Goalkeeper
Florin Constantin Niță (Romanian pronunciation: ; born 3 July 1987) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Czech club Sparta Prague. He started his senior career at Concordia Chiajna, before returning to FC Steaua București where he was previously a junior. Niță won six honours during his spell with the capital team, and at the start of 2018 transferred to the Czech Republic with Sparta Prague. Niță earned his first cap for the Romanian national team in November 2017, in an exhibition match against Turkey. Club career Early years Born in Bucharest, Niță started playing football at the age of seven for Steaua București. In 2001, he moved to local rivals Rapid București, where he stayed for four years. He spent his last season as a junior at Astra Ploiești. Concordia Chiajna In 2006, at the age of 19, Niță joined Concordia Chiajna and played his first senior matches in the Liga III, the third level of the Romanian football league system. He made his debut in the first division in a 1–2 home loss to Sportul Studențesc on 25 July 2011. Steaua București In December 2012, it was announced that Niță signed a contract with FC Steaua București, with the goalkeeper due to join the team in the summer of the following year. Niță started to appear frequently for the Roș-albaștrii in the 2015–16 season, in which he recorded 32 matches in all competitions. On 16 August 2016, he saved one of the two penalty kicks missed by Sergio Agüero in the Champions League play-off defeat to Manchester City. In May 2017, Niță agreed to a new deal with the club, now named FCSB, that would have kept him in Bucharest until 2021. His good display throughout the year also earned him the third place in Gazeta Sporturilor's Romanian Footballer of the Year award, which he shared with Ștefan Radu. Sparta Prague Niță was transferred to Czech team Sparta Prague on 1 February 2018 for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be €2 million plus €500,000 in bonuses. International career On 18 March 2017, following Silviu Lung Jr.'s injury, Niță was picked by manager Christoph Daum in Romania's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Denmark. Later that year, former Romanian internationals Helmuth Duckadam, Gheorghe Hagi and Laurențiu Reghecampf claimed that Niță's omissal from the squad was "unjust"; Hagi even went as far as to say that the goalkeeper should claim the starting spot of Ciprian Tătărușanu. He made his debut for the full side on 9 November 2017, entering as a 71st-minute substitute for Costel Pantilimon in a 2–0 friendly win over Turkey in Cluj-Napoca.
