Steaua has no stadium!

Legendary football team Steaua Bucharest may lose its stadium because it hasn’t paid rent for over 60 days.



The stadium’s owners - the Romanian Defence Ministry - said today (Weds) that because it hadn’t received any payment for either March or April the lease contract for the stadium had been cancelled.

According to the contract Steaua Bucharest has to pay 21,600 Euros per month for the 90,000 sqm stadium and buildings. The club has also failed to pay a further 5,000 Euros (20,000 lei) expenses.

Steaua financer, MEP Gigi Becali said Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea had increased the rent to 65,000 Euros per month, but this was flatly denied by the Ministry which issued a statement saying: "The Army Sports Club hasn't modified the contract clauses and hasn't increased the value of the rent."

Steaua is fifth in the local championship, one match before the end of League I season.

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.

Two referees arrested on suspicion of corruption

Two football referees were arrested by anti-corruption prosecutors on Thursday night, who want them placed in preventive detention for 29 days.



Marius Martis and Ionica Serea have been accused by anti-corruption prosecutors of taking bribes. The Arges court has jurisdiction in their case.

The two arrests are thought to be connected to the FC Arges case last year.

Football team FC Arges was demoted to the second league by the Professional Football League (LPF) last year after club manager Cornel Penescu and national refereeing committee head Gheorghe Constantin were arrested in April on bribery charges related to match-fixing.

The two face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of giving or receiving bribes.

Another Romanian in the Bundesliga

Another Romanian could be set to play in the Bundesliga, it was revealed today (Tues).

Football player Paul Parvulescu, from Gaz Metan Medias, is going to be transferred to Hoffenheim, according to Prosport.

Parvulescu, 21, is reportedly in discussions to sign a contract for five seasons and the Romanian club will get 1.5 million Euros, Prosport wrote, quoting sources from the club. The transfer has not been confirmed officially.

Currently, Romanian Ciprian Marica is playing for VfB Stuttgart.

Another Romanian, Alexandru Ionita, from Rapid, has signed a three and a half years contract with FC Koln, starting this summer.

CFR Cluj remains at the top

CFR Cluj remains at the top of the Romanian League I after victory over Gloria Bistrita on Saturday night in Cluj-Napoca.

Yssouf Kone scored for CFR in the first half and kept the team in first place, with 49 points.

Beating Unirea Alba lulia 3-0, Vaslui now take second place in League I, with 47 points.

Steaua Bucharest also won 1-0 against FC Brasov and it is currently in third place, with 46 points.

Steaua player out for a month

Steaua player Ianos Szekely is out of action for at least a month after sustaining an injury during training, the club announced yesterday (Fri).

Szekely, 26, suffered a knee injury and he will be operated on next week, the club said, but added he is unlikely to be back in the game for at least one month.

Szekely played in 15 matches for Steaua this season and scored five times.

Bud helps the Liga I Leaders get past Brasov in an away match

Today, CFR Cluj played away and defeated FC Brasov 1-0 with a goal from Bud early in the first half of the match, assisted by the top class Yssouf Kone.

This is Brasov's fourth lost match in a row, and they now lie in 9th place in the top-flight Romanian league, only 1 point ahead of Gloria Bistrita.


Goals:
FC Brasov - none.
CFR Cluj - C. Bud (19').


Have anything to say about this result? Share your views with the world and post a comment below.

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.

Craiova defeat Rapid Bucuresti 1-0 added time!

U Craiova won 1-0 yesterday (Sat.) in Bucharest thanks to a goal from Constantin Gangioveanu, who is a very technical player. He scored a formidable goal in the second minute of stoppage time (92nd minute), it was a diagonal from nearly outside the box and it passed through a Rapid defender's legs and into the back of the net!

I thought we were going to tie, which isn't bad against Rapid, especially since we were playing away, but we managed to get the full 3 points here! We are now in 12th place, we started the season off very bad but now it looks like the new Dutch coach, Mark Wotte (who coached the Dutch National Team for several years), has cleaned up some of our problems and doing a better job than our previous Italian manager. I hope we continue all these wins we're getting and hopefully clinch a Europa League spot!! :-)

We also didn't have Florin Costea for two matches, so that's a big blow... he will be out for the rest of the season.

Constantin Gangioveanu's goal:

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').

Dinamo and CFR play to a 1-1 draw

 
Dinamo and CFR Cluj played to a 1-1 draw last night (Weds) in the semi-finals of Romanian Cup competition in Bucharest.

Lucian Goian scored in the 10th minute for Dinamo, and CFR Cluj got the equaliser by Yssouf Kone 15 minutes later.

The second-leg match will be played in Cluj on 14 April.

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.

Dinamo defeats eternal rival Steaua

Dinamo Bucharest won the match with its eternal rival Steaua Bucharest at Stefan cel Mare stadium in Bucharest last night (Weds) by a score of 2-0 (1-0).


Marius Alexe scored in the 40th minute and Adrian Cristea in the 81st minute.

The match was full of yellow and red cards as the tension was at maximum level. Dinamo players got five yellow cards, while Steaua players received three yellow cards and one red card, for Golanski in the 66th minute. Steaua had to play with only 10 men thereafter.

Over 15,000 spectators attended the match.

Dinamo is fourth in the top league, with 38 points, the same as Rapid but with more goals scored. The leader is still CFR Cluj, with 40 points, followed by Steaua, with 39 points.

Match Highlights:

Dinamo claims Steaua fans want to set fire to the stadium

Dinamo Bucharest football club Executive President Cristian Borcea said today (Tues) that Steaua supporters intended to set fire to the Dinamo stadium during the match scheduled for tomorrow (Weds).

The two rivals - Steaua and Dinamo - are meeting in a match tomorrow at Dinamo stadium Stefan cel Mare in Bucharest.

Borcea said Steaua supporters wanted to take revenge on Steaua owner tycoon Gigi Becali and set fire to the part of the stadium reserved for visiting team fans. Borcea added that all measures had been taken to prevent such a thing from happening.

Borcea said only 676 tickets have been sold to Steaua supporters, based on a protocol between the two teams.
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What a stupid thing to assume, but I guess you can never be too careful in football. I want to see a Steaua win here!

Fans fined at the Dinamo-CFR Cluj game

Eight fans were fined by gendarmes at the Dinamo-CFR Cluj match on Saturday evening in Cluj-Napoca.

Five were fined for trying to scalp tickets before the match, and three others were fined for throwing items at gendarmes and starting a fight.

CFR Cluj managed only a 2-2 (0-1) draw at the match on Saturday night against Dinamo.

CFR Cluj continues to lead the top league with 39 points, followed by Steaua, with the same number of points but fewer goals scored, and Rapid Bucharest with 38 points.

Craiova smashes top class Brasov

I know this was from this past weekend, but I was busy celebrating!:

FC Universitatea Craiova played at home (even though they weren't actually playing in their own stadium) against one of the top Liga I clubs, FC Brasov, defeating them by a wide score of 3-0. The match was rather exciting, and the Oltenii created many chances and I honestly think that they should have won by at least a score of 10-0 or 15-0.

The stiinta completely dominated the match and Brasov had only a very few chances near the goal against Craiova and didn't cause much of a problem for U Craiova. Iliev, the Bulgarian new signing for Craiova, was doing a great job in midfield despite being a little too aggressive at times.

The Oltenii were also missing out on their national team and number one defender in the Liga I, Ovidiu Dananae, yet were able to get 3 points out of this one. This was a very important win as it elevated their rank from a dangerous position to a less threatening one.

Goals: Valerica Găman ('16), Radu Barbu ('25), Mihai Costea ('36).

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I am hoping and now more confident that we can do much better in the rest of the season if we continue this type of football, we could even reach the UEFA Qualification spot!

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 brings in Ghencea a former colleague with Beckham from LA Galaxy » "Pele from Evansville"

"Gigi Becali: 'My family waited for the Americans and now I bring one to Steaua!'
 

Gazeta has found out the name of the player from USA which Steaua wants: Josh Tudela. He is midfielder, is 25 years old, he played with Beckham at Los Angeles Galaxy and he will be tested by Steaua in the training camps from Turkey
'Pele from Evansville', this way is nicknamed Josh Tudela, central midfielder of 25 years old, who will come as Stoichiţă’s player for tests in the training camp from Antalya

While waiting for Iovov and Ouon, Steaua negotiated few days ago in secret with another player. He is American, Josh Tudela, who played last time for Los Angeles Galaxy, where he had been colleague with David Beckham for two years.

He will be tested in the friendly matches from Turkey
Tudela, who is an offensive midfielder, is free of contract since this summer and from that moment on he didn’t play. He will come in the training camps of Steaua from Antalya and he will be tested in the friendly matches and if he plays good and he convinces Stoichiţă, then he will sign an agreement with Steaua.

The DVD with Beckham convinced Stoichiţă
Stoichiţă has seen on two DVDs and one was a friendly match since December 2008 between LA Galaxy and the team of Oceania’s States. The score was 3-0 for the American team, in a match in which Beckham evolved as right midfielder, and Tudela in the center, the two players have changed a lot of passes during the match.

Technical and crabbed
Tudela has started to play football in the team from his high-school, being declared the most offensive football player. After he had moved to the professional football he was surnamed “Pele from Evansville" because of his excellent technique. He has won a famous competition of juggling with the ball and he managed to keep the ball without falling for 40 minutes.

Who is Tudela
- he was born on march 13, 1984, in Evansville (Indiana)
- he is 1,75 meters tall has 72 kilograms
- in 2003 he played at West Michigan Edge
- in 2004 he evolved for Fort Wayne Fever
- in 2007 he moved to California Victory, after he was bought by L.A. Galaxy
- in the last two years and half he played only 23 matches in the American first league

16 months passed since Tudela  has scored the first and the only goal for LA Galaxy, in the match with FC Sydney (3-0) in the championship Pan-Pacific"

Stuttgart surge sweeps Unirea away

[UEFA Champions League - December 12th 2009]
Home: VfB Stuttgart
Away: FC Unirea Urziceni

Final Score: 3-1 to VfB Stuttgart

Goals:
VfB Stuttgart - Ciprian Marica (5'), C. Träsch (8'), and P. Pogrebnyak (11')
Unirea Urziceni - A. P. S. Semedo (46')

Bookings:
Yellow cards - M.I. Bilasco (Unirea; 43'), I.C. Apostol (Unirea; 68'), and P.D. Brandan (Unirea; 75')

"Vfb Stuttgart reached the UEFA Champions League first knockout round for the first time in five years, overwhelming FC Unirea Urziceni with three goals in the first eleven minutes to claim second place in Group G at their opponents' expense.

Advantage overturned
The Romanian titleholders travelled to Germany holding a two-point lead over Stuttgart yet were powerless to deny Christian Gross a dream start to his new job. The 55-year-old replaced Markus Babbel on Sunday and watched in jubilation as his new charges began at breathtaking speed, goals from Ciprian Marica, Christian Träsch and Pavel Pogrebnyak effectively wrapping up a last-16 place despite António Semedo's reply early in the second period.

Khedira the key
The hosts could scarcely have imagined a better start, taking a three-goal lead before Unirea could draw breath. Sami Khedira, a surprise inclusion following a foot injury, swiftly proved worthy of Gross's gamble, delivering a perfect cross for Marica to nod past the stranded Giedrius Arlauskis with five minutes gone. Although Jens Lehmann was forced into a superb save from his own defender as Stefano Celozzi made a last-ditch challenge on Marius Ioan Bilasco, the early momentum was with Stuttgart, who doubled their advantage from the resulting corner.

Composed finishes
Breaking swiftly, Timo Gebhart's long pass allowed Träsch to outstrip the Unirea defence and shoot low across Arlauskis and into the bottom corner of the net. Three minutes later the Stuttgart supporters were rubbing their eyes in disbelief as Khedira laid on his second of the night and the home team's third, Pogrebnyak picking up his ball in from the right and jinking past two defenders before finishing coolly through the goalkeeper's legs.

Semedo consolation
With the match all but decided already, the Bundesliga strugglers relaxed and continued to dictate proceedings without adding to their lead before the interval. Their composure suffered a jolt five minutes into the second period when Semedo made the most of Artur Boka's mistake to reduce the visitors' deficit, though Stuttgart quickly regained the initiative by creating a plethora of chances.

Gebhardt goes close
Substitute Sebastian Rudy was the first to threaten, linking up superbly with Marica only to drive straight at Arslauskis, before Marica himself was unfortunate not to find a team-mate after breaking down the left. With Unirea attempting to hurt their hosts on the counterattack, Stuttgart accepted the invitation to pour forward and came close to restoring their three-goal lead when Gebhart curled a delightful shot beyond Arlauskis, only to watch his effort clip the outside of the post.

Qualification assured
The German side continued to look the more likely scorers as the match entered its final stages, with Unirea never seriously threatening to mount the remarkable fightback required after that sensational Stuttgart start. Dan Petrescu's side therefore go into the draw for the UEFA Europa League round of 32 on 18 December; Gross, meanwhile, will be hoping a second successive UEFA Champions League win can provide the impetus to revive Stuttgart's stuttering domestic fortunes.

©uefa.com 1998-2009. All rights reserved."

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I am not at all happy with the result; I find that we should have at least drawn, but got unlucky in Germany. Can't believe it, if they stopped them from scoring all those goals in the first 11 minutes (when they seemed to still be asleep), we could have won, definitely at least tie. At least we still have the Europa League to look forward to...

Unlucky Oltenii lose 3 points to Steaua

[December 8th 2009]
Home: Universitatea Craiova
Away: Steaua Bucuresti

Final Score: 2-1 to Steaua


Goals:
"U" Craiova - A. Prepelita (15')
Steaua - P. Kapetanos (4'), J. Szekely (90')