Bogdan Mara

Bogdan Mara
Personal information
Full name	Ion Bogdan Mara
Date of birth	29 September 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth	Deva, Romania
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team	CFR Cluj (sporting director)
Youth career
0000–1995	Șoimii Sibiu
Senior career*
Years	Team
1995–1996	Șoimii Sibiu
1996–1998	Inter Sibiu
1998–2000	Dinamo București
1998	→ Inter Sibiu (loan)
1999	→ Farul Constanța (loan)
2000	→ Argeș Pitești (loan)
2000–2001	Argeș Pitești
2001–2002	Deportivo Alavés
2003–2004	Tianjin Teda
2004–2005	Poli Ejido
2005	Rapid București
2005–2006	Stal Alchevsk
2006	UTA Arad
2007–2008	Unirea Urziceni
2009	CFR Cluj
2010–2011	Iraklis
2011	Skoda Xanthi
2012	UTA Arad
Total
International career
1999	Romania U21
2000–2009	Romania
Managerial career
2015–2016	ASA Târgu Mureș (president)
2017–2020	CFR Cluj (sporting director)
2020–2021	Astra Giurgiu (sporting director)
2021–	CFR Cluj (sporting director)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ion Bogdan Mara (born 29 September 1977) is a Romanian former footballer, who played as a midfielder, currently sporting director at Liga I club CFR Cluj.

Club career

Inter Sibiu

Born in Deva, Mara made his first steps in professional football in Sibiu, at Inter, where he played for two years. The excellent games made there caught the eyes of the big clubs of Romania.

Dinamo București

In 1998, he signed for Bucharest giants Dinamo București, one of the best Romanian clubs at the time. He played one season for the red-white squad, before going on loan to FC Farul Constanţa and Argeș Pitești.

Deportivo Alavés

Mara was the first transfer of Deportivo Alavés after the club's 4–5 loss against FC Liverpool in the UEFA Cup final. He stayed in Basque side for two seasons, but didn't scored once in 35 games. In his first year, Mara finished with Alavés on 7th position in La Liga.

Tianjin Teda

After two years in Alaves, Mara chose to leave Spain and signed for Chinese side Tianjin Teda. Sixth place in the championship was the best position Mara had with his team. After the Chinese adventure, Mara went to Polideportivo Ejido, Rapid București, Stal Alcevsk and UTA Arad, before joining Romanian squad Unirea Urziceni.

Unirea Urziceni

Mara was one of the key-players for Unirea Urziceni. In 2007–08 season, the midfielder scored 6 goals and his side finished the championship on 5th place. Next year, Mara's 5 goals in 17 games helped the little club from Urziceni win the Romanian championship.

CFR Cluj

In the winter-break of the 2008–09 season, Mara signed for CFR Cluj.^[1] He joined CFR as a free agent, after leaving Unirea Urziceni due to the club's financial issues. He was a key part of CFR's squad at the end of the season, when the club managed to secure the second Romanian Cup in its history. CFR also secured the Romanian Supercup.

Iraklis Thessaloniki

On 15 January 2010, Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. signed the experienced Romanian midfielder, who was a free agent after being released by CFR Cluj^[2] In Greece, Mara played in 39 games and scored 6 goals, he also captained the team on several occasions.

Skoda Xanthi

On 31 August 2011, he signed a one-year contract with Greek side Skoda Xanthi.^[3]

International career

Mara earned 11 caps for Romania, his debut being on 2 February 2000, in a friendly 2–0 home win against Latvia. He also played against Georgia, Cyprus, Algeria twice, Ukraine, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, France and Faroe Islands. Mara scored his only goal in the national team against Cyprus, in 2000.

International stats

Romania national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2000	5	1
2001	2	0
2002	0	0
2003	0	0
2004	0	0
2005	0	0
2006	0	0
2007	0	0
2008	0	0
2009	4	0
Total	11	1

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 February 2000	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	1–1	2–3	Friendly

Honours

Club

Unirea Urziceni

Cupa României runner-up: 2007–08

CFR Cluj

Personal life

Bogdan Mara is engaged with Dana. On 16 August, Mara became the father of twins: a boy and a girl. "My son will be a better football player than I am", told Mara.^[4]

References

^ Mara a semnat cu CFR Cluj | sport365.ro
^ Bogdan Mara a semnat cu Iraklis Salonic | REALITATEA .NET Archived 29 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ Στη Ξάνθη ο Μάρα (in Greek). sport24.gr. 31 August 2011.
^ Bogdan Mara e tata de gemeni | stiri.rol.ro Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Bogdan Mara – FIFA competition record (archived)
Bogdan Mara at National-Football-Teams.com
Bogdan Mara at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
Profile at UEFA.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-10-26)

[1] Mara a semnat cu CFR Cluj | sport365.ro

[2] Bogdan Mara a semnat cu Iraklis Salonic | REALITATEA .NET Archived 29 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[3] Στη Ξάνθη ο Μάρα (in Greek). sport24.gr. 31 August 2011.

[4] Bogdan Mara e tata de gemeni | stiri.rol.ro Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine

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