Alexandru Matel starting at RB? HELLOOOO SAPUNARUUUU????

He is suspended, from what I've heard. Happily Nicolita ain't in the first 11, why use an improvisation when you have real RBs?

maybe he's rested for France? don't know, he's not even on the bench.

I was gonna follow this match to watch Sapu...now, **** it.

he's definitely with the squad, no idea why he's not playing though.

Gabi Torje for 1-0

Torje (H)

Torje is our future undisputed captain.

Torje is our future undisputed captain.

A brace against Luxembourg and you come up with that statement?

He has talent and skill, no doubt, but let him succeed going forward and we will see. That yellow for example was retarded and because of it he will miss the match against France.

Torje as captain? no way. I don't want him or Marica anywhere near that. you should see how they both act when their team is behind, or when it's just not their day. I'm happy that Rat got it, he's the best choice. I can see Sapunaru or even Bourceanu getting it afterwards.

So, any predictions for tonight ? I say we get crushed. Not that France are great, they actually suck but we just suck more. Hope the boys prove me wrong and we get the win !

A brace against Luxembourg and you come up with that statement?

He has talent and skill, no doubt, but let him succeed going forward and we will see. That yellow for example was retarded and because of it he will miss the match against France.

Yes, this is my opinion. Of course not now but in 2014 or 2016 why not? He is very very talented, has ambition and leadership potential. I said future captain.

I hope we can get a lucky win, but it's hard to believe. and it wouldn't matter too much anyway because it's too late. but still, it would be nice.



http://mihaimarin.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/23.jpg?w=470&h=313

Romania - France - 2 @ 2.00 and I really hope they screw my ticket.

WTF is Piturca thinking? He is calling up players who either are subs at their team or are at a crap team When you call up coccis and Ov. Petre (Modena? FFS!) you can't expect to beat France! I'm not happy with Stancu either. Zicu? Come on! I was most outraged with calling up Lazar but he really surprised me against Luxembourg. I would have called up Mihai Costea, Alexe (if he is in the first 11 of Dinamo; he really is talented, if he doesn't get carried away with bitches and nightclubs he could become a great player), and (I know you're gonna laugh) Oprita. Oprita is the man! He's got skills. And I'm sure you could find better midfielders in Liga I than coccis or Ov. Petre. Damn! Fingers crossed for tonight.

boooooring game

nice job Marica :coffe-anim:

Banel too

http://storage0.dms.mpinteractiv.ro/media/401/581/7952/8706095/2/romania-franta-10-jucatori.jpg?width=610

I don't get it. :S

Sapunaru got injured at the warm-up and his replacement Srdjian Luchin wasn't prepared at that moment so we entered with only 10 men on the pitch (H)

They didn't give you a time limit to avoid forfeiture? :D

Am I the only one who can't understand the call up of Tanase? Yesterday he had one dribbling and 10 mistaken passes, for an attacking midfielder is a shame! At Steaua he has 6-7 goals in 2-3 years! What is making him a good national call up?

Am I the only one who can't understand the call up of Tanase? Yesterday he had one dribbling and 10 mistaken passes, for an attacking midfielder is a shame! At Steaua he has 6-7 goals in 2-3 years! What is making him a good national call up?

Have you been watching Steaua's games recently? He should definitely be called up. He is practically becoming our next Banel in terms of determination and work rate.

We don't need athletes, let's naturalize Usain Bolt. You can run 12 miles but when you have the ball you pass it outside the field. Tanase is a Jiji product. He has more determination in pubs. Nicolita is good but I don't think we need 11 Nicolita's, we need some "pianist" too.

We don't need athletes, let's naturalize Usain Bolt. You can run 12 miles but when you have the ball you pass it outside the field. Tanase is a Jiji product. He has more determination in pubs. Nicolita is good but I don't think we need 11 Nicolita's, we need some "pianist" too.

he is the best pianist we can have atm except Mutu.

This "pianist" has about 5 or 6 goals in over 50 matches for Steaua, in 3 years, as an attacking midfielder. Zicu is our goalgetter, and he stays on the bench.

Lol at comparing Tanase with Mutu. He was crap last night. Pianist ?! Haha Are you ******* kidding me? (H)

who compared Tanase with Mutu?

I rate him as 2nd player in Liga I after Sanmartean (who was injured) based on technique.

Lutu was talented too but like Tanase he wasn't so smart. That makes Tanase nothing more than an average player.

lol comparing Tanase with Zicu. Zicu is a forward and Tanase is a winger usually. who wasn't crap last night? the defensive players were the only one that looked good cause that's all we did. Tanase, Cocis, Marica and Nicolita were isolated from the rest, same for Stancu when he got in. our defenders just blew the ball up-field whenever they got it, to Marica who hasn't won one header. that's what always happens when we play against bigger teams. everyone was so scared to do something, they just got rid of the ball as fast as they could. the only one that actually tried to do something was Lazar. this is the only thing that Mutu would have brought, tupeu. maybe Torje too, but he still has to prove himself against decent opponents.


we woke up in the last 15 minutes when the players must have heard that Bosnia scored I guess. Piturca's only fault was not calling up Sanmartean and Marius Niculae (earlier). that and keeping Marica on the pitch for 90 minutes when he didn't have one single shot on target. Blanc sent in a fresh Remy and also Nasri, and they rode us the whole 2nd half. Piturca made only two subs, one in the 90th minute.


glad to hear that Sapunaru wasn't injured and he got benched cause he's a f*cking prick. either way I have faith in Piturca. he freshened up the roster, now all he has to do is teach them how to play well together. some of these players can actually turn good.


oh and why every Romanian coach tries to copy Barca's 4-3-3 which always seems to turn into a very defensive 4-5-1 for them? you need actual football players for that.

I rate him as 2nd player in Liga I after Sanmartean (who was injured) based on technique.

You should definitely watch more games form Liga I then. Tanase is NOT talented ! Jeez.. you make it sound like he's Messi or something. He doesn't deserve to be in the NT like a lot of other players. End of..

When Fl. Costea will be fit to play, I see Dodel warming the bench for Steaua too.

Tanase is usually crap after the Steaua transfer, it wasn't just last night.

glad to hear that Sapunaru wasn't injured and he got benched cause he's a f*cking prick.
please elaborate.

You should definitely watch more games form Liga I then. Tanase is NOT talented ! Jeez.. you make it sound like he's Messi or something. He doesn't deserve to be in the NT like a lot of other players. End of..

He is talented. I'd want to know who would you put n the left flank instead of him...:confused2:

When Fl. Costea will be fit to play, I see Dodel warming the bench for Steaua too.

You should have definitely watched more Craiova matches last season.

He's nowhere near the player he was three years ago. But you cant blame him for that. The guy suffered one of the hardest injuries for a footballer.

Zicu. Chipciu, Parvulescu, Alexe [ if he recovers his form, right now he's as poor as Tanase ]. Anybody but not Tanase, this guy is driving me nuts.

please elaborate.

rumours that one of the coaches checked the players rooms, as they always do, the night before the match to see if anybody went out drinking or whatever, like Mutu did 2 months ago. apparently Sapunaru didn't like being checked so he started talking sh*t and the following day he didn't show up for the tactical meeting. got removed from the squad before the match.

Chipciu, Parvulescu, Alexe

:facepalm::facepalm:

You should have remained at Zicu.

Yeah, let's play Sexy Bomb Dodel instead and destroy our left flank.

Yeah, let's play Sexy Bomb Dodel instead and destroy our left flank.

But who impressed you last night on that pitch?!

Even France couldn't play what they wanted. Or an another note I can't remember Ribery giving away 2 consecutive easy balls like last night.

I told you it wasn't just yesterday. Tanase was poor at Steaua and the National Team. Remember, we won against Bosnia without him on the pitch. Remember the match against Ukraine last year? Tanase was ridicolous.
Last season he had a 2 year no goal period until the match against Pandurii. After that goal he scored 2 more and he is in the first 11.

rumours that one of the coaches checked the players rooms, as they always do, the night before the match to see if anybody went out drinking or whatever, like Mutu did 2 months ago. apparently Sapunaru didn't like being checked so he started talking sh*t and the following day he didn't show up for the tactical meeting. got removed from the squad before the match.
is this confirmed, though?
I find it a bit odd, because at Porto he is a quiet guy and we never had any kind of problem with him.
the only "riot" he was involved in happened at that famous game against Benfica 2 seasons ago, but obviously no Porto fan holds any grudge on him for that. Quite the contrary (H)

most of our players from abroad are quiet and all at their clubs but when they come to the NT they're suddenly God mode.

I think it's true but if it gets confirmed I'll let you know.

Tanase has actually been pretty good for Steaua this season. A big part why we made it to the EL groupstage. He can't do anything isolated like he was and neither can any of the other "attacking" players we had out there. When Nicolita is your most dangerous attacking option something is wrong. We just don't have the talent in midfield to open up and play with a team like France. We would have lost 2, 3-0 easily. At the end of the day, the defense was fantastic (France only had like 3 shots or something?) and we had the most dangerous chances but Abidal had his foot in the right place twice (Marica from the Stancu pass and the Stancu slide attempt) and Nicolita was unlucky that free kick didn't sneak in.

What's important is that we are now 4 straight games without defeat in this group with a goal difference of 8-1 (3 wins, 1 draw). I trust Piturca will build on this and we will qualify to the WC in Brazil. Just look at his track record in qualifying campaigns with Netherlands in the group (H).

One last thing, some of these players he has put out there have actually performed (Chiriches, Luchin, Matel). These are guys I have never heard of before and they went out there and did their jobs and did it well. They are young as well.

Bourceanu is great by the way. I honestly don't see the need for 2 DMs with him in front of defense. He's a beast. He reminds me of a De Jong or Gattusso.

New stadium is amazing but the pitch as usual was a disgrace. They need to get that s*it fixed before the CL and EL matches start.

He might be better than last year but definitely he isn't a good option for the first 11 of the national team. We have Zicu, our goalgetter, much much better than Tanase. I'm tired of Cocis, Ov.Petre, Tanase at the NT.

What do you see in Zicu that you like him so much ? IMO he's even worse than Tanase. Fat, can't run even if his life depended on it, doesn't tackle and has a reputation of missing some incredible open goal chances.. not to mention he's mentally weak. With him on the team, it'll be like playing in 10.

He scores. He is the same "material" like Tanase but he is scoring regularly, he was our top scorer last year in Liga 1, while Dodel had maximum 2 goals playing in the same position like Zicu did.

As Andrei said, Zicu can't run. He's fat, so let him be. Sanmartean will be just fine when he'll recover. Stop it already with Dodel. He just wanted to do things by himself. Just like Marica does every match. Most of our players have this mentality. But Dodel really is a team player, he showed it in recent Steaua matches. Really.

You can't bring in a discussion 3 matches comparing with 3 years being crap at NT and club also.

is Zicu your cousin or something? he's an average player. slow, lazy, inconsistent and misses a lot of chances. crap finisher so he'll never be a good striker. crap passer so he'll never be a number 10. he did have a good season but then again, Andrei Cristea scored the same number of goals a couple of years ago and he's even worse.

I'm not Zicu fan, but Tanase is driving me nuts, he has a freaking atitude. If Tanase is number 10 of NT this team doesn't deserve to be watched. Hagi, Mutu, and then Florescu and Tanase. This is a shame. Tanase is crap, this guy hasn't no future at a bigger club than Steaua, this is his peak.
Gheorghe Florescu: 9 matches, one goal
Cristi Tanase: 15 matches, one goal
No difference to me. Tanase is as "good" as Florescu, but remember Florescu is a CDM and Tanase is more like an attacking midfielder.

what we need is a good attacking midfielder in the centre. someone to be the link between our wingers and forward. that would solve a big problem of ours in the attack, and it would make Tanase and Torje a lot more active, mabe Marica too cause we wouldn't have a gap there between the lines. someone that can pass and isn't afraid to attempt a dribble. SANMARTEAN!!!

someone that can pass and isn't afraid to attempt a dribble. SANMARTEAN!!!

http://www.microbisti.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/victor-piturca-nu-vad-de-ce-il-interesea-81443.jpg

you guys should artificially create one of these:

http://worldcupfifa14.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/raducioiu2.jpg

is this confirmed, though?


Sapunaru said that he isn't sure if he's able to play the weekend match nor the CL match for you, so all this was just bull****.

Actually he said he's considering the option of reiring from NT because of the disrespectful attitude in the press and country.

He also said he felt so bad when entering the Porto changing room, when all his teammated were laughing and making fun of him.

thanks for the feedback dude.

I read today in the portuguese press that it was Becali (******* retard) who was talking all that sh't about Sapu so I figured it was most certainly nothing more than bullcrap.
Also, our medical staff did confirm he is receiving treatment and all...case closed I guess.

I read today in the portuguese press that it was Becali (******* retard) who was talking all that sh't about Sapu so I figured it was most certainly nothing more than bullcrap.

Yeah but didn't cosider worth mentioning his name since I didn't think you know him.

well, he does have a reputation...I mostly read about it here in SG though, given his antics you guys did bitch about him a lot of times over the years (H)

Well if we're gonna criticize Tanase for his performances then what is there to say about Moti and Cristea today? If either one of those two ever get called up again then I will lose all hope in Piturca and any chances we have in qualifying for WC '14.

Tamas was awful as well. Mutu was Mutu. No matter what happens, how much he is criticized, he is the only consistent national team player we have had in the last decade (you could argue Chivu but he was injured too much).

BTW those commentators are so awful. I debated listening to the game on mute.

BTW I like Matel, but I still don't understand how Sapunaru doesn't start at RB. Makes no sense to me.

He hasn't been playing for Porto lately , injured.

Mutu 1 goal away from tying Hagi's record.

Mutu 1 goal away from tying Hagi's record.

Yup, and the commentators didn't even mention it. This guy is 2 goals away from becoming the all-time goalscorer in the 100+ year history of the national team and they didn't even think to mention it.

By the way the new stadium has not been too kind so far. Two draws for the national team and a 3-1 loss for Rapid. Gorgeous stadium though.

By the way the new stadium has not been too kind so far. Two draws for the national team and a 3-1 loss for Rapid. Gorgeous stadium though.

+ Otelu 0-1 Benfica

The stadium is not the one to blame because we have crappy football.

The stadium is not the one to blame because we have crappy football.

Well of course, I was just saying. Someone will have to win a game there eventually.

So another failed qualification. That's 5 out of the last 6 (World Cup and EURO combined) since 2000. :facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Let's look ahead to our qualifying group and see how our group mates did in this EURO qualification campaign:

Netherlands
- Nothing to say here, we know how good they are. Easily qualified out a group with Sweden, Hungary and Finland among others.

Turkey
- Have secured a playoff place out of a group with Germany and one of the up and coming teams in Europe, Belgium. Not in impressive fashion, finishing 13 points back of the Germans but they got the job done winning all but the Germany game at home and only losing 2 out of 5 on the road.

Hungary
- Narrowly missed qualification for the playoff out of a group with Netherlands, Sweden and Finland among others. Umm yeah, how would we have done in that group?

Estonia
- They might be better than us right now. Seriously. Look at their campaign? They are 14 min away from locking up a playoff spot in a group with Serbia, Italy, Slovenia among others. Insane.

Andorra
- Gargabe. Anything other than 6 points would automatically mean failure to qualify.

___

Anyway, looking at that group, I say we will be lucky to finish 3rd. Saddening.

I'd say we had one of the best possible draws. However, as ****ty as we are atm, we might easily not qualify from this group.

I'd say we had one of the best possible draws. However, as ****ty as we are atm, we might easily not qualify from this group.

Lol you sound like the Romanian "press." After every qualifying group draw they all say "oooo how lucky we are to get such an easy group!" then proceed to write a ton of articles about how awful we are and how much we struggle against all these teams we should win against.

Face it people, Romania is pot 4 for a reason.

To be honest I think we were lucky with Romania in the past. Look at where the country ranks in economically, politically influential, other sports, quality of living etc.. Judging by that criteria I do not think we are a country in the top 25, yet in the past due to some talented players and determination we made some noise in tournaments and were top 25 footballing quality. Now with the advancement of globalization all those countries are passing us because of better infrastructure.

My point is, basing it on that I don't think we should expect such great things and should be grateful we were somewhat good in the past.

To be honest I think we were lucky with Romania in the past. Look at where the country ranks in economically, politically influential, other sports, quality of living etc.. Judging by that criteria I do not think we are a country in the top 25, yet in the past due to some talented players and determination we made some noise in tournaments and were top 25 footballing quality. Now with the advancement of globalization all those countries are passing us because of better infrastructure.

My point is, basing it on that I don't think we should expect such great things and should be grateful we were somewhat good in the past.

There are still talents now, the problem is that their egos develop much faster than their skill and they end up nowhere. Communism was terrible but it did one thing right, it instilled military-like rules and procedures in athletics and the results speak for themselves.

We will be good again some day but it won't be anytime soon. A HUGE overhaul needs to happen to the entire footballing system in Romania and until it does (aka the douches currently in charge die off) nothing will change.