Cătălin Cursaru

Early career

Cursaru was born on 29 March 1978 in Ploiești, Romania and began playing junior-level football at local club Petrolul at the age of 11.^[1][2] A few years later, he joined the junior center of Astra Ploiești.^[2] For the 1999–2000 season, he was sent on loan to Divizia C club Chimia Brazi at his request.^[1][2]

FCM Bacău

On 26 January 2000, Cursaru signed for FCM Bacău, but he played no matches for more than six months because he was the subject of a dispute between Bacău and his former club Astra.^[2][3] Eventually, he became eligible to play and made his Divizia A debut on 7 August 2000 under coach Gheorghe Poenaru, scoring a brace in a 4–3 loss to Steaua București.^[2][3][4] He finished his first top-flight season with 15 goals, which made him the league's second-highest scorer behind only Dinamo București's Marius Niculae.^[1][2][5]

In his second season, Cursaru formed an offensive partnership with Cristian Ciocoiu and netted a career-best 17 goals to become the league's top scorer.^[1][2][5][6] One of these goals was a scissors kick in a 4–2 victory against Dinamo București, a goal that was selected "Play of the Day" by CNN.^[2][7][8] At the end of the season, the media reported that German side Hertha Berlin had offered $1.8 million for Cursaru, but Bacău's owner Dumitru Sechelariu asked for $300,000 more, and the negotiations collapsed.^[2][9] To avoid being criticized by Cursaru, Sechelariu raised his wage to $10,000 per month.^[9] However, after the transfer failure, the player never regained his form and confidence.^[3] In the next three years, he scored only 17 goals in 75 matches.^[1] In 2003, he impressed in a trial for the Norwegian side SK Brann, but once again, Sechelariu's demands made the transaction collapse.^[2][10]

In total, Cursaru scored 49 league goals for FCM Bacău over five seasons, eventually departing the club in July 2005 after declining a contract extension.^[1][11]

Late career

Cursaru signed a two-year contract with Divizia A side FC Vaslui on 11 October 2005, but he failed to impress, scoring no goals during the 2005–06 season.^[1][2][12] He terminated his contract in late April.^[13] Following his unsuccessful spell at Vaslui, he signed with Progresul București in June 2006.^[1][2][14] Although he played for The Bankers for a year and a half, he was ultimately released due to a low goal-per-match rate; furthermore, the team was relegated at the end of the 2006–07 season.^[1][2] Afterwards, he played in the Romanian lower leagues at Aerostar Bacău, Tricolorul Breaza, Prahova Tomșani and AFC Filipeștii de Pădure, retiring in 2012.^[1][2][15]