[Romania] The Editorial of Radu Faur: Back to the future, Steaua loan their ex-captain and ex-top scorer to help them win the title

dadyma89 20:08:00 0

The end of the transfer window has proved to be a very busy period for the three Romanian clubs that will probably compete to win the 2014/2015 season in Liga I.

 Steaua loaned three Romanian internationals: Rusescu (Sevilla), Bourceanu (Trabzonspor) and Pap (Chievo), Petrolul have managed to sign a Uruguayan striker (Pastorini), while Astra put their hands on two fullbacks: Joaozinho (loan from Braga) and Alasanne Toure (RC Lens).

Steaua has been thrown out from the Champions League race by Ludogoret’s Cosmin Moţi, a Romanian defender that is now a hero in Bulgaria, after having the guts to step in as a goalkeeper and lead his team to victory in the penalty shootout. Players like Râpă and Pârvulescu probably still have nightmares after being denied from the penalty spot by the defender that used to play for Dinamo Bucharest, but the team from Ghencea has to go on and focus on the Europa League games and, even more important, winning another title in Romania, which would be their third in a row. Raul Rusescu has been a very important player for the red and blue team, that sold him to Sevilla in July 2013. Since then, the striker that was the top scorer of Liga I before leaving (21 goals in 34 games) played very little in Spain, but had a good second part of the season on loan, in Portugal, where he scored 8 times in 20 appearances for Braga. Rusescu is not the only ex-player that Steaua will rely on in this year’s title race. Alex Bourceanu, a hard working defensive midfielder that has been nick-named “Gattuso” was Steaua’s captain when he was sold, seven months ago, to Turkish side Trabzonspor. The problem is that the 29 year old has suffered an injury and the doctors haven’t reached yet to a conclusion – when the midfielder will be able to play again for Steaua.
Finally, Paul Papp has been loaned to Steaua from Chievo Verona. The Italian side sent the 24 year old defender to play on loan for Astra in the second part of the last season.

Astra want a French souvenir after living a fairy tale in France 

Astra Giurgiu reached the Europa League group stage, after kicking out the French giants Olympique Lyon, winning 2-1 away and losing 0-1 at home. It is the biggest surprise a Romanian squad pulled out in the last five years, keeping in mind that Poli Timişoara eliminated Shaktar Donetsk in the Champions League preliminary round in 2009 (the Ukranians had just won the UEFA Cup two months earlier). Astra will face Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb and Salzburg in the Europa League group, and they wanted a stronger defence for the rest of this season. According to prosport.ro, the team from Giurgiu is very close to signing a deal with Alassane Toure, a 25 year old that can play as a center back and a right back. He comes as a free agent, and has last played in his own country for RC Lens. Joaozinho, a Portuguese left back, has been loaned to Astra by Braga. He has recently played for Moldavian side Sheriff Tiraspol.

 Petrolul – two disappointments in one week 

With a 35 year old star, Adrian Mutu, who is not even playing half as good as he used to 10 or 15 years ago, Petrolul wants to keep up the pace with Steaua and Astra. That is why Răzvan Lucescu wanted to strengthen his side, especially upfront. Rodrigo Pastorini has been brought to Romania form the Uruguayan team Wanderers. Pastorini is 24 and he will probably have a team mate from Uruguay – Sebastian Gallegos, another striker (22) that comes to Petrolul for free. His latest club was Como; he hasn’t scored a single goal for the Italian side, in 10 appearances. “The Yellow Wolves” have been ruled out of Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb and, just three days after losing 2-1 in Croatia, they were again defeated with the same score, in the 6th round of Liga I, by CFR Cluj. round of Liga I, by CFR Cluj. Petrolul players and officials said that the result was influenced by the referee Sebastian Colţescu, who easily sent off two  important players of the team from Ploieşti: Teixeira and Geraldo. CFR’s win at Ploieşti was the only surprise of this round in Liga I. Steaua got lucky and won by 1-0 away to Hagi’s Viitorul. It was not a convincing performance from the champions, but still Costel Gâlcă’s team hangs on to the second place, having earned the same number of points as the leader, Astra (15). round of Liga I, by CFR Cluj.

The results of Round 6:
Gaz Metan Mediaş – Pandurii 0-2
Ceahlăul – Chiajna 2-0
Dinamo – FC Braşov 2-1
Viitorul – Steaua 0-1
ASA Târgu Mureş – FC Botoşani 2-1
Astra Giurgiu – CSU Craiova 5-0
 Petrolul – CFR Cluj 1-2
Oţelul – Rapid 2-0
 U Cluj – CSMS Iaşi 2-0