Adrian Ilie

Bucurel Adrian Ilie (born 20 April 1974) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Nicknamed The Cobra, he is best known for his spell with Valencia in Spain.

He played for the Romania national team in one World Cup and two European Championships.

Club career
Ilie began his career with his local club Electroputere Craiova before transferring to Romania's biggest club Steaua Bucuresti in 1993. During his three years with Steaua, Ilie helped the club to three consecutive Romanian league titles and the 1995–96 Cupa României.

In 1996, Ilie was purchased by Turkish side Galatasaray for an amount of €2.35 million, where he won the Turkish championship in 1996–97. After an impressive season, he moved from Galatasaray to Valencia CF for a reported US$ 7 million, where he replaced in the squad the Brazilian star Romário and took over his no. 11 jersey. At Valencia he impressed from his debut, scoring twelve goals in 17 matches, and thus getting the nickname of "Cobra" from coach Claudio Ranieri, because he was as "lethal as a cobra". At the Mestalla, Ilie made a remarkable attacking duo together with teammate Claudio López, helping Los Che to win the 1998–99 Copa del Rey. In 2000, under Héctor Cúper's command, Valencia reached the final of the UEFA Champions League, where Ilie appeared as a substitute for Gerardo in a 3–0 loss to Real Madrid CF. Two years later, Ilie was a member of Rafael Benítez's 2001–02 La Liga winning squad, scoring only two goals in 10 matches because of injuries.

In 2002, Ilie left Valencia to join Deportivo Alavés but the club was relegated to the Segunda División in his only season. He then returned to Turkey to play for Beşiktaş J.K. before transferring to Switzerland's FC Zürich a year later. In 2005, he signed with Belgian side Beerschot AC but never played with the club due to a severe ankle injury, resulting in his retirement from football at the age of only 31.

However, in 2009, he decided to come back into professional football after some discussions with Russian club FC Terek Grozny but he had to quit after failing his medical tests.

International career
At the international level, Ilie won 55 caps for Romania, scoring 13 goals. He played at the 1996 European Football Championship, 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 European Football Championship. At 1998 FIFA World Cup, he scored against Colombia one of the most spectacular goals of the tournament. In the period between 1997 and 2000, alongside teammate Gheorghe Hagi, he was Romania's national team leader, scoring important goals and impressing with his skills. In 1998, he won the title of Romania's footballer of the year.

Personal life
He is the older brother of fellow footballer Sabin Ilie.

International stats

 * Romania score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ilie goal.

Honours
Steaua București
 * Divizia A: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
 * Cupa României: 1995–96
 * Supercupa României: 1994, 1995

Galatasaray
 * 1.Lig: 1996–97
 * Turkish Super Cup: 1997

Valencia
 * La Liga: 2001–02
 * Copa del Rey: 1998–99
 * Supercopa de España: 1999
 * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998
 * UEFA Champions League runner-up: 1999–2000, 2000–01

Zürich
 * Swiss Cup: 2004–05

Individual
 * Gazeta Sporturilor Romanian Footballer of the Year: 1998