Cristian Eugen Chivu (born October 26, 1980 in Resita, Romania) is a Romanian footballer. Captain of the Romanian national team, he currently plays as a central defender for AS Roma in the Italian Serie A.
      His first professional club was CSM Resita. After moving to Universitatea Craiova his reputation began to rise and his performances sparked interest from some larger clubs outside of Romania. Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam was particularly impressed and recruited him in 1999. In the same year, he was chosen to represent the Romanian Under-20 team.
      At Ajax he developed a reputation as a reliable full back. Then-manager Ronald Koeman appointed him as captain of the club. With Chivu as captain Ajax dominated the Dutch Eredivisie with an exciting young squad. Playing alongside Chivu were future stars such as Rafael van der Vaart, Andy van der Meyde and Zlatan Ibrahimović. Chivu played an important role for Ajax in their Champions League run in 2002, when they reached the quarter-finals.
      Roma first expressed their interest in Chivu in 2003. At the time Roma had an enormous debt and there were questions raised over Roma's ability to pay any proposed fee. Seeking to silence the increasing doubt over their financial situation, Roma sought a bank guarantee, which was subsequently denied. However after much speculation, Roma finally completed the purchase of Chivu, ending the long and protracted saga. The fee has been reported at €21m. Despite being a constant in the Roma side and the club continually denying any chance of him leaving, he is still regularly linked to some of Europe's major clubs.
      Chivu has played for Romania more than 40 times, and he is currently captain of his country. He played for Romania in Euro 2000, but the eastern-European country has failed to qualify for any major tournaments since then.
      Chivu's skill from set-pieces has added another dimension to his already well-rounded game. He has scored a number of free-kicks for Roma with his deft left-foot shots as he continues to enhance his reputation as one of the finest defenders in Italy.
      Chivu speaks Italian, Dutch and English as well as his native Romanian.