Sunday, February 28, 2010

Carling Cup final: Manchester United comeback gives them the win over Aston Villa at Wembley

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Today, Manchester United played Aston Villa in the final of the Carling Cup at the Wembley Stadium.

Wayne Rooney is mobbed after his superb header won the CupFinal Score: 2-1 to Manchester United.

Goals:
Manchester United FC - Michael Owen (13') and Wayne Rooney (74').
Aston Villa FC - James Milner (5'; Penalty).

Attendance: 88,596.


Line-ups:
Manchester United FC - Tomasz Kuszczak, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Rafael, Jonathan Evans, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park, Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov.
Subs: Ben Foster, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Paul Scholes, Darron Gibson, Wayne Rooney, Mame Diouf.

Aston Villa - Brad Friedel, James Collins, Richard Dunne, Stephen Warnock, Carlos Jimenez Cuellar, Stiliyan Petrov, Stewart Downing, James Milner, Ashley Young, Emile Heskey, Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Bookings:
Manchester United FC - Patrice Evra (41'; yellow) and Nemanja Vidic (68'; yellow).
Aston Villa - James Collins (11'; yellow) and Stewart Downing (18'; yellow).

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Razvan Lucescu calls up 23 players for the friendly against Israel

                                 
With Cristian Chivu, Razvan Rat and Stefan Radu out injured, Razvan Lucescu offered Gabriel Tamas (transferred in January to West Bromwich Albion) the chance to reclaim his spot in the team. Another surprise is the absence of the first two choices for the goalkeeper postion, Lobont and Coman, but, looking at the likes of Gaman, Sepsi, Florescu or Deac, it's obvious that the National Team coach is trying to evaluate some of the promising, yet established players in the first division. Here's is the full list of players:

Goalkeepers: Mircea Bornescu (Rapid, 29), Costel Pantilimon (FC Timisoara, 23)

Defenders: Cristian Panin (CFR Cluj, 31), Vasile Maftei (Unirea Urziceni, 29), Gabriel Tamas (WBA, 26), Dorin Goian (Palermo, 29), Mirel Radoi (Al-Hilal, 28), Valerica Gaman (Universitatea Craiova, 21), Laszlo Sepsi (FC Timisoara, 23), Mihai Nesu (FC Utrecht, 27)

Midfielders: Banel Nicolita (Steaua, 25), Mihai Roman (FC Brasov, 25), Iulian Apostol (Unirea Urziceni, 29), Paul Codrea (Siena, 28), Tiberiu Ghioane (Dynamo Kiew, 28), George Florescu (FC Midjtyland, 25), Ciprian Deac (CFR Cluj, 24)

Forwards: Gigel Bucur (Kuban, 29), Andrei Cristea (Dinamo Bucharest, 25), Ciprian Marica (VFB Stuttgart, 24), Daniel Niculae (Auxerre, 27), Marius Niculae (Dinamo Bucharest, 28).

More details

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Falling Oltenii lose 2-1 to Gaz Metan Medias


U. Craiova lost today at home (even though they were playing in a different town, really)*, final score 2-1 to Gaz Metan.

Goals:
Universitatea Craiova - Eugen Trica (90').
Gaz Metan Medias - A. Litu (9') and  F. Lazãr (68').

*U. Craiova are having many problems at the moment, including problems with Craiova's mayor. As a result, we cannot even use our own stadium, Ion Oblemenco, we have to play in a town called Severin.

 Match Highlights:


Friday, February 26, 2010

Arlauskis - defeated by Liverpool, wanted by Everton


  • Already monitorred by FC Sevilla, Unirea’s very promising keeper Giedrius Arlauskis (22) has become a target for Everton, as well. Last night, the Lithuanian was watched once again from the stands by an Everton scout and, although he could have done better (“especially on the second and third goal”, as he agreed after the game), he remains probably one of the most interesting players from Romania.
  • Steaua held the initial talks with Cristian Fabbiani (26). The Argentinian centre-forward asked for a huge salary, given his recent struggles, 250.000 EUR/season, but his agent Luciano Duthu says that an agreement could be found, as the player is motivated to return to Romania and prove that he’s not finished. Released on a free transfer by CFR, he should lower a lot his demands just to get a shot at a permanent deal, as Steaua won’t be willing to offer him more than 10-15.000 per month, until the summer.
  • Marko Ljubinkovic (28) and FC Vaslui are ready to part ways, but in a fashion that should make club owner Adrian Porumboiu regret the decision to keep the player and reject important offers, between 1,5 and 2 million Euros. Ljubinkovic has been informed by coach Marius Lacatus that he’s not part of his plans and sent to train with the reserve team, but now has been reported missing from training. The Serbian midfielder has had a trumendeous 2007/2008 season, scoring 16 goals in 30 matches :-O and, after another decent year (28 games/6 goals), lost motivation turning from a key player into just a rotation/backup solution.
Source: Scouting Romania

Unirea Urziceni ousted by Liverpool


[For more Europa League and Champions League news, please visit http://soccerwrapup.blogspot.com]

Romania’s Unirea Urziceni on Thursday missed qualification for the Europa League’s last 16 by losing 3-1 (2-1) at home to FC Liverpool.

Liverpool will meet Lille in March.

Unirea opened scoring in the 19th minute when Bruno Fernandez headed in a goal from a corner by Razvan Paduretu, but Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano struck back with a shot from about 20 meters in the 30th minute.

Dutch Ryan Babel gave the English side the lead in the 41st minute before Captain Steven Gerrard sealed victory with a low strike from 10 meters in the 57th minute.

Nearly 22,000 fans attended the match.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

´Stupid´ Liverpool Kops it - How ridiculous these fans can be

"Liverpool has kopped it from cup rivals in Romania after a series of slip ups on the Premiership club's official website.


Rafa Benitez's team are due to play the country's Unirea Urziceni FC tomorrow (Thursday) in the second leg of their Europa Cup showdown.

But Liverpool's official website has infuriated fans by saying the match will take place in Budapest - the capital of Hungary - instead of Bucharest in Romania.

Kop fans are also being told they're playing Unirea Urzicini, misspelling the club's name.

"We know the British are quite stupid and usually very ignorant of other countries but schoolchildren could get this right," said one Romanian fan. "It seems the people in Liverpool are even more stupid than normal for England."

Now the country's top selling newspaper Libertatea has hit back dubbing Liverpool 'Liver-pul', Romanian slang for d***head."
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I'm very angry with the Liverpudlians' attitudes, and got really pissed off reading this. Shame on them, they're acting like little kids, they should grow up and stop looking like a bunch of idiots. This is how it is a lot of times with the English (especially Liverpool), if they're scared of a team or aren't happy with performances they'll be stupid like this and insult the other parties, which is absolutely ridiculous. These fans should be punished severely by FIFA, who the hell do they think they are? 

Monday, February 22, 2010

Taking a look at the Liga I and Leagues from around the Globe...


Top ranked CFR Cluj overcome tough Unirea

  

Home: Unirea Urziceni Away: CFR Cluj 1907 CFR Cluj defeated the popular club, Unirea Urziceni, that participated in the UCL and Europa League, Monday (today), 1-0 , in the last match of stage 18.


The goal was scored by Traore in the 43rd minute. Muresan sent a diagonal pass to Deac, the midfielder shot from the box, but the shot was stopped by Arlauskis, which then hit the crossbar and sent the ball to Traore, only two metres from the goal line.  

Unirea Urziceni vs. CFR Cluj 1907 Score: 0-1; goal for CFR Cluj by Lacina Traore (43')  

Lineups:
Unirea Urziceni: Arlauskis - Maftei, Galamaz, B. Fernandes, Brandan - S. Paraschiv (Ricardo '76) - Onofraş (Rusescu '59), Marinescu (Semedo 70), I. Apostol, S. Leaf - Bilaşco. Coach: Ronny Levy.  

CFR Cluj: Nuno Claro - Panin, Cadu, Alcantara, Edimar - Deac (Peralta '82), E. Dica (Dani '82), G. Muresan, Culio - Traore (Veloso '64), Y. Kone. Coach: Andrea Mandorlini.

Yellow cards: Brandan '28, S. Paraschiv '66 - G. Muresan '33, '62 Nuno Claro, E. Dica '77, '79 Deac, Culio '85

Referees: Marius Avram (Head) - Adrian Vidan, Octavian Şovre (assistant referees) - Ionel Ivan (reserve).

Linesmen: Mircea Calin, Mircea Neşu. Supervisor: John Igna.

The match was attended by about 4,500 spectators, including 50 supporters of the away squad (CFR Cluj); entry is free.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dinamo win derby against Craiova

Dinamo Bucuresti faced Universitatea Craiova at home, winning the derby match 2-1 over the Stiinta.

Even so, I quote "Dinamo won again because of the referee and remains the most disgusting in the Liga I."




Match Highlights (second half only):


Goals were scored by Boştină ('8) and Marius Niculae ('17) for the home team (Dinamo) and Mihai Dina ('19)

1-0: Marius Niculae gave a header to Boştină and the dinamovist midfielder shot from about five metres from left side from the long corner.

In minute 13, Florin Costea escaped to be left alone with no one but Dolha in the defense, and Moti tackled Florin Costea from behind, who in turn fell over, but the referee did not award a penalty kick. U. Craiova club officials protested vehemently, and the club's sporting director, Silvian Cristescu, entered the referee's account calling center field but was it was ignored.

2-0: Andrei Cristea helped to extend the score with a header, and the ball reached Marius Niculae, who placed it in the net from about three to four meters.

2-1: Mihai Dina reduced the difference on the scoreboard after he shot after receiving the ball from a corner on the right side taken by Paunovic.

In the 34th minute, Torje tried to surprise Silviu Lung Jr. with a centred shot, but the ball hit the cross-bar.

Full Time: Dinamo Bucharest - Universitatea Craiova 2 to 1 (2-1) Scorers: 1-0 Gabriel Bostina (8), 2-0 Marius Niculae (17), 2-1 Michael Dina (19)

Dinamo: Dolha - Molinero, D. Gregory, Moti, Pulhac - N'Doye - Torje (Alex '88), Boştină (D. Kone '77), Ad. Cristea - M. Nicolas, and. Cristea (Cl. Niculescu 90 3). Coach: Cornel Ţălnar.

Universitatea Craiova: Long Jr. - Bărboianu, V. Gaman, Iliev, Balak - Quail, Paunovic (Trica '51), Dina (Al. Piţurcă '82), Firţulescu (Gângioveanu '61) - M. Costea, Costea Fl. Coach: Mark Wotte.

Yellow cards: A. Cristea '14, '26 M. Niculae, Molinero '67, '75 Moţi - Fl Costea '14, Tricia '59, '61 Quail.

Referees: Augustus Constantin (Central) - Ionel Popa, Sebastian Stoianof (assistant) - Lucian Ruşandu (reserve).

Linesmen: Alexandru Boc, Vasile Curt.

Supervisor: Valentin Alexander.

The match's attendance: about 9,000 spectators.
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I think that we (Craiova) deserved to win the match, even if we played poorly, especially in the second half. We had many chances to score and also deserved to get a penalty, which was ridiculously denied by the horrible ref. We still have much to fix this season... Also, Silviu Lung Jr. did a great job as keeper for us, he made some amazing saves despite having conceded 2 goals.
 

Saturday, February 20, 2010

CFR Cluj to meet Dinamo in Romania´s Cup semi-finals



CFR Cluj will meet Dinamo in the Romania's Cup semi-finals, a draw decided on Thursday (Feb 18th 2010).

CFR Cluj has won the last two Romania's Cup finals, while Dinamo has won 12 but all before 2005.

In the other semifinal, FC Vaslui will meet FC Brasov.

The semifinals will take place from 23 to 25 March and 13 to 15 April.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Unirea Urziceni vs. Liverpool - 1st leg in Anfield

David Ngog offers Liverpool late relief against Unirea Urziceni

Liverpool's David Ngog heads the winner against Unirea Urziceni
"Liverpool made a difficult descent from the Champions League into European football's second tier tonight and the most worrying aspect for Rafael Benítez was that their work-rate, commitment and attitude were not to blame. The fault was simply that which dragged them into the Europa League against Unirea Urziceni to begin with: a lack of quality when faced with obstinate opponents, although the late impact of two substitutes at least granted Anfield a slender lead to defend in Bucharest next week.
Benítez had issued sufficient warnings that a Europa League containing Juventus, Valencia and Atlético Madrid is not to be taken lightly and much of this encounter proved it can be problematic from the outset. Only when David Ngog headed home from close range in the 81st minute, having been teed up by a combination between Ryan Babel and Daniel Pacheco, did the anxiety around Liverpool's first fixture at this level for six years begin to disappear.
The Romanian champions were effectively starting anew at Anfield, having lost the coach who guided them to impressive Champions League wins over Sevilla and Rangers in the first half of this season, the former Chelsea full-back Dan Petrescu, and several key players since last playing a competitive fixture back on 14 December. It did not take long for the rust to show. Unirea gifted possession to Ngog straight from the kick-off and within 26 seconds their goalkeeper, Giedrius Arlauskis, was required to make the first save of the night, reacting well to Steven Gerrard's placed effort towards the top corner after Fábio Aurélio and Dirk Kuyt had combined to send the Liverpool captain clear. A long night on the back foot beckoned immediately for a team who prepared for this date with a 1-0 win at Northwich Victoria on Monday.
Benítez had set the correct tone for a competition that will not be derided at Liverpool should they advance towards the final in Hamburg in May by fielding a strong side. There was certainly no evidence of a preoccupation with Sunday's important league game at Manchester City in the manager's selection and his side responded accordingly, showing few signs of complacency towards the competition in a dominant start.
Kuyt dragged another opening wide of the far post and Gerrard sent Albert Riera's cross off target when picked out for a free header inside the area.
Those missed opportunities gave credence to Benítez's pre-match assertion that patience would be required against opponents whose virtues lay in defence. The Liverpool manager called that one right, although mainly due to the fact it was impossible to assess the attacking potential of a Unirea team averse to moving forwards.
On the first two occasions the visitors ventured into the Liverpool half they opted to release possession as quickly as possible, Sorin Frunza ignoring his team-mates in favour of rolling a hopeless free-kick at José Reina and Marius Onofras deciding it was somehow a good idea to attempt to beat a goalkeeper of the Spaniard's calibre with a gentle punt from the halfway line.
All of which, of course, brought frustration to the surface at Anfield the longer the contest remained scoreless. Javier Mascherano almost produced a magnificent breakthrough with a 35-yard drive that was deflected away from Arlauskis's net via a defender's shoulder and, following a subdued first half, Ngog exploded to life with a neat turn and shot under ­pressure that rolled narrowly wide.
Despite Gerrard's probing and movement behind Ngog, Riera's inconsistent forays on the left and dominating possession to a greater degree than they have in months, Liverpool struggled to find a way behind the Romanian defence. Indeed the longer the tie wore on the more it appeared Liverpool's early superiority was a result of a gulf in match fitness and not, as Anfield had hoped, class.
Benítez's team did not help their cause with increasingly careless distribution, not that it compelled Unirea to show any ambition, and it was only when Aurélio drilled a left-foot shot wide from 25 yards in the 62nd minute that the visiting goalkeeper had to be alert again. After squandering several chances to cross from the left Riera was withdrawn to sarcastic jeers from the home crowd and his replacement, Babel, at least injected some urgency into Liverpool's play.
Martin Skrtel headed wastefully over from close range when Aurélio's corner found him unmarked and Arlauskis saved from Gerrard, until Ngog finally spared Liverpool's embarrassment."
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I know Unirea can win the next leg in Steaua's stadium! We still have O.K. chances of getting through, but Liverpool are a top class squad. Very nice defense displayed by Unirea though, and Paduretu played amazing! Gerrard and Kuyt had a lot of chances for the Reds, but the Frenchman (Ngog)'s 81st minute goal Fantastic keeping from the young Lithuanian international, Arlauskis! He made incredible saves and dives. made the difference.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

FIFA World Cup Trophy arrives in Romania

The FIFA World Cup Trophy will arrive in Romania for the first time as part of a 225-day world tour organized by Coca-Cola in 86 countries on five continents.


The FIFA World Cup Trophy will travel across Romania from 6 to 8 April.

The Trophy Tour will include several events for which free tickets will be available through Coca-Cola promotions, according to a press release today (Thurs).

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said the tour was the most-ambitious project that had ever been dedicated to the World Cup.

The FIFA Trophy Tour started at FIFA headquarters in Zurich on 21 September 2009 and will include 86 countries. The trophy will travel 138,902 kilometres, more than three times the circumference of the earth.

The 18-carat trophy is 36.8 centimetres wide and weighs 6,175 grams. The base of the trophy has two semi-precious malachite layers and is engraved with the names of the football teams that have won the World Cup since 1974.

The World Cup winner gets the FIFA trophy and keeps it until the next World Cup. The team then gets a copy of the trophy.

The 2010 World Cup will be hosted by South Africa.
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This is absolutely thrilling! First time that It will ever be Romania! Article says all. :D

Boloni resigns as Standard Liege coach

 
Romanian Laszlo Boloni has resigned as coach of Belgian team Standard Liege, the club officially announced yesterday (Weds).


His team won the Belgian national championship last year, but has had very disappointing results this year, as it is currently sixth in the top league.

The team is also out of Champions League play and faces Europa League matches.

Boloni, 56, had been coaching Liege since 2008.

Boloni has coached Sporting Lisbon and Al-Jazeera in the United Arab Emirates.
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Boloni was one of our top 5 or 6 all-time best players (Romanian national team) scoring 25 goals for Romania in 108 appearances. He also won the UEFA Champions League and European Super Cup with Steaua Bucuresti in 1985-1986. He did very well with Standard last year in the Belgian league and deserves an applaud as a manager as well. 

Congratulations to Lazlo Boloni for a great football career!

Mutu fined €23,000 by his club for brawling and smoking


 
"Romanian international Adrian Mutu is facing new problems after his suspension for testing positive with a banned substance, as his club Fiorentina has decided to fine him 23,000 Euros, it was revealed Wednesday.

Mutu is being fined 16,500 Euros for his involvement in a fracas with a Lebanese citizen last year. Mutu hit the man during a party at the luxury Four Seasons hotel in Florence in December, according to the Italian media.

The 43-year-old Lebanese had to seek treatment at Santa Maria Nuova hospital.

His behaviour raised eyebrows at his team, as Fiorentina's administrator Sandro Mencucci said in an interview that Mutu shouldn't have been partying at 3am.

"Even if he was the victim of aggression, he should have been sleeping at 3am, not wandering around. He must behave as a player, which he knows how to do," Mencucci was quoted as saying. And now the club has announced he is going to be fined for the incident.

Mutu is also being fined 6,500 Euros for having been caught smoking inside the stadium, a violation of club rules, raising the total amount of the fines to 23,000 Euros.

Mutu was suspended indefinitely after testing positive twice in January for a substance called sibutramine, which is used to reduce appetite."

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Adrian Mutu, no matter how amazing his skills with the ball are, is just an idiot. That's the second time being caught for drugs, whether or not there was a good reason for it. He still continues to participate in unacceptable behaviour (like smoking in the stadium). Major acts performed: drugs (twice), cop chase, appearing in explicit material(s)/magazine(s), smoking in a stadium, knocking out a man at a party at 3:00 A.M. (even though he was defending himself), and more. Sad that he does these things to himself.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Chivu to start training again

"Romanian international 'Cristi' Chivu is going to start training again after skull surgery, his club Inter Milan announced today (Tues).



At first he will engage in individual rather than team training.

Chivu may return to the field at the end of March or the beginning of April.

Chivu suffered a skull fracture during a match his team won against Chievo on 6 January in Italian Series A play.

Chivu, 29, who is the captain of the Romanian national team, injured his head in a duel with Sergio Pellissier and had to undergo head surgery."
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Glad to hear he's back on the field. Even so, I understand he must have been horrified (after he actually had the injury and lied in the hospital bed), I saw an image and a youtube video, it was scary! Could have been killed, and doctors even admitted afterwards that he was 'meant' to die but luckily they saved him and he resisted well and now he seems fine. Just don't know how that will affect his football skills now though... - Scroll down for the promised video (in Italian, concerning Chivu's injury).

Here's the youtube video for all of you that are so interested in this you actually scrolled down. Here's your reward!:

Romania to face France in Euro 2012 qualification competition

"Romania, France, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania and Luxembourg will play in Group D in qualifying competition for Euro 2012.

















A draw for qualifying competition occurred yesterday (Sun. Feb. 8th) in Warsaw, Poland.

The Romanian delegation to Warsaw included national football team coach Razvan Lucescu, general manager and secretary general of the Romanian Football Federation Ionut Lupescu and Adalbert Kassai, respectively, and federation sports director Daniel Prodan.

Each team in the qualifying groups will play one another on a home-and-away basis. The competition will start in early September 2010 and conclude with playoffs in November 2011.

Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland and Ukraine will qualify automatically, along with the nine group winners and best runner-up, and the other eight second-place sides will engage in playoffs in November 2011."
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HAI ROMANIA!

I honestly think we can do much better than our horrible performance during the World Cup 2010 European Qualifiers, that was absurd. I also don't think Lucescu is a good coach, I think he's a terrible manager and Petrescu or someone of the like should be managing Romania. He made horrible player selections and tactics and training and all that, clearly didn't do much good for us. I hope we can change that in the Euro 2012 Qualifiers and get our revenge on France, one of our biggest rivals at the moment!*

*We've played them three times in less than two years (Euro 2008 and the WCQs [2 times]).

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Slovak Jan Kozak transfers to FC Timisoara

"Slovak international Jan Kozak has transferred to FC Timisoara, the club announced today (Fri).

Kozak, who has played 21 matches for his national team and was also one of its captains, has signed a contract for two seasons.

Kozak said: "I want to play in the Champions League with Timisoara."

Midfielder Kozak, 29 and 1.90 metres tall, has played for MFK Kosice, Lokeren, Slavia Prague, Artmedia Petrzalka, West Bromwich Albion and Slovan Bratislava."
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I found this to be an interesting transfer deal made by Timisoara, let's see how well he does with them. He's played for Slovakia and they actually made it to the World Cup 2010, so he could be a very good player for them. Please comment your thoughts on this.

Dubarbier signs with Lorient

A couple days ago it was confirmed that the Liga I star is indeed being transferred to France's Ligue 1:

"Argentine Sebastian Dubarbier has transferred from CFR Cluj to French Ligue I team Lorient, Cluj officially announced yesterday (Mon).

His transfer cost 1.5 million Euros, and he has signed for four and a half seasons.

Dubarbier, 23, said it was a step forward in his career after two years with CFR Cluj, with whom he won the Romanian championship in 2008.

FC Lorient is currently ninth in Ligue I."

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I see this as a great opportunity for him, he has been scoring loads for the "Chelsea of Romania" (CFR Cluj) and is a great striker. In fact, he could be playing for an even more reputable team with the quality he's got.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Premier League team acquires Romanian football player

I know it's been a little while, but here it is (announced Jan 15th 2010):



"Romanian national team player Razvan Cocis will transfer to Portsmouth, last ranked in the English Premier League, it was revealed today (Fri).

Cocis, 27, will transfer from Lokomotiv Moscow to the Premier League team for three years.

Cocis played for Sheriff Tiraspol from 2004 to 2007 and has 32 caps with the national team."

 My view on Cocis is that he is very underrated and can be a great player at times, he hasn't been called up too much to the Romanian national team, but when he has, he's scored a good amount of goals (1 goal vs. Faroe Islands, which was his only call-up at the World Cup Qualifications).