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 | ||
| Playing position | 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) | |
| National team | |||
| 1999–2002 | Romania U21 | 16 | (0) |
| 2002–2016 | Romania | 113 | (2) |
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Răzvan Dincă Raț (born 26 May 1981) is a Romanian former professional footballer. He played as a left-back, which is a defensive position on the left side of the field.
Răzvan Raț became well-known in Romania playing for Rapid București. With this team, he won two national titles, one national cup, and one supercup between 1998 and 2003. In 2003, he moved to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. There, he won many trophies, including the UEFA Cup in 2009. He also played for West Ham United in England, Rayo Vallecano in Spain, PAOK in Greece, and ACS Poli Timișoara back in Romania before he retired in 2018.
Raț also played for the Romania national team starting in 2002. He played in two major European tournaments. He became the team captain in 2011. Răzvan Raț is one of the most experienced Romanian international players, having played over 100 matches for his country.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting His Journey
Răzvan Raț was born in Piatra-Olt, Romania. He started playing football at age seven for his local team, Rapid Piatra-Olt. His father was his first coach!
In 1994, when he was 13, Raț tried out for Universitatea Craiova and joined their youth team. He later moved to other youth clubs like Constructorul Craiova and Sporting Pitești. A famous former player, Nicolae Dobrin, coached him at Sporting Pitești.
In 1998, a well-known coach named Mircea Lucescu noticed Raț. On 26 June, Raț signed his first professional contract with Rapid București. This was the start of his professional football career.
Success with Shakhtar Donetsk
In 2003, Răzvan Raț joined the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. He quickly became a very important player for them. During his ten seasons with Shakhtar, he helped them win many titles.
One of his biggest achievements was winning the 2009 UEFA Cup Final with Shakhtar Donetsk. This was a huge European trophy! He played the entire game in that final. Overall, he won 15 domestic trophies with Shakhtar, showing how successful he was there.
Playing in England and Spain
On 21 May 2013, Raț moved to England to play for Premier League club West Ham United. He joined them for free. His first game for West Ham was in August 2013 in a League Cup match.
He played 20 games for West Ham United. However, on 31 January 2014, he left the club. Soon after, on 13 February 2014, Raț joined the Spanish team Rayo Vallecano until the end of that season.
Later Career Moves
After his time in Spain, Raț signed a two-year contract with PAOK, a club in Greece, in June 2014. He played 30 games for them and scored 3 goals.
On 20 August 2015, Răzvan Raț returned to Rayo Vallecano for a second time. He signed another two-year deal with the Spanish club. He played 26 more games for them. In 2018, he left Rayo Vallecano. He then returned to Romania to play for ACS Poli Timișoara, where he played ten games before ending his football career.
International Career for Romania
Răzvan Raț was first called to play for the Romania national team on 8 February 2002. Just five days later, he played his first full match against France, who were world and European champions at the time.
He became the main left-back for Romania. On 28 April 2004, Raț scored his first goal for the national team. It was in a big 5–1 win against Germany. This was Germany's worst away defeat in 65 years! On 31 May 2014, he scored his second goal for Romania, which 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, sometimes called the "group of death." They managed to draw 0–0 with France and 1–1 with Italy, both strong teams. However, Romania was eliminated after losing to the Netherlands.
Raț reached a special milestone on 14 October 2014. He played his 100th match for Romania in a 2–0 win against Finland. This made him one of only a few Romanian players to reach 100 international appearances. He is the fourth-most capped Romanian international player of all time.
Achievements and Awards
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 (7 times!)
- Ukrainian Cup: 2003–04, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 (5 times!)
- Ukrainian Super Cup: 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (4 times!)
- UEFA Cup: 2008–09 (a big European trophy!)
Individual Awards:
- He was voted second for the Romanian Footballer of the Year award in 2009.
- He also placed third in 2010 and 2014 for the same award.
Images for kids
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Raț with Romania in 2014
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Raț playing for Shakhtar Donetsk in 2011.
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Răzvan Raț during a friendly game against Austria in 2012.
See also
In Spanish: Răzvan Raț para niños
- List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
