Nicolae Ovidiu Herea (born 26 March 1985) is a Romanian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Național București

Herea started his career at Național București, where he went through the youth systems. On 16 August 2003, he made his debut for the first team in the Divizia A in a game against FC Brașov. He helped his side reach the 2005–06 Romanian Cup final. He played four years for Național București, becoming a regular in his last two seasons with the team, before he left for Rapid București.

Rapid București

In 2007 Herea was transferred to Rapid București for €1 million. In November 2011, after two months of negotiations, Herea signed a new 4-year deal with Rapid București worth €1 million. In 2012 Herea had offers from Italian sides A.C. Milan and A.S. Bari. Later on, in 2013 due to his great league performance he received the award "Romanian midfielder of the year" and he received another offer from Belgian top of the table team Standard Liège but he refused the offer. In April 2013 he scored an important 20 m free kick goal in the Romanian derby against FC Steaua București.

Sion

On 3 July 2013, he signed a three-year contract with Swiss side FC Sion.

International career

Between 2005 and 2007 Herea was a Romania U-21 international. Herea made his national debut against Albania. He scored his first goal on 10 August 2011 against San Marino.

Statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 26 September 2022

International

International goals

Trivia

His younger brother, Claudiu was also a footballer.

Honours

Club

Național București Rapid București Sion Viitorul Constanța