Dan Potocianu

Dan Potocianu
Personal information
Full name Dan Ion Potocianu
Date of birth (1974-03-05) 5 March 1974
Place of birth Reșița, Romania
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
CSM Reșița (youth manager)
Youth career
–1991 CSM Reșița
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 CSM Reșița 28 (0)
1993–1997 Național București 118 (6)
1997–2000 Servette 54 (2)
1999Basel (loan) 10 (0)
2000–2002 Național București 40 (1)
Total 250 (9)
International career
1990–1991 Romania U18 6 (0)
1992–1995 Romania U21 24 (1)
1997 Romania 1 (0)
Managerial career
2008–2009 FCM Reșița
2009–2010 CFR Timișoara
2014–2016 CSMȘ Reșița
2016–2022 CSMȘ Reșița (youth)
2017 CSM Reșița (assistant)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dan Ion Potocianu (born 5 March 1974) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Potocianu was born on 5 March 1974 in Reșița, Romania.[1][2] He began playing football in 1990 at Divizia B club CSM Reșița.[1][3] In the 1991–92 season, the team earned promotion to the first league.[1] Subsequently, he made his Divizia A debut on 16 August 1992 under coach Ion Copăceanu in a 3–2 home win over Inter Sibiu.[1][4]

In 1993, Potocianu went to Național București.[1][2][3] He played four games in the 1996–97 UEFA Cup edition, eliminating Partizan Belgrade and Chornomorets Odesa in the first rounds, the campaign ending after a 3–1 aggregate loss to Club Brugge.[1][5] During his four-season spell with The Bankers, he helped the team finish twice runner-up in the league.[1] The team also reached the 1997 Cupa României final, but coach Florin Halagian did not use him in the 4–2 loss to Steaua București.[6]

Subsequently, Potocianu joined Servette, making his Nationalliga A debut on 5 July 1997 under coach Gérard Castella in a 2–2 draw against St. Gallen.[1][2][3] The team finished in second place at the end of the season.[1] In the first half of the 1998–99 season, he played 10 matches and scored once.[1] Afterwards he went to Basel for the second half, but Servette won the title without him.[1][2][3] At Basel, Potocianu played his first match under coach Guy Mathez in a 2–1 defeat to Servette.[1][7][8] During his short period with the club, Potocianu played 10 league games for Basel without scoring a goal.[1][2][9] He returned to Servette for the 1999–2000 season, totaling 64 matches with two goals in the Swiss league.[1]

Potocianu came back to Național, where in the 2001–02 season he helped the team earn a runner-up position in the league.[1][2][3] An injury forced him to retire in 2002 at the age of 28.[2][10][11] He has a total of 186 matches with seven goals in Divizia A, also totaling eight matches in European competitions.[1][3][12]

International career

From 1990 to 1995, Potocianu was consistently featured for Romania's under-18 and under-21 sides.[13]

He made one appearance for Romania, when on 6 September 1997, coach Anghel Iordănescu sent him in the 46th minute to replace Anton Doboș in a 8–1 away win against Liechtenstein in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers.[14]

Managerial career

After ending his career, Potocianu coached teams such as FCM Reșița and CFR Timișoara in the Romanian lower leagues.[10][15] He also coached juniors at Reșița.[16]

Honours

Player

CSM Reșița

Național București

Servette

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Dan Potocianu at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Potocianu, fost jucător la FC Basel: "CFR are jucători mai tehnici și mai inventivi"" [Potocianu, former FC Basel player: "CFR has more technical and inventive players"] (in Romanian). Libertatea.ro. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f ""Plătești și aerul pe care-l respiri!" Românul fost la FC Basel, șocat de ce a găsit în Elveția: "Mergeam să fac cumpărăturile în Franța sau Germania"" ["You pay for the air you breathe!" The Romanian former at FC Basel, shocked by what he found in Switzerland: "I was going to do my shopping in France or Germany"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 6 November 2025. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  4. ^ "CSM Reșița vs FC Inter Sibiu 3-2". Labtof. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Echipele noastre nu au mai eliminat-o pe Partizan din 1996! De atunci, sârbii n-au pierdut niciun meci din 6" [Our teams haven't eliminated Partizan since 1996! Since then, the Serbians have not lost a single match from 6] (in Romanian). Digisport.ro. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
    "Dan Potocianu 1996/1997 UEFA Cup qualifiers". WorldFootball. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
    "Dan Potocianu 1996/1997 UEFA Cup". WorldFootball. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Romanian Cup – Season 1996–1997". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  7. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" (13 March 1999). "Servette FC - FC Basel 2:1 (2:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Servette 2:1 FC Basel". WorldFootball. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  9. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (2002). "Dan Potocianu - FCB statistic". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Romanul care a jucat la Basel, omul care a invins moartea in urma cu 7 ani, stie cum poate castiga Steaua diseara: "Faceti meciul vietii!"" [The Romanian who played in Basel, the man who defeated death 7 years ago, knows how Steaua can win tonight: "Play the match of your life!"] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Povestea dramatică din spatele retragerii din fotbal a lui Dan Potocianu: "Am ieșit pe un câmp, am urlat și am zis că trebuie să lupt cu boala"" [The dramatic story behind Dan Potocianu's retirement from football: "I went out onto a field, screamed and said I had to fight the disease"] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  12. ^ Dan Potocianu at WorldFootball.net
  13. ^ "Dan Potocianu profile". 11v11. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  14. ^ "Dan Potocianu". European Football. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
    "Liechtenstein 1-8 Romania". European Football. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  15. ^ "Potocianu a demisionat de la CFR Timișoara și a fost înlocuit de Florin Bugar" [Potocianu resigned from CFR Timișoara and was replaced by Florin Bugar] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 11 January 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
    "CSM Școlar schimbă antrenorul, nu și obiectivul! Promovarea – cu Leontin Doană! Dan Potocianu, trimis la juniori!" [CSM Școlar changes the coach, not the goal! Promotion – with Leontin Doană! Dan Potocianu, sent to the juniors!] (in Romanian). Expressdebanat.ro. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Dan Potocianu: "Ne așteaptă adversari mult mai puternici decât în etapa preliminară"" [Dan Potocianu: "We are facing much stronger opponents than in the preliminary stage"] (in Romanian). Frf.ro. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2025.

Sources

  • Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2017/2018. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2189-1
  • Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel. ISBN 978-3-7245-2305-5
  • Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" Homepage