Levy fills Petrescu's shoes at Unirea
Friday, January 8, 2010
Article summary
Roni Levy has been named as the new coach of FC Unirea Urziceni following the departure of Dan Petrescu, with the Israeli agreeing an 18-month contract with the Romanian champions.
Article top media content
Article body
Roni Levy has signed an 18-month contract to succeed Dan Petrescu as coach of Romanian champions FC Unirea Urziceni.
'Big challenge'
The 43-year-old will be assisted by Gabriel Caramarin and goalkeeping coach Eugen Nae as Petrescu's coaching team followed the former Romania defender to Russian second-tier side FC Kuban Krasnodar. "It's a very big moment in my career and I know how big this challenge is and how difficult it will be because everyone will compare me to Dan Petresu," said the Israeli. "I hope we will still be top at the end of the season."
Haifa success
Levy won titles as a player with both Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC and Maccabi Haifa FC in the 1990s, having started his career with Maccabi Netanya FC, but was forced to retire in 1997 – with 15 Israel caps to his name – due to a serious knee injury. Having worked with the team's youth department, Levy shone as coach of Maccabi Haifa winning titles in his first three seasons (2004-2006) before stepping down in 2008. He coached Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC from December 2008 to November 2009.
Anfield experience
Unirea meet Liverpool FC in the UEFA Europa League round of 32, with Levy having already come up against the Reds as coach of Maccabi Haifa in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. His side lost 2-1 at Anfield and were unfortunate to bow out following a 1-1 draw in the return leg, played on neutral territory in Kyiv due to the political situation in Israel.