Zenga wishes Romania played for the World Cup

Former Italian international, Walter Zenga, said the South Africa World Cup would have been much more beautiful with Romania playing, it was reported today (Thurs).



Zenga was quoted making the remarks at the Football Academy in Mogosoaia, saying: "It would have been more beautiful with Romania playing at the World Cup. I am sorry it didn't qualify, but I trust Razvan Lucescu will qualify the team for the Euro 2012."

Romania failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, in Group 7, where it played against France, Serbia, Austria and the Faroes Islands

Zenga trained in Romania in the League I teams: FC National, Steaua Bucharest and Dinamo Bucharest. He is also married to a Romanian, Raluca, and they have a baby girl.

He is currently coach of Al Nasr, in Saudi Arabia.

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.

Steaua loses to last-place Unirea Alba Iulia

Legendary Steaua Bucharest has dropped to fifth place in the Liga I after its shameful 1-2 defeat by last place Unirea Alba Iulia in an away match this past week-end.

Unirea Alba Iulia thereby improved its chances of avoiding relegation to the second league. It is in 17th place with 26 points in the 18-team league.

Veljovici and Florin Dan scored for Alba Iulia in the 24th and 83rd minutes, respectively, while Arman Karamyan scored in the 43rd minute for Steaua.

Steaua lost for the second time this season to the last-place team in the Liga I, having earlier been defeated by then last-place Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt.

Steaua is currently in fifth place with 53 points, six fewer than leader CFR Cluj has.

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.

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.

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!

Kapetanos strikes late to give Steaua draw

An injury-time goal from Greek striker Pantelis Kapetanos gave Steaua Bucharest a dramatic 2-2 draw with Unirea Urziceni on Saturday in Urziceni.


Sorin Frunza gave the home side the lead in the third minute, but Ovidiu Petre put Steaua back on level terms five minutes later. 

With 18 minutes to go, Marius Onofras made it 2-1 to Unirea, but in the 92nd minute, Kapetanos struck to give Bucharest a share of the spoils.