Andrei Rațiu

Andrei Florin Rațiu (born 20 June 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and the Romania national team.

Raised in Spain from the age of six, Rațiu progressed through the Villarreal youth academy but did not make his debut for the first team. After a loan spell at Dutch club ADO Den Haag from 2020 to 2021, he moved to Huesca. Two years later, he was transferred to Rayo Vallecano, where he made his La Liga debut.

Rațiu made his senior international debut for Romania in September 2021, in a 2–0 win over Iceland. He represented the country in the UEFA Euro 2024.

Early career and Villarreal
Born in Aiud, Alba County, Rațiu moved to Aragon, Spain at the age of six and joined Villarreal's youth setup from Andorra CF. He made his senior debut with the C-team on 20 August 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–2 Tercera División away draw against Alzira. Rațiu scored his first senior goal on 14 September 2016, netting the opener in a 2–1 away defeat of Elche Ilicitano.

After being regularly used with the C-side, Rațiu made his debut for the reserves on 17 December 2017, replacing Darío Poveda late into a 3–2 home win against Peña Deportiva in the Segunda División B championship. He was definitely promoted to the B-team in August 2018, being regularly used afterwards. He made his first team debut the following 18 April, starting in a 2–0 derby loss at Valencia for the season's UEFA Europa League.

On 4 August 2020, Rațiu was loaned to Dutch Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag for the campaign. He returned to his parent club the following 29 January, after 12 appearances.

Huesca
On 4 August 2021, Rațiu signed a three-year contract with Huesca, recently relegated to Segunda División. He scored his first professional goal on 21 May 2022, netting his team's second in a 3–2 home win over Real Sociedad B.

Rayo Vallecano
On 26 August 2023, Rațiu agreed to a five-year deal with La Liga side Rayo Vallecano. He made his debut on 1 November, in a 6–0 Copa del Rey thrashing of Atlético Lugones in which he also scored. Four days later, he played the full 90 minutes in a goalless league away draw at Real Madrid.

International career
On 2 September 2021, Rațiu debuted for the Romanian national team in a 2–0 victory over Iceland in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, starting the match and coming off after 68 minutes. On 26 September 2022, he scored his first goal in a 4–1 defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had already won its UEFA Nations League group at that point.

In 2023, Rațiu made five appearances in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, which included a start in the final 1–0 victory over Switzerland. Romania emerged as Group I winners, maintaining an undefeated record throughout. On 7 June 2024, he was chosen by Edward Iordănescu in the squad for the final tournament. Rațiu started in all four matches, as the nation won its group but was eliminated by the Netherlands in the round of 16. His blue-dyed hair during the tournament led to him being nicknamed "Sonic", inspired by Japanese character Sonic the Hedgehog.

International

 * Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rațiu goal.