Marius Popa

Marius Popa

Personal information
Full name	Marius Cornel Popa
Date of birth	31 July 1978 (1978-07-31) (age 33)
Place of birth	Oradea, Romania
Height	1.84 m (6 ft  1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Universitatea Cluj
Number	12
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2000	Bihor	34	(0)
2000–2005	Naţional Bucureşti	46	(0)
2005–2009	Politehnica Timişoara	99	(0)
2009–2010	Internaţional	30	(0)
2010	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	12	(0)
2011–	Universitatea Cluj	22	(0)
National team‡
2008–2009	Romania	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 July 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 November 2009

Marius Cornel Popa (born 31 July 1978 in Oradea) is a Romanian football player, currently contracted by Universitatea Cluj. He is one of the team's goalkeepers.

He started his career at the local team, FC Bihor in 1997 and three years later moved to FC Naţional. He managed to break into the first team in 2003 and his performances have earned him a few call-ups, although Popa has not played any minute yet for the Romanian National team. He joined Poli in the winter break of the 2004/2005 season, together with National coach Cosmin Olăroiu and team-mates Gabriel Cânu, Gabriel Caramarin and Gigel Coman.

He has been the number one goalkeeper since arriving at Poli. However, he missed out on the Romanian Cup Final lost against Rapid Bucharest in the 2006/2007 season, when poor form and an injury a few weeks before the match offered youngster Costel Pantilimon the chance the shine. Pantilimon did not manage to hold on to his first team slot and Popa has since returned in goal.

Of the current squad, he has made the most appearances for Poli.

Popa has also been called up to the Romanian National team eleven times and made his debut in a friendly against Russia. He represented his country at the 2008 UEFA European Championship in Austria and Switzerland.^[1]

References

1. ^ UEFA Euro 2008: Romania Squad Euro 2008 Info. Retrieved 6 February 2010.

External links

• RomanianSoccer.ro - Career stats

Romanian football portal

Persondata
Name	Popa, Marius
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	31 July 1978
Place of birth	Oradea, Romania
Date of death
Place of death