football, playing one season for Valenciennes FC on loan from Nantes, scoring his only goal for them in the last round of the season, a 3–1 loss to AJ Auxerre, having a total of 35 appearances and three goals netted in the competition.
In the following season, after 10 games Dinamo was in first position, with Bratu in good shape, as he scored six goals.
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.
In March 2014, Bratu became the head of the scouting department at his former club Dinamo București.
On 9 August 2021, he was named the head coach of Romania U-21.
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. He also scored a goal against Anderlecht in the second leg of the 2003–04 Champions League second qualifying round, having a 2–0 advantage by halftime, but they did not qualify further, eventually losing 3–2.
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 FC 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 FC Metz. Until the end of the season, he netted two league goals in two away losses to AS Monaco and Caen. He spent only one season with FC Nantes, claiming he had problems adapting to French football's reliance on physical strength.
He also played in eight games from 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.
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, the Romanian press called them "BD in action", a nickname inspired by the first letters of their family name 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 Stadionul Dinamo.
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 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.
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.
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, having a total of 135 matches with 45 goals scored in the competition, and also totaling 29 games with seven goals in European competitions.
International career
Bratu played 14 games and scored two goals at international level for Romania, making his debut on 12 February 2003 when coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him on the field to replace Adrian Mutu in the 90+2nd minute of a friendly against Slovakia that resulted in a 2–1 victory. 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 in one game in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, one in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and two in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Career statistics
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year Romania 2 0 0 0
+ List of international goals scored by Florin Bratu
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Cap !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition Exhibition game Euro 2004 qualifiers
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.
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.
Managerial statistics
Dinamo II București 20 August 2014 14 June 2015
CS Tunari 13 July 2015 6 July 2016
Romania U18 12 July 2017 28 January 2018
Dinamo București 25 February 2018 23 September 2018
Aerostar Bacău 17 October 2018 6 May 2019
Turris Turnu Măgurele 3 October 2019 22 October 2019
Concordia Chiajna 8 January 2020 6 November 2020
Romania U21 9 August 2021 15 August 2022
Karmiotissa 25 March 2023 24 September 2023
CS Dinamo București 5 August 2024 present
Honours
Player
Rapid București
Dinamo București
Litex Lovech
Coach
CS Dinamo București
External links
Categories: 1980 Births, Living People, Footballers From Bucharest, Men's Association Football Forwards, Romanian Men's Footballers, Romania Men's International Footballers, Romania Men's Under-21 International Footballers, Fc Rapid București Players, Galatasaray S.k. Footballers, Fc Dinamo București Players, Fc Nantes Players, Valenciennes Fc Players, Fc Lovech Players, Cs Gaz Metan Mediaș Players, Acf Gloria Bistrița Players, Liga I Players, Liga Ii Players, Süper Lig Players, Ligue 1 Players, First Professional Football League Players, Romanian Expatriate Men's Footballers, Expatriate Men's Footballers In Turkey, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In Turkey, Expatriate Men's Footballers In France, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In France, Expatriate Men's Footballers In Bulgaria, Romanian Expatriate Sportspeople In Bulgaria, Romanian Football Managers, Romanian Expatriate Football Managers, Expatriate Football Managers In Cyprus, Liga I Managers, Liga Ii Managers, Karmiotissa Fc Managers, Fc Dinamo București Managers, Cs Aerostar Bacău Managers, Afc Turris-oltul Turnu Măgurele Managers, Cs Concordia Chiajna Managers, 21st-century Romanian Sportsmen
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