High-flyers pegged back in Romania
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Article summary
Monthly review: The first weekend of Divizia A games in 2006 provided a string of shocks including poor draws for both of Romania's UEFA Cup contenders.
Article body
The first weekend of Romanian league football in 2006 provided a string of shock results including a 3-0 defeat for the leaders FC Dinamo Bucuresti.
Late restart
With the spring restart having been delayed for a week due to bad weather, Friday's opening match of the year provided no great surprise as new Serbo-Montenegrin coach Momcilo Vukotić guided FC Farul Constanta to a 1-0 win against CS Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu in his first match in charge. However, Saturday marked the beginning of a truly momentous weekend as Dinamo went down to a 3-0 defeat by second-from-bottom CS Otelul Galati. The 27-year-old Daniel Stan - one of 18 players signed over the winter by new Otelul coach Petre Grigoras - scored a hat-trick.
Winter turmoil
The result reflected Dinamo's turbulent winter. Coach Ioan Andone was sacked and Esteban Vigo brought in in December, although Vigo quit last month after executive president Ioan Becali stepped down. Nine days before the start of the season Ion Marin took charge of the team, although there was time for more change at boardroom level as Gigi Netoiu was appointed executive director.
Timisoara hope
Such ructions may have cancelled out the benefit of winter signings like Ionel Danciulescu, Dan Alexa and Cosmin Barcauan. Marin said: "If we continue playing like that we'll have no chance of winning the title. The result against Otelul was a disaster." Having bought a raft of new players during the winter, FC Politehnica AEK Timisoara won 1-0 at FC Politehnica Iasi on Saturday in their first match of 2006, fuelling hope that coach Gheorghe Hagi might bring the city of Timisoara its first league title in 68 years.
Steaua held
Then on Sunday, champions FC Steaua Bucuresti failed to steal top spot from Dinamo after being held to a goalless draw by FC Arges Pitesti. The club have now played three successive games without scoring at their temporary home, the Lia Manoliu stadium. AFC Rapid Bucuresti secured an equally poor result against rock-bottom SC Vaslui on the same day, drawing 1-1 against a side who have yet to pick up a win this season to remain in sixth place. With 14 rounds to go, just six points separate the top eight teams in Divizia A, and as last weekend's fixtures proved, anything can happen in the weeks to come.
