First leg: April 20th, 2006 Bucuresti, "Lia Manoliu" Stadium Steaua Bucuresti - Middlesbrough FC (England) Second leg: April 27th, 2006 Middlesbrough, "Riverside" Stadium Middlesbrough FC (England) - Steaua Bucuresti
Statistics All time Eurocups head-to-head Romania - England Romanian and English team have met 18 times since 1966. The Romanian sides have qualified only 3 times. Matches: 37 Romanian wins: 7 Draws: 7 English wins: 23 Romanian goals: 25 English goals: 68 Steaua has encountered English opposition 4 times, all of them in the UEFA Cup and has qualified 2 times. 1997/1998 UEFA Cup 3rd round: Steaua Bucuresti - Aston Villa 2-1 0-2 Aggregate score: 2-3 1999/2000 UEFA Cup 2nd round: Steaua Bucuresti - West Ham United 2-0 0-0 Aggregate score: 2-0 2003/2004 UEFA Cup 1st round: Southampton - Steaua Bucuresti 1-1 0-1 Aggregate score: 1-2 2003/2004 UEFA Cup 2nd round: Steaua Bucuresti - Liverpool 1-1 0-1 Aggregate score: 1-2 Matches: 8 Wins: 3 Draws: 3 Loses: 2 Goals for: 7 Goals against: 6 Middlesbrough has never met Romanian opposition.
Re: Statistics I hope Steaua will win, even tho I'm not very optimistic after seeing Middlesbrough-Basel.
Profile of Banel Nicolita From uefa.com Steaua's tower of strength by Paul-Daniel Zaharia from Bucharest Raised in a poor Roma family, Banel Nicolita has struck gold in the UEFA Cup, helping to lead FC Steaua Bucuresti to a semi-final meeting with Middlesbrough FC. Priceless goal Nicknamed 'The Golden Boy', the 21-year-old has been one of the stars of Steaua's UEFA Cup campaign, scoring the priceless away goal in the quarter-final derby victory against AFC Rapid Bucuresti which catapulted Cosmin Olaroiu's side into the last four. The boy from the poor town of Faurei has never forgotten his roots. A hard-worker and a titan of fair play, he is a model professional on the pitch and a model son off it, sending much of his earnings back to his family in Faurei and doing his best to help his brothers find work in Bucharest. Apple theft Football was Nicolita's way out of poverty. He has learned to grab his chances with both hands ever since he and one of his brothers were almost lynched by angry spectators who caught them stealing apples from a nearby garden, after watching his local side play a game as a teenager. That team, FC Unirea Faurei, gave Nicolita his first paying job, and he remembers spending the first €9 he earned on buying a pair of training shoes. What money he had left was given to his mother, who raised him, his four brothers and his sisters alone. "I was tempted to buy other stuff, too, but I desperately needed trainers," he said. Collision course At 16, second division FC Dacia Unirea Braila spotted Nicolita's talent, and he was quickly set on a collision course with the big time, making his debut for Romania's Under-21 side in August 2003 and earning a move to Divizia A side FCU Politehnica Timisoara in the summer of 2004. Money continued to be an issue for Nicolita. He turned up for his first training session at his new club by train and barely had anything suitable to wear. Steaua call However, things were to become much easier six months later as he was brought to Steaua for a fee of €100,000. "It was the greatest experience and the biggest opportunity of my life," Nicolita remembered. "It changed everything." It did not change his outlook on life, as he continued to demonstrate the hard-running and clean-living attributes which had contributed to his rise to stardom. Career high He reached another career high on 12 November last year as he was handed his debut for the senior national team, but things have not always been easy for the midfielder, whose Roma origins have made him a target for racist abuse from the stands. Nicolita is doing his bit to combat the issue in Romanian football, fronting Steaua's anti-racist initiatives and making a public appeal to fans of both sides on the eve of the UEFA Cup derby in Bucharest. A player whose humility commands respect, his pleas did not go unnoticed. Middlesbrough next Now his focus is on impressing on the pitch again as he looks to use his speed and tenacity to unhinge Middlesbrough, starting with the home leg a week on Thursday. For Steaua and Nicolita's huge contingent of supporters back in Faurei, the young midfielder is continuing to prove that with the right combination of skill and determination, anything is possible.
FA Cup QF Replay: Middlesbrough - Charlton 4-2 Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Parnaby, Riggott, Southgate, Taylor, Morrison, Boateng, Rochemback, Downing, Viduka, Hasselbaink (Ehiogu 80). Subs Not Used: Jones, Doriva, Maccarone, Yakubu. Booked: Hasselbaink. Goals: Rochemback 11, Morrison 26, Hasselbaink 73, Viduka 77.
Middlesbrough is a very good team. They have loads of attacking force but lack a strong defence. We're the other way round.. Hard.. but with a bit of hard work we can qualify to the final. Our defenders have to keep Hassenbaink and Viduka in their pockets.. and Radoi should stay close on Rochemback. FORZA STEAUA!
the boro have a great team and a great midfielder like rochenback as he was in sporting the best player in the portuguese champ.when he played in sporting(my team)and hes a key player but as i love steaua my 2nd team in de world so i hope they can make the final.
And they are playing yet another game right now, up 2-0 versus West Ham. I heard a lot of complains from the romanian teams, that they are tired, too many games and so on. I wander how Middlesborough players are feeling if Steaua's players are tired... In my opinion, they should just stop complaining and play, it's their job.
Steaua fights for the title in Romania. They have to win every game they play. Middlesbrough is not interested in the EPL outcome, thus they can afford to field a second string team. In their last league match (before this one against West Ham), McLaren rested 7 players from the first team. Middlesbrough has 35 players on their UEFA list. Steaua has 28. 2 of those (Dumitru and Dinita) have signed for Jiul Petrosani. That's 26 players. 3 of those (Lungu, Marius and Tudose) are from the youth team. Of course they are tired.
Arsenal played a game on Saturday, they are on 5th place in their league, first 4 go to Champions League. Milan, Barcelona and Villareal also played their games during the weekend. Yea, they are tired... maybe of too long of a break? You can get tired of that too.
There's a big difference between first team players and the reserves at Steaua. Also there's the budget issue. While they have one of the biggest budgets (5 - 7 M $ according to press reports, second only to Dinamo - 10 M $), they are nowhere near Middlesbrough, Villareal, Arsenal, AC Milan, Barcelona, Schalke, Sevilla in terms of financial strenght. These teams can use squad rotation and still win the league games. Anyway, let's wait for April 27th and may the best team qualify.
From uefa.com Steaua welcome weary Middlesbrough FC Steaua Bucuresti were given two days off in preparation for Thursday's UEFA Cup semi-final first leg. Middlesbrough FC can only dream of such relaxation, however, as they continue to plough through their congested fixture list. FC Steaua Bucuresti Steaua enjoyed a weekend away from the domestic grind as they prepare for the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final. They obtained permission to postpone their match against FCM Bacau, and awarded their players two days off before reconvening on Saturday to prepare for Thursday's visit from Middlesbrough. "It is fantastic not to have to play," said coach Cosmin Olaroiu. Steaua general manager Mihai Stoica added: "The players are very tired after so many matches. But they are only tired from a physical point of view, and that's why they needed to forget about football." Last Wednesday Steaua went top of the Romanian First Division for the first time this season with a 1-0 win against FC Politehnica Iasi, Nicolae Dica scoring the decisive goal from the penalty spot. The Bucharest side were without the suspended George Ogararu, as well as the injured Mihai Nesu (head) and Mirel Radoi (jaw). Olaroiu said: "We played very poorly and I am not satisfied, especially with our attack. Only the defenders did their job well. My players played long balls, without thinking about putting moves together." Since then, FC Dinamo 1848 Bucuresti have regained top spot, leaving Steaua facing a three-point deficit with two games in hand. Middlesbrough FC 2-0 West Ham United FC Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren has been forced to shuffle his pack over the Easter programme in the English Premiership, making no fewer than five changes for Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth FC and introducing nine new faces for Monday's meeting with West Ham at the Riverside stadium. Goals in each half from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Massimo Maccarone, the latter a penalty, gave the Teesside team a victory in the latter match that moved them up to 13th place in the table, against the side they meet in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday in Birmingham. Middlesbrough reached the last four of that competition with a 4-2 victory against Charlton Athletic FC last Wednesday to bounce back from a disappointing 2-1 home defeat by north-east rivals Newcastle United FC in their previous fixture. Against West Ham Mark Schwarzer took over from Brad Jones in goal after recovering from a toe problem while forward Malcolm Christie came on as a half-time substitute having played his first competitive football for 14 months as a second-half replacement against Portsmouth. "We have a big week coming up but the standard of performance in this game had to be the same," McClaren said. "We have to find ways to win games like this and we did that, which keeps our momentum going. It's a big opportunity coming up for the players and they have to make the most of it - and they know how to do that."
Referee: Alain Hamer (LUX) Assistant referees: Francis Crelo (LUX) and Jean-Philippe Izzo (FRA) Fourth official: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA) UEFA Referee observer: Volker Roth (GER)
Absolutely, they've been in fantastic form in European competition this season, and have been playing attractive and widely accessible football. This will be their biggest challenge, if they can beat Boro, then I wouldn't put it past them to defeat either Schalke or Sevilla.
From BBC Middlesbrough striker Mark Viduka is out with a thigh strain but Malcolm Christie is included as he continues his comeback after his injury woes. Injuries rule out Emanuel Pogatetz, Gaizka Mendieta, and Lee Cattermole while Chris Riggott is suspended. Steaua striker Daniel Oprita has recovered from an ankle injury and is set to replace Andrei Cristea. Key midfielder Gabriel Bostina is doubtful after suffering an ankle injury in league action. Middlesbrough (from): Schwarzer, Jones, Parnaby, Bates, Queudrue, Taylor, Southgate, Ehiogu, Wheater, Morrison, Doriva, Boateng, Rochemback, Parlour, Downing, Johnson, Hasselbaink, Maccarone, Yakubu, Christie.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=365334&cc=5901 Steaua boss asks God for help against Boro...