Daniel Boloca

Daniel Boloca
Boloca with Frosinone in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-12-22) 22 December 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Chieri, Italy
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sassuolo
Number 11
Youth career
2008–2016 Juventus
2016 → Chieri (loan)
2017 Tatran Prešov
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 Tatran Prešov 1 (0)
2017–2018 Romanese 9 (1)
2018–2019 Pro Sesto 0 (0)
2019 Francavilla 10 (0)
2019–2020 Fossano 25 (4)
2020–2023 Frosinone 80 (3)
2023– Sassuolo 46 (2)
International career‡
2022 Romania 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2022

Daniel Boloca (born 22 December 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie B club Sassuolo. Born in Italy, he has appeared for the Romania national team at senior level.[1]

Club career

Born and raised in Italy to Romanian parents, Boloca started his career with the youth teams of Juventus, before leaving in 2017 to join Slovak club Tatran Prešov. He successively went on to move back to Italy, playing for a number of Serie D teams before being noted by Guido Angelozzi, sporting director of Spezia, who agreed on a three-year contract with him in May 2020;[2] the move was however cancelled by Spezia following promotion to Serie A and a change in the club management that led to Angelozzi's departure; in November 2020, after a few months without a club, Boloca eventually signed for Serie B club Frosinone, just a few days after Angelozzi's appointment as the club's new sporting director.[3]

At Frosinone, Boloca quickly became a regular and eventually was one of the protagonists of the first team that won the 2022–23 Serie B title under head coach Fabio Grosso.[4]

On 13 July 2023, Boloca left Frosinone for fellow Serie A club Sassuolo.[5]

International career

Boloca made his international debut for the Romania national team on 17 November 2022, replacing Răzvan Marin in the 84th minute in a friendly against Slovenia, ended in a 2–1 defeat for the Romanian team.[6]

Later that year, Roberto Mancini, Italy's national team head coach, announced that he was considering calling Boloca, despite having already played for Romania, as all these games were friendlies.[7] On 15 December 2022, Boloca was selected to join the Azzurri on a training camp;[8] after that, Boloca publicly declared his preference to play for Italy over Romania in case Mancini would choose to pick him in the future.[9]

Personal life

Boloca is the older brother of defender Gabriele Boloca.[10]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 November 2022[11]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Romania 2022 1 0
Total 1 0

Honours

Frosinone

References

  1. ^ Portretul făcut de italieni lui Daniel Boloca, surpriza selecționerului + De ce l-a refuzat pe Hagi 14.05.2022, gsp.ro
  2. ^ "Lo Spezia pesca in serie D, Boloca sogna di fare come Mastinu" (in Italian). Città della Spezia. 3 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Dopo lo sfumato passaggio allo Spezia Boloca firma per il Frosinone" (in Italian). CalcioSpezia. 11 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Frosinone in Serie A, la gioia di Boloca: "Una gioia immensa, puntiamo al primato!"" (in Italian). Il Messaggero. 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ "DANIEL BOLOCA SIGNS WITH THE BLACK&GREENS FROM FROSINONE". US Sassuolo Calcio. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  6. ^ Horațiu Moldovan, cel mai bun jucător al României în meciul cu Slovenia. Cum s-au descurcat ceilalți patru debutanți trimiși în teren de Edi Iordănescu 17 November 2022, fanatik.ro
  7. ^ FRF, în alertă! » Mancini a pus ochii pe jucătorul debutat de Edi Iordănescu: „E de interes pentru naționala Italiei” 16 December 2022 gsp.ro
  8. ^ "Italia, ecco tutti i giocatori convocati da Mancini per lo stage di dicembre" (in Italian). Tuttosport. 15 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Boloca alla Gazzetta dello Sport: "Se Mancini mi chiama scelgo l'Italia. Devo molto ad Angelozzi. Serie A? Abbiamo tutto per farcela"" (in Italian). TuttoFrosinone.com. 29 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Un nou debut românesc la Juventus Torino. A bifat primele minute la profesioniști". www.digisport.ro.
  11. ^ "Daniel Boloca". European Football. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
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