The state of football in Romania

To understand the current state of football in Romania, one must understand the past of Romania. Romania was a communist country until the Romanian Revolution in 1989. The after-effects of the corrupt government are still apparent today in Romania’s people with their tendency to look negatively at things that most countries would be optimistic about.

The past state of football in Romania was fantastic. Its national team got all the way to the quarter-finals in 1994 before being stopped by Sweden in penalty kicks. Romania’s “star” team, Steaua (star in English) had won the European Cup in 1986 against Barcelona. Romanians were known for being technically gifted and extremely agile. Gheorghe Hagi was regarded as one of the best in the world.

What are Romanians in football known for now? Being trouble-makers, using cocaine, fighting, and ridiculous headlines/stories. The national team is ranked 56th in the FIFA rankings, which doesn’t mean much, but in my opinion, they will have an extremely difficult time qualifying for 2014 World Cup. The Romanian Liga is filled with ridiculous stories about general managers approaching the other team’s players, referees being paid, and of course the ridiculous attention-whore, Gigi Becali, trying to make a name for himself. The play in the league is quite boring. I have fallen asleep multiple times trying to watch. But fortunately, there is talent, and there is some hope. From me, anyway. Managers like Dan Petrescu and Dorinel Munteanu have done wonders with mediocre teams. Hagi’s academy is one of the best in Eastern Europe, and the senior team (Viitoria Constanta, founded in 2009) is in first place in the second league and will likely be promoted next year.

These are exciting times for Romania, this is a transitional phase for us. But more can still be done. The young players take too long to figure out what football is all about. Denis Alibec (KV Mechelen, on loan from Inter Milan), Cristian Daminuta (FC Tiraspol, on loan from AC Milan) and Cosmin Matei (Astra Ploiesti) were known as amazing talents, now they are more likely to be found in the tabloids rather than the scoresheet. Another problem with the talents is that they are not given enough playing time in the league. The only time a player can grow is when he is given more playing time and game experience.

This article could probably be a book discussing the positives and negatives of Romanian football, but I, like most Romanians, am too lazy to write one. So this is a brief summary of what is currently going on in Romanian football. My prediction for the league is that Rapid or Dinamo Bucharest will win the league, with CFR Cluj right behind them. In Europe, Steaua will be lucky to get past Twente, and it would be a miracle for them to get past Schalke or Plzan. I think the national team will qualify for the World Cup, but it will be very difficult. Victor Piturca, the national team coach, knows how to qualify and I expect him to have something up his sleeve for qualification.