Today, Manchester United played Aston Villa in the final of the Carling Cup at the Wembley Stadium.
Final 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).
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)
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.
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.
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.
"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."
__________________________________________________________ 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?
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.
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.
______________________________________________________ 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.
David Ngog offers Liverpool late relief 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."
________________________________________________________ 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.
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.
_________________________________________________________ This is absolutely thrilling! First timethat It will ever be Romania! Article says all. :D
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.
__________________________________________________________
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!
"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."
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.
"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."
__________________________________________________________ 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, 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."
__________________________________________________________
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]).
"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."
_________________________________________________________
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.
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.
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).
Final Score: 2-1 to Manchester United.
