I was a bit amazed to see no topic about Stiinta here, while a paper club that had no fans at all a few years ago like CFR Cluj has one. So here it is, the official Universitatea Craiova thread Today, Stiinta played well away with Unirea Urziceni and it ended 2-2. Once again, the pathetic performance of Craiova's central defenders costed us 2 early goals, but the team fought back and could have won the game in the end. Baird's great goal: http://www.gsptv.ro/index/id/10395 Wobay humiliates the veteran Stelea: http://www.gsptv.ro/index/id/10397 Otherwise, I'm confident that Stiinta will easily avoid relegation this year. And, sooner or later, our young players will grow and be more consistent, bringing the club back where it belongs.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread No doubt Romania´s biggest club after Steaua. Your team at the 80´s was probably the best team a romanian club could have. Stefanescu,Camataru, Balaci etc. What a great team. Your new youngster are great. Ionescu,Prepelita and Costea Brothers will sooner or later be a major part of WC 2010. Good luck. Romanian football needs you!! Forza Steaua!!
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Uni Craiova was my fav Romanian club after Inter Sibiu & Corvinul Hunedoara. Hopefully, this traditional club will manage to keep the league this season! Why do they struggle so much since I left Romania?
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread A lot of respect to the '80s Craiova team, they made a great team. I hope they can get back in the top teams, they deserve it. Balaci was the best, Stefanescu was a great leader.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Stiinta was destroyed by incompetent management and the eternal conflict between factions in the city, as well as the constant lack of support from the municipality. However, the current owner has stepped up in time to save the team from the fate of your other two favourite clubs. While Mititelu has many flaws, he has done his best to rebuild a team, has refused to sell any of the promising players to bigger clubs and he is investing in yougsters and infrastructure. Now, Craiova has a team with potential, with many young talented players, that can hopefully climb back to the top spots in 1-2 years. I have a good opinion about the coach Nicolo Napoli as well, he imposed an offensive style untypical for an Italian and under his leadership the team seems to never give up no matter the score. They did it at Urziceni and could have made it with better luck and a fair referee in the game vs CFR Cluj as well. Sadly, the coach can do nothing about the vulnerability of the central defenders, as Craiova can't transfer any new players until the end of the year. An interesting fact is that, despite the team's long struggle, the "white-blue love" has never died. Whenever I visit my grandparents in Craiova and the team plays Steaua or another of the grands, I see peasants arriving in cars from all over Gorj, Mehedinti or Valcea, claiming that "Stiinta needs our suport". Latest U. Craiova news Baird speaks about the Urziceni game: http://www.gsp.ro/stire/baird-phoenix-man-57494.html Mititelu overconfident once more: http://www.craiovamaxima.ro/stiri/1758/invingem-rapidul-fara-drept-de-apel.htm Also, Josh Mitchell has signed a new contract with Craiova until 2011. A nice gesture of loyalty from a young foreign player, who has also refused an offer from FC Aarau, saying that since Stiinta cannot transfer other players, his services are needed. Thanks to all who spoke nicely about Craiova btw
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Craiova´s anthem by the great Paunescu makes me cry all the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i49-dHjpRA
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Thanks for the info, Dragos! Btw: Are Florin & Mihai Costea brothers? http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/verein/1007/universitateacraiova/uebersicht/startseite.html Noapte buna. PS: Do you remember these 2 games? CLICK 1 CLICK 2 CLICK 3
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Yes, they´re brothers. The little brother, Mihai Costea is one of europe´s most talented player, you can easley compare him with Pato. Even his older brother is talented. He is our new Ilie Dumitrescu like I said once before, but Mihai Costea is our new Hagi.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread As Bulagiul said, they are brothers and both show great potential, but the future will show if they confirm or not. Florin Costea is considered one of the best young strikers in Romania and Steaua already made a significant offer for him, refused by Craiova's owner. Btw, the value estimations on that website are wildly innacurate on some players. I do not remember those games, I do recall this one though : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZZS7rdz_6g
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Me too (I think I was around 8 or 9 at that time). Craiova came back after a 0:3 lag in Kaiserslautern, if I remember right ... and scoring a late 1:0 winner at home. Btw: K'lautern is struggling massively at the moment, being close to getting relegated from the 2nd league. I think that Craiova is the "Borussia M'gladbach of Romania" for some reason! Great team with beautiful football in the past, huge tradition & many fans ... but struggling since the late 80's. I recall a thriller against AS Monaco in the 80's, when Uni won 3:0 at home after a 0:2 defeat in Monte Carlo. Simply amazing! And I remember their games in Sibiu, when Gheorghe Popescu was still their skipper. PS: Here's 2 nice clips for you. CLICK 1 CLICK 2 Where do you live and how old are you, Dragos? If you don't mind me asking.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Hehe, I was born in 1980 (and mostly live in Bucharest), so I don't remember much about Craiova Maxima. The only thing I remember is the huge noise coming from the stadium (my grandparents live quite close), as well as the enthusiasm in the city. When I got old enough to actually watch football, Stiinta had a dream team again, the one that won the title right after 1989, with Gica Popescu, Sandoi, Badea, Ciurea, Prunea, etc. In the autumn of 1989, just before the revolution, I remember that my other grandfather from Bucharest told me one day that Craiova just beat Steaua in Ghencea, adding that "this is unbelivable, it is a sign that things are going to change soon". He was right . The change that grandpa had waited for more than 50 years (he was a supporter of the king, a former active officer that fought on the Eastern Front) happened soon afterwards. I also remember fondly the later team of Craioveanu, Stanga, Silvian Cristescu and Gane.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Craiova - Rapid 1-1 An unjust result, after a game totally dominated by Stiinta. A missed penalty, a valid goal cancelled by the referee, 2 shots in the post and so many other chances... Dani Coman, Rapid's goalkeeper, had a brilliant day. But Rapid is in shambles, I haven't seen one of the top teams being dominated like this in a very long time. http://www.craiovamaxima.ro/stiri/1880/comentariu-alin-buzarin--artistii-ratarile-si-giulestenii.htm
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread I don`t know what to say about that goal,but i know that after Bozovici red`s card ,Rapid didn`t play nothing.And oh yes ,the oltenian fans are all a mesery no ofence,and you know waht i`m talkin` about.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Two great clip with U.Craiova and Romania´s new rising star. F.Costea Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H-ZyPghDMk Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sytPiaxwxUU&feature=related Great player. Absolut my favourite.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread What happened exactly? Damn, there's so many idiotic "fans" in the Romanian league lately! CLICK 1 CLICK 2
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Btw: Was that really a pk? Great save by Coman! CLICK PS: Why isn't there a stand behind the left goal (where Cristea scored the 1:1)?
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Craiova played on another stadium from the city, because their arena is in renovation.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Thanks for the info! I just wondered ... since this stadium looked pretty small and strange to me.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread UTA - U. Craiova 0-1 An important result that makes it easier for Craiova while basically relegating UTA. The match was quite hard, with many chances for both sides, Florin Costea scoring the only goal after a pass from Baird: http://www.gsp.ro/stire/video-costea-inscrie-1-0-pentru-craiova-59558.html C3sar: both groups of "ultras" were a disgrace at the game vs Rapid.
Re: Universitatea Craiova thread Stiinta - FC Vaslui 2-1 Again, our youngsters fought back after Vaslui scored first, with Florin Costea scoring twice. Craiova totally dominated the game, against one of the better teams in the league (they crushed Poli Timisoara 3-0 in their previous game).