Cristian Chivu

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Personal information
Cristian Chivu
Full name	Cristian Chivu
Date of birth	October 26 1980 (1980-10-26) (age 28)
Place of birth	Reşiţa, Romania
Height	1.84 m (6 ft +¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Centre-back / Left-back
Club information
Current club	Internazionale
Number	26
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–1998 1998–1999 1999–2003 2003–2007 2007–	CSM Reşiţa Universitatea Craiova Ajax Amsterdam A.S. Roma Internazionale	024 0(2) 032 0(3) 107 (13) 102 0(6) 0018 0(0)^[1]
National team²
1999–	Romania	057 0(3)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 27 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of November 21, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Cristian Eugen Chivu (pronounced [krisˈtjan ˈkivu]) (born October 26, 1980 in Reşiţa, Romania) is a Romanian footballer. He is the captain of the Romanian national team and currently plays with Inter Milan.

His first professional club was CSM Reşiţa. After moving to Universitatea Craiova his reputation began to rise and his performances sparked interest from some larger clubs outside of Romania. Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam was particularly impressed and recruited him in 1999. In the same year, he was chosen to represent the Romanian Under-20 team.

At Ajax he developed a reputation as a reliable fullback. Then-manager Ronald Koeman appointed him as captain of the club. With Chivu as captain, Ajax dominated the Dutch Eredivisie with an exciting young squad. Playing alongside Chivu were future stars such as Rafael van der Vaart, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Ahmed Hossam Mido, and Andy van der Meyde. Chivu played a pivotal role for Ajax in their Champions League run in the 2002/03 season, when they came to within a minute of the semi-finals.

Roma first expressed their interest in Chivu in 2003. At the time, Roma had an enormous debt and there were questions raised over Roma's ability to pay any proposed fee. Seeking to silence the increasing doubt over their financial situation, Roma sought a bank guarantee, which was subsequently denied. However, after much speculation Roma finally completed the purchase of Chivu, ending the long and protracted saga. The fee has been reported at €18m.

Chivu has played for Romania more than 50 times, and he is currently captain of his country. He played for Romania in Euro 2000, but up until there qualification for EURO 2008 the eastern-European country had failed to qualify for any major tournaments. Chivu's skill from set-pieces has added another dimension to his already well-rounded game. He has scored a number of free-kicks for both Ajax and Roma and with his deft left-foot shots as he continues to enhance his reputation as one of the finest defenders in Italy.

Manager of the Romanian national football team, Victor Piturca, recently declared in a talk show that Chivu and his friend, goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont, are smokers despite the fact that they are professional football players.

After almost two months of speculations, Chivu signed a 5-year contract with Inter Milan on July 27, 2007. The transfer fee is estimated to be €16 million. As part of the deal, defender Marco Andreolli moved to A.S. Roma in a co-ownership deal.^[2]