Cristian Panin

Cristian Călin Panin (born 9 June 1978) is a former Romanian footballer who played as a defender. He is currently the team manager at Liga I club CFR Cluj.

Cristian Panin

Panin lining up before a Champions League match against Chelsea in 2008.
Personal information
Full name	Cristian Călin Panin
Date of birth	(1978-06-09) 9 June 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Arad, Romania
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	CFR Cluj (team manager)
Youth career
	Strungul Arad
	Romvest Arad
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–2004	UTA Arad	195	(6)
2004–2013	CFR Cluj	193	(5)
Total		388	(11)
International career
2008–2009	Romania	2	(0)
Managerial career
2013–	CFR Cluj (team manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

UTA Arad

Cristan Panin was born on 9 June 1978 in Arad, Romania, beginning his senior career in 1997 at local club UTA in Liga II, helping the team promote to Liga I in the 2001–02 season, a competition in which he made his debut on 18 August 2002 under coach Ionuț Popa in a 2–1 loss against Național București.^[1][2][3][4] By the end of the season The Old Lady finished on the 16th place, relegating back Liga II where he spent one more season, before leaving after coach Ilie Stan wanted to bring new players at the club.^[1][2][3]

CFR Cluj

During the summer of 2004 he moved to newly Liga I promoted team, CFR Cluj where he played 9 games in the 2005 Intertoto Cup when the team reached the final.^[1][2][3][5] In the 2007–08 season he helped CFR win The Double, these being the first trophies in the club's history, being used by coach Ioan Andone in 28 league matches in which he scored one goal.^[1][6][7] He spent a total of nine seasons wearing the Railway Men's shirt and although numerous players, including Swedish international Mikael Dorsin, have attempted to replace him, he still remained a key player for the team, helping the club win another two titles in the 2009–10 and 2011–12 seasons, being used in 29 matches in the first one and in 21 in the second one, also helping the club win another two Cupa României and two Supercupa României.^[1][6][2][8] Panin made his last Liga I appearance on 26 May 2013 in a 3–3 against Astra Giurgiu, having a total of 217 games with 5 goals scored in the competition, also he played in 9 Champions League group stage matches, including CFR's historical 2–1 victory on Stadio Olimpico against AS Roma and appeared in 10 Europa League matches.^{[1][2][9][10][11][12][13]}

International career

Cristian Panin played two games for Romania, making his debut on 19 November 2008 when coach Victor Pițurcă introduced him in the 25th minute to replace George Ogăraru in a friendly against Georgia which ended with a 2–1 victory.^[14][15] His second game was a 3–1 victory against Faroe Islands at the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.^[14][16]

After retiring

After retiring in 2013, Panin joined the technical staff of CFR Cluj as a team manager.^[9] Panin had performed several club functions during his time in staff of the club.

Honours

UTA Arad

• Divizia B: 2001–02^[1]

CFR Cluj

• Liga I: 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12^[1]
• Cupa României: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10^[1][17]
• Supercupa României: 2009, 2010^[1]
• UEFA Intertoto Cup runner-up: 2005^[5]

References

1. Cristian Panin at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
2. "Omul trofeelor! Arădeanul Cristian Panin este singurul care a participat la toate trofeele celor de la CFR Cluj" [The trophy man! Cristian Panin from Arăde is the only one who participated in all the trophies from CFR Cluj] (in Romanian). Specialarad.ro. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
3. "Și Aradul îi mulțumește lui Cristi Panin" [Arad thanks Cristi Panin] (in Romanian). Glsa.ro. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
4. "UTA Arad vs FC National". Labtof.ro. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
5. "Nu-i totul pierdut" [Not all is lost] (in Romanian). Gds.ro. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
6. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
7. "CFR 2008 Ce s-a intamplat cu cei care ii aduceau, acum 10 ani, primul titlu din istorie lui CFR Cluj" [CFR 2008 What happened to those who brought, 10 years ago, the first title in the history of CFR Cluj] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
8. "Revoluție de stânga" [Revolution on the left] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 9 March 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
9. "Panin se retrage și va prelua funcția de team-manager al celor de la CFR Cluj" [Panin retires and will take over the position of team-manager of those from CFR Cluj] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
10. "Primari, antrenori, preoți! Ce fac acum jucătorii CFR-ului care au învins Roma pe Olimpico" [Mayors, coaches, priests! What are the CFR players who beat Roma at the Olimpico doing now?] (in Romanian). Fanatik.ro. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
11. "FINAL AS Roma - CFR Cluj 1-2 Victorie incredibila: Culio cucereste Roma!" [FINAL AS Roma - CFR Cluj 1-2 Incredible victory: Culio conquers Rome!] (in Romanian). Hotnews.ro. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
12. "Cristian Panin. Champions League 2008/2009". WorldFootball. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
13. "Cristian Panin. Champions League 2010/2011". WorldFootball. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
14. "Cristian Panin". European Football. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
15. "Romania 2-1 Georgia". European Football. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
16. "Romania 3-1 Faroe Islands". European Football. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
17. "Announcement" (in Romanian). CFR Cluj. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.

External links

• Cristian Panin at WorldFootball.net
• Cristian Panin at National-Football-Teams.com
• Cristian Panin at Soccerway