Artur Crăciun

Artur Crăciun
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-06-29) 29 June 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Chișinău, Moldova
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Puszcza Niepołomice
Number 22
Youth career
Zimbru Chișinău
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Zimbru-2 Chișinău 35 (3)
2016–2017 Zimbru Chișinău 11 (0)
2017 Sheriff-2 Tiraspol 10 (1)
2017–2018 Sheriff Tiraspol 0 (0)
2017 → Milsami Orhei (loan) 15 (0)
2018–2019 Milsami Orhei 38 (2)
2019–2020 Universitatea Cluj 18 (2)
2020–2022 Budapest Honvéd 2 (0)
2021 → Viitorul Constanța (loan) 0 (0)
2021 → Sfîntul Gheorghe (loan) 8 (0)
2021–2022 → Lokomotiv Plovdiv (loan) 13 (0)
2022 → Tsarsko Selo (loan) 6 (0)
2022–2023 Hapoel Kfar Saba 31 (0)
2023– Puszcza Niepołomice 44 (8)
International career‡
2016 Moldova U19[a] 3 (0)
2017–2020 Moldova U21[a] 11 (1)
2019– Moldova 31 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 November 2024

Artur Crăciun (born 29 June 1998) is a Moldovan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Polish Ekstraklasa club Puszcza Niepołomice and the Moldova national team.

Club career

Crăciun made his professional debut for Zimbru in the Divizia Națională on 20 May 2016 against Academia Chișinău, coming on as a 92nd-minute substitute.

On 23 July 2019 he signed a contract with Romanian Liga II side Universitatea Cluj.[1]

On 10 March 2021, he was loaned out to Sfântul Gheorghe from Budapest Honvéd.[2]

In June 2022, he moved to Hapoel Kfar Saba.[3]

On 10 July 2023, Crăciun signed a one-year contract, with an option to extend, with Polish Ekstraklasa newcomers Puszcza Niepołomice.[4] On 23 July, he made his debut in Puszcza's first-ever top-tier outing, a 3–2 away loss to Widzew Łódź.[5] He regularly appeared in the line-ups thereafter, contributing to Puszcza's bid for top-flight survival by scoring game-winning goals in home games against Widzew on 11 December,[6] and Lech Poznań on 13 April 2024;[7] he also became the designated penalty taker. On 10 May, Puszcza exercised their option to prolong Crăciun's contract for another twelve months.[8]

International career

He made his debut for Moldova national team on 14 November 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against France. He started the game and played the whole match.[9]

Honours

Milsami Orhei[10]

Sfîntul Gheorghe

Notes

  1. ^ a b Only official UEFA matches included

References

  1. ^ "Un adversar al FCSB din Europa League, noua achiziţie a celor de la "U" Cluj. A semnat pe trei ani". liga2.prosport.ro.
  2. ^ "Artur Craciun a revenit în campionatul Moldovei" (in Romanian). Moldfootball. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  3. ^ "הפועל כפר סבא החתימה את בלם נבחרת מולדובה". maariv.co.il (in Hebrew). Maariv. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Artur Craciun w Puszczy Niepołomice!" (in Polish). Puszcza Niepołomice. 10 July 2023.
  5. ^ "PKO Ekstraklasa: Widzew 3-2 Puszcza". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 23 July 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Kolektyw Tułacza nad kreskę się wtacza". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 11 December 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Cenne zwycięstwo beniaminka". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 13 April 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  8. ^ "ARTUR CRACIUN NA DŁUŻEJ W PUSZCZY!" (in Polish). Puszcza Niepołomice. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  9. ^ "France v Moldova game report". UEFA. 14 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Artur Crăciun". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 4 June 2024.


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