Sabau resigns from Timisoara

Ioan Ovidiu Sabau resigned from his position as coach of FC Timisoara, Gazeta Sporturilor reported today (Weds).

Sabau refused to give any explanation for his reasons, saying only that financer Marian Iancu accepted his resignation.

Sabau, 42, came to train Timisoara in June last year.

FC Timisoara finished only 5th in the local Liga I.

Unirea Urziceni to play in the preliminaries of the Champions League

Unirea Urziceni has secured second place in the Romanian football championship after victory last night (Mon) against Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt.

Unirea Urziceni, last year's champion, is now through to the preliminaries of the Champions League.

This year's champion is CFR Cluj, which also won in 2008, and will represent Romania in the Champions League.

Unirea won 4-0 against Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt on Monday night, in an away game.

Also on Monday night, FC Timisoara drew 0-0 against Pandurii Targu Jiu and lost the chance for the two first positions, dropping on third in the Romanian League I.

CFR Cluj wins with penalty kick in minute 93

Leaders CFR Cluj won with a final goal in the third minute of extra time giving them a 3-2 victory in Monday’s match against Universitatea Craiova.



CFR Cluj managed to win despite playing with only ten players after Hugo Alcantara was sent off with a red card in the 37th minute.

Universitatea Craiova seemed to have the match in the bag as half time finished with them 2-0 up with goals from  Alexandru Piturca in minute 12 and Mihai Costea in minute 21.

But CFR Cluj came out fighting in the 2nd half with goals from Lacina Traore (minute 63), Cristi Bud (minute 84) and then Rocardo Cadu (minute 93) with a penalty strike.

CFR Cluj has now secured another step towards winning the local championship, having 63 points, four more than FC Timisoara, with 59.

Vaslui overpower FC Timisoara

FC Vaslui won 1-0 today versus FC Timisoara, in Timisoara.

FC Timisoara had many chances to score in this match, especially near the end, and it was a very aggressive game.

Goals:
FC Timisoara - none.
FC Vaslui - C. Costly (12')

Bookings:
FC Timisoara - none.
FC Vaslui - M. Pavlovic (red card; 37').

Also, you can watch the Brasov - CFR Cluj match coming up in a little over an hour (after the end of this match) using the SopCast channels.

Unirea and Dinamo play to a 4-4 draw

Unirea Urziceni and Dinamo Bucharest played to a 4-4 (2-2) draw today (Sun).

Urziceni is currently in fifth place in the top football league, with 42 points, the same as Dinamo in fourth and Timisoara in third, but they have scored more goals.

CFR Cluj is the leader with 43 points, followed by Steaua Bucharest, also with 43 points but with fewer goals scored.


Goals:
Unirea Urziceni - M.D. Onofras (2'), A.P.S. Semedo (10'), and M.I. Bilasco (70'; penalty and 90').
Dinamo Bucuresti - B. Fernandes (6'; own goal), A. Cristea (8' and 64'; penalty), and G. Torje (48').

CFR Cluj still the leader in Romanian football

Unirea Urziceni defeated Unirea Alba Iulia in an away football game today (Mon) by a score of 2-1.

Bucurica scored for the host team in the 39th minute, but Unirea’s Brandon managed to score the equaliser in the 48th minute, and Onofras made it 2-1 in the 53rd minute.

Romanian League I leader is CFR Cluj, with 43 points, after its 1-0 defeat of Pandurii Targu Jiu over the weekend.

FC Timisoara is second, with 42 points, and Steaua Bucharest is third, also with 42 points but with fewer goals scored.

FC Timisoara awarded three points by LPF

FC Timisoara is the new leader of the Romanian first league after a decision made today (Weds) by the Discipline Commission of the Professional Football League (LPF).

LPF decided to accept Timisoara's contention that Rapid Bucharest had unfairly used two players in a match it won by a score of 1-0 against Timisoara, according to Gazeta Sporturilor.

Rapid Bucharest used Dacian Varga and Tibi Balan when they were not club players.

LPF decided today that the match had been won by FC Timisoara by a score of 3-0 as Rapid had broken the rules and deserved to forfeit it.

Timisoara leads the first league with 38 points on goal difference, followed by previous leader CFR Cluj, with 38 points, and Unirea Urziceni, with 36 points.

Steaua down five places to 45th in IFFHS rankings

Steaua Bucharest is down five places to 45th, with 167.5 points, in February rankings of football clubs by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) issued today (Weds).

Steaua remains the highest-ranked Romanian team. CFR Cluj, in first place in the top Romanian league, is 69th, with 143.5 points, while FC Timisoara is up five positions to 80th, with 133 points.

Dinamo Bucharest is up to 85th from 94th, with 127.5 points.

Romania has another three teams in the top 250 - Vaslui in 91st, with 123 points, Unirea Urziceni in 105th, with 118.5 points, and FC Brasov in 239th, with 80.5 points.

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Cocis to play football for FC Timisoara

Romanian Rozvan Cocis will play for football club FC Timisoara, the club announced yesterday (Mon) evening.

Cocis, 27, failed to transfer to Portsmouth, ranked last in the English Premier League at the beginning of the year, because of an injury to his right arm.

Cocis was without a contract after expiration of the one he had with Lokomotiv Moscow.

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