Cristian Chivu: Difference between revisions

| clubs4 = [[A.S.AS Roma|Roma]]

A [[Defender (association football)|defender]], he began his career with hometown club [[CSM Reșița]] before moving to [[FC U Craiova 1948|FC Universitatea Craiova]] in 1998, leaving Romania to join Dutch club [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]] a season later. His performances as the [[Captain (association football)|captain]] of Ajax inspired an [[Euro|€]]18&nbsp;million transfer to [[A.S.AS Roma|Roma]] in 2003. Chivu won the [[Coppa Italia]] in his last of four seasons in Rome before a transfer to [[Inter Milan]], where he spent the rest of his career before retiring in 2014. After recovering from a fractured skull, Chivu wore a distinctive protective headgear, similar to [[Petr Čech]]'s, from 2010 onwards.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-12|title=Football's biggest headache|url=https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2017/03/12/58c54bab268e3e64368b45a8.html|access-date=2020-09-27|website=MARCA in English|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Meadows|first=Mark|date=2010-03-23|title=Inter's Chivu ready to return with special headgear|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-47159420100323|access-date=2020-09-27}}</ref> His honours at Inter included a treble of the [[Serie A|Italian league]], domestic cup, and the [[UEFA Champions League]] in 2010.

In 2003, [[A.S.AS Roma|Roma]] expressed their interest in signing Chivu. At the time, Roma had an enormous debt and there were questions raised over Roma's ability to pay any proposed fees. Seeking to silence the increasing doubt over their financial situation, Roma sought a bank guarantee, which was subsequently denied. After much speculation, however, Roma finally completed the purchase of Chivu in September, ending the long and protracted saga. The fee was [[Euro|€]]18&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://109.75.174.100/~asroma/downloads/corporate_investor/1287723401.pdf|title=Accordo trasferimento calciatore Cristian CHIVU'|date=8 July 2003|access-date=14 September 2011|work=AS Roma|language=it |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/61gkUW7us?url=http://109.75.174.100/~asroma/downloads/corporate_investor/1287723401.pdf |url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2011}}</ref> Though he became a regular in defence, he made limited appearances due to injuries. He won the [[2006–07 Coppa Italia]] in his last season with Roma. During the summer transfer window, he was once again a subject of transfer speculation, with newly crowned [[La Liga]] champions [[Real Madrid C.F.CF|Real Madrid]] reportedly making a formal bid, while [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]] and Inter Milan were also interested in signing the defender.<ref>{{cite news|title=Inter still keen on Roma's Chivu|url=https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=558991.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107163033/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=558991.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2012|publisher=[[FIFA]]|date=25 July 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=441921&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5739| title = Barcelona in the lead to buy Roma's Chivu| publisher = ESPN| access-date = 27 June 2007| archive-date = 26 October 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121026133704/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=441921&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5739| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11833_2493269,00.html | title = Barca in pole position for Chivu| publisher = Sky Sports| access-date=23 June 2007}}</ref>

Chivu was a regular at left back during the [[2009–10 Inter Milan season|2009–10 season]], as [[Walter Samuel]] and [[Lúcio]] became the preferred centre back pairing. On 6 January against [[A.C.AC ChievoVerona|Chievo]], Chivu was stretchered off early in the second half after colliding heads with Chievo striker [[Sergio Pellissier]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Serie A: Chievo 0–1 Inter|url=http://inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=32989&L=en|publisher=inter.it|date=6 January 2010|access-date=6 January 2010|archive-date=10 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010045638/http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?L=en&N=32989|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was in two hours of surgery for a skull fracture<ref>{{cite news|title=Inter Milan's Cristian Chivu in hospital with skull fracture|url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=721578&sec=europe&cc=4716|publisher=[[ESPN Soccernet]]|date=6 January 2010|access-date=6 January 2010|archive-date=20 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020104118/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=721578&sec=europe&cc=4716|url-status=dead}}</ref> and later cleared of any danger. Although it was initially thought he might be out for the rest of the season,<ref>{{cite news|title=Paura per Chivu: frattura cranica; Operato subito, è fuori pericolo|url=http://quotidianonet.ilsole24ore.com/sport/calcio/2010/01/06/277616-inter_grande_paura_chivu.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109022428/http://quotidianonet.ilsole24ore.com/sport/calcio/2010/01/06/277616-inter_grande_paura_chivu.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 January 2010|publisher=[[Quotidiano.net]]|date=6 January 2010|language=it}}</ref> he returned to Serie A on 24 March. After this, he needed to wear a [[scrum cap|headguard]] in matches.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chivu: "Magical to be back"|url=http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=33532&L=en|publisher=Inter.it|date=24 March 2010|access-date=24 March 2010|archive-date=5 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005075927/http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=33532&L=en|url-status=dead}}</ref> A month later, Chivu scored his first goal for Inter in a game against [[Atalanta B.C.BC|Atalanta]], a terrific 30-yard strike. On 22 May 2010, he was in Inter's starting line-up in the [[2010 UEFA Champions League Finalfinal|UEFA Champions League Finalfinal]] against [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]], which Inter won 2–0.<ref>{{Cite web |last=UEFA.com |title=Bayern-Inter {{!}} Line-ups: UEFA Champions League 2009/10 Final |url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/2000488--bayern-vs-inter/lineups/ |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=UEFA.com |language=en}}</ref>

He scored his second goal for Inter in the [[2010–11 Serie A|2010–11 season]] against [[A.C.AC Cesena|Cesena]] which turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 win for Inter. He also scored the winning penalty for Inter in their [[2009–10 Coppa Italia]] win over [[S.S.C.SSC Napoli|Napoli]] on 26 January 2011.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=312201&cc=5739| title = Coppa Italia: Inter edge through on penalties| publisher = ESPN Soccernet| access-date = 26 January 2011| archive-date = 26 October 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121026135619/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=312201&cc=5739| url-status = dead}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|rowspan="5"|[[A.S.AS Roma|Roma]]

*Coppa Italia: [[2010 Coppa Italia Finalfinal|2009–10]], [[2011 Coppa Italia Finalfinal|2010–11]]