Bogdan Lobonț

Bogdan Lobonț

100px Lobonț with Romania in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Bogdan Ionuț Lobonț
Date of birth	(1978-01-18) 18 January 1978
Place of birth	Hunedoara, Romania
Height
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Roma
Number	1
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1997	Corvinul Hunedoara	40	(0)
1997–2000	Rapid București	80	(0)
2000–2006	Ajax	49	(0)
2001–2002	→ Dinamo București (loan)	22	(0)
2006–2007	Fiorentina	17	(0)
2007–2009	Dinamo București	71	(0)
2009–	Roma	22	(0)
International career‡
1997–1998	Romania U21	10	(0)
1998–2013	Romania	85	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 May 2013 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 November 2013

Bogdan Ionuț Lobonț (Romanian pronunciation: [boɡˈdan ˈlobont͡s]; born 18 January 1978 in Hunedoara) is a Romanian professional goalkeeper playing for A.S. Roma and the Romanian national team. Lobonț has been popularly nicknamed "Pisica" (The Cat) in Romania due to his quick reflexes, compared to that of a cat.

Club career

Early career

Lobonț began his career with hometown club Corvinul Hunedoara. He remained with the team until 1997, when he moved to Rapid București. He enjoyed success there and was transferred to Dutch club AFC Ajax in 2000. However, injury and inexperience kept him out of the starting eleven, and he was loaned to Dinamo București for the 2001–02 season.

Upon his return to Ajax, however, he became the team's primary goalkeeper. Although he struggled with occasional injuries, he played well when healthy in both the Eredivisie and the UEFA Champions League.

In January 2006, Lobonț was sold from Ajax to Italian Serie A club Fiorentina, which needed a goalkeeper after the injury to starting goalkeeper Sébastien Frey. Although he played particularly well, Frey's return meant that he would spend most of the time as a substitute. Because he had also lost his place on the Romanian national team, Lobonț made a surprise move back to Dinamo București in January 2007 and helped the club win Liga I.

Roma

On 31 August 2009, Italian Serie A club Roma signed Lobonț on a free loan from Dinamo Bucureşti, with an option for the Italian team to buy him at the end of the season. He made his first appearance for the Giallorossi on 4 October, coming off the bench after 23 minutes in a game against Napoli. Because of Stekelenburg's injury he was temporary first goalkeeper in 4 matches in season 2011–12. On 4 March 2012, he came on against Lazio because of Stekelenburg's red card. So far he played 17 matches in Serie A for Roma. On 1 July 2013, Lobonț signed a new three-year contract with Roma that will keep him at the club until 2016.

International career

Lobonț has played an important part of the Romanian national team, earning over 80 caps, his first being in 1998. He was part of his country's UEFA Euro 2000 and UEFA Euro 2008 squads.

He turned in a particularly strong performance in Romania's group stage game in Euro 2008 against world champions Italy, saving numerous well-placed shots and keeping his team's tournament hopes alive with a 1–1 draw.

Honours

Club

Rapid București

• Liga 1: 1998–99
• Romanian Cup: 1998
• Romanian Super Cup: 1999

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 2003–04

Dinamo București

• Liga 1: 2001–02, 2006–07

AS Roma

• Coppa Italia: Runner-up 2012–13
• Serie A: Runner-up 2013–14, 2014–15

External links

• Bogdan Lobonț profile ASRoma.it
• Bogdan Lobonț – FIFA competition record
• Bogdan Lobonț – UEFA competition record
• Bogdan Lobonț at National-Football-Teams.com
• Bogdan Lobonț at RomanianSoccer.ro