Cristian Chivu

Cristian Chivu
Chivu in a charity match in 2018
Personal information
Full name Cristian Eugen Chivu[1]
Date of birth (1980-10-26) 26 October 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Reșița, Romania
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Left-back, centre-back[2]
Youth career
1991–1997 CSM Reșița
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 CSM Reșița 24 (2)
1998–1999 Universitatea Craiova 32 (3)
1999–2003 Ajax 107 (13)
2003–2007 Roma 85 (6)
2007–2014 Inter Milan 115 (3)
Total 363 (27)
International career
1997–1998 Romania U18 12 (1)
1998–2000 Romania U21 13 (0)
1999–2011[3] Romania 75 (3)
Managerial career
2018–2019 Inter Milan U14
2019–2020 Inter Milan U17
2020–2021 Inter Milan U18
2021–2024 Inter Milan U19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cristian Eugen Chivu (Romanian pronunciation: [kristiˈan e.uˈdʒen ˈkivu]; born 26 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who recently acted as the head coach of Inter Milan's under-19 side.

A defender, he began his career with hometown club CSM Reșița before moving to FC Universitatea Craiova in 1998, leaving Romania to join Dutch club Ajax a season later. His performances as the captain of Ajax inspired an 18 million transfer to 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.[4][5] His honours at Inter included a treble of the Italian league, domestic cup, and the UEFA Champions League in 2010.

Chivu earned 75 international caps for Romania between 1999 and 2010 and was part of the squads for UEFA European Championships in 2000 and 2008. After retiring, he became a football pundit for Italian television stations Sky Sport and Fox Sports. He is also a technical observer for UEFA.[6]

  1. ^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 74" [Official Press Release No. 74] (PDF). Lega Serie A. 31 October 2011. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  2. ^ Cristian Chivu at WorldFootball.net
  3. ^ "Cristian Chivu – International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  4. ^ "Football's biggest headache". MARCA in English. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  5. ^ Meadows, Mark (23 March 2010). "Inter's Chivu ready to return with special headgear". Reuters. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Chivu learns in UEFA technical role". UEFA. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.