Răzvan Raț facts for kids
Raț with Romania in 2014
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Răzvan Dincă Raț | ||
| Date of birth | 26 May 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Piatra-Olt, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1988–1994 | Rapid Piatra-Olt | ||
| 1994 | Universitatea Craiova | ||
| 1995 | Constructorul Craiova | ||
| 1996 | Sporting Pitești | ||
| 1996 | Cetatea Târgu Neamț | ||
| 1996–1998 | Sporting Pitești | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2003 | Rapid București | 83 | (4) |
| 2000–2001 | → FCM Bacău (loan) | 14 | (2) |
| 2003–2013 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 174 | (6) |
| 2013–2014 | West Ham United | 15 | (0) |
| 2014 | Rayo Vallecano | 10 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | PAOK | 30 | (3) |
| 2015–2018 | Rayo Vallecano | 26 | (0) |
| 2018 | ACS Poli Timișoara | 10 | (0) |
| Total | 362 | (15) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2002 | Romania U21 | 16 | (0) |
| 2002–2016 | Romania | 113 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Răzvan Dincă Raț (born on May 26, 1981) is a former professional footballer from Romania. He played as a left-back, which is a defensive position on the left side of the field.
Raț became well-known in Romania while playing for Rapid București. With this team, he won two national titles, one national cup, and one supercup between 1998 and 2003. In 2003, Raț moved to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. There, he won an amazing 15 domestic titles and one UEFA Cup over ten seasons. He was also voted second for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award in 2009. After Shakhtar, he played for West Ham United, Rayo Vallecano, PAOK, and ACS Poli Timișoara before he stopped playing professionally in 2018.
Raț first played for the Romania national team in 2002. He represented his country in two UEFA European Championship tournaments. Raț is the fourth most capped Romanian player ever, meaning he played the fourth highest number of games for his country. He played his 100th international match in October 2014.
Today, he is a board member for the Serie A football club Genoa in Italy.
Contents
Răzvan Raț's Football Journey
Starting Out in Romania
Răzvan Raț was born in Piatra-Olt, Romania. He started playing football at just seven years old for his local team, Rapid Piatra-Olt. His own father was his coach back then!
In the summer of 1994, when Raț was 13, he tried out for Universitatea Craiova. He impressed the coach and joined their youth team. Later, he moved to Constructorul Craiova, but that team had money problems.
In 1995, a famous football player named Tudorel Stoica saw Raț play in a futsal tournament. Stoica wanted Raț to join Steaua București's youth team. However, Raț did not join Steaua because the club would not pay the young players. Raț needed to support himself in Bucharest.
Following advice from his old coach, Raț joined Sporting Pitești. In his very first game there, he scored five or six goals!
In 1996, Raț joined Cetatea Târgu Neamț, even though he was only 15. He trained with the older players. But this club also faced problems and closed down. Raț then went back to Sporting Pitești.
In June 1998, a famous coach named Mircea Lucescu noticed Raț. On June 26, Raț signed his first professional contract with Rapid București. He made his top league debut on April 21, 1999, in a 4–1 win against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.
Success with Shakhtar Donetsk
In 2003, Raț moved to the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. He quickly became a very important player for them. He played the entire game when Donetsk won the 2009 UEFA Cup Final, which was a huge achievement for the club.
Playing in England: West Ham United
On May 21, 2013, Raț joined the English Premier League club West Ham United. He signed a one-year contract for free. His first game for West Ham was on August 27, 2013, in a League Cup match against Cheltenham Town, which West Ham won 2–1.
On January 31, 2014, Raț left West Ham. He had played 20 games for the team but did not score any goals.
Later Career and Retirement
On February 13, 2014, Raț joined the Spanish team Rayo Vallecano for the rest of the 2013–14 season. On June 15, 2014, he signed a two-year contract with PAOK, a club in Greece.
On August 20, 2015, Raț returned to Rayo Vallecano for another two years. He did not play any games during the 2017–18 season. On March 22, 2018, Raț went back to Romania and played for ACS Poli Timișoara. He played ten games there before he decided to retire from football.
Playing for Romania
On February 8, 2002, Răzvan Raț was called up to play for the Romania national team for the first time. Five days later, he started his first game, which was a friendly match against France, who were the world and European champions at the time.
Raț played his first official match on October 12, 2002. This was a Euro 2004 qualifier game against Norway. As Cristian Chivu became a main central defender, Raț became the first-choice left-back for Romania.
On April 28, 2004, Raț scored his first goal for Romania in a big 5–1 win against Germany. This was one of Germany's worst away defeats in 65 years! On May 31, 2014, Raț scored his second goal for Romania. It was the winning goal in a 1–0 victory against Albania.
In 2008, Raț was part of the squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament. Romania was in a very tough group with France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Raț helped Romania get a 0–0 draw against France and a 1–1 draw against Italy. However, Romania was eliminated after losing 2–0 to the Netherlands.
Raț played his 100th game for Romania on October 14, 2014. This was a 2–0 victory away to Finland in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match.
Career Achievements
Răzvan Raț won many trophies during his career:
With Rapid București
- Divizia A (Romanian League): 1998–99, 2002–03
- Cupa României (Romanian Cup): 2001–02
- Supercupa României (Romanian Supercup): 1999, 2002
With Shakhtar Donetsk
- Ukrainian Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
- Ukrainian Cup: 2003–04, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
- Ukrainian Super Cup: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012
- UEFA Cup: 2008–09
Individual Awards
- Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year runner-up: 2009
- Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year third place: 2010, 2014
Images for kids
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Raț with Romania in 2014
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Raț with Shakhtar in 2011
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Raț during a friendly game against Austria in 2012
See also
In Spanish: Răzvan Raț para niños
