Athlete of the Week – Footballer Adrian Stoian

Adrian Stoian plays for Crotone in Italy's Serie A

Florin Orban, 31.01.2017, 12:51

Romanian footballer Adrian Stoian has yet again scored in the Italian Championship, Serie A. Stoian provided the opener for the game his current team Crotone won against Empoli, 4-1. The fixture was played this past Sunday and counted towards Serie As 22nd round. Stoian succeeded his second goal this season, having played in 15 matches for his team.

Thanks to his most recent success, Adrian Stoian has been designated the Athlete of the Week on Radio Romania International.

Adrian Stoian was born on February 11, 1991, in Craiova. He made his footballers debut with the school headed by former international footballer and one of Universitatea Craiovas greatest footballers, Gheorghe Popescu. When he was only 18, Adrian was signed up by AS Roma, while in March 2009 he made his Serie A debut, being on the pitch for the match AS Roma played against Juventus. Then he was on loan from Craiova, playing for Pescara and Bari. In 2012 Adrian Stoian got transferred to Chievo, but in 2013 he was loan-listed. Adrian played for Genoa, then once again for Bari, eventually playing for Crotone, a club who had Adrian Stoian transferred in 2015. Stoian signed a three-year contract with Crotone. With the young midfielder in their pool of regulars, Crotone got promoted to Serie A in 2016. At that time there was another Romanian footballer playing for Crotone, defender Mihai Balasa, on loan from AS Rome and currently playing for Steaua. We should also say that in the as-it-stands Serie A table Crotone is the last-but-one team, being 18th placed.

Since 2007 Adrian Stoian has been included in the Romanian under-17 team, under-19 and under-21 teams. In June 2013 Adrian Stoian had a one-off stint for Romanias seniors team, being on the pitch for ten minutes in a friendly match the national squad played against Trinidad Tobago. (Translated by E. Nasta)