Raul Axente Ciupe (born 24 November 1983) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a right back or midfielder for teams such as Sportul Studențesc, Universitatea Cluj or Sănătatea Cluj, among others.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raul Axente Ciupe | ||
| Date of birth | (1983-11-24) 24 November 1983 (age 38) | ||
| Place of birth | Cluj-Napoca, Romania | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right back / Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2004 | Gaz Metan Mediaș | 11 | (0) |
| 2004–2011 | Sportul Studențesc | 120 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | FC Brașov | 14 | (0) |
| 2012–2015 | Universitatea Cluj | 73 | (1) |
| 2015 | Viitorul Constanța | 6 | (0) |
| 2016 | Universitatea Cluj | 11 | (2) |
| 2016–2021 | Sănătatea Cluj | 88 | (12) |
| Total | 323 | (16) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004–2005 | Romania U-21 | 5 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:24, 5 October 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:24, 5 October 2021 (UTC) | |||
After playing for Gaz Metan Mediaș in Divizia B, Ciupe made his top-flight debut on 31 July 2004 as a Sportul Studențesc player, in a match against Unirea Alba-Iulia.
Playing for the Romania national under-21 football team in a match against Macedonia, he was fouled by Goran Popov and suffered a broken tibia.[1] Minutes earlier, another Macedonian player, Hristijan Kirovski, was sent off after also fouling Ciupe. The right-back completely missed the 2005–2006 season because of the injury.
Ciupe played seven years for Sportul Studențesc before joining FC Brașov in November 2011.[2] In June 2012 he was transferred by his hometown team Universitatea Cluj[3] for whom he managed to score his first goals in Liga I, against Astra Ploiești and the local rivals from CFR Cluj.[4]