Ardeleanu's last chance as Gireada quits
Wednesday, February 20, 2002
Article summary
Vasile Ardeleanu has been restored to FCM Bacau's first team to replace Marius Gireada.
Article body
FCM Bacau defender Vasile Ardeleanu has returned to first-team football at the club after an absence of almost three years.
Gireada to quit
Ardeleanu has struggled for form and fitness since suffering a double leg fracture in spring 1999 but now has the chance to revive his career, benefiting from the misfortune of Marius Gireada, who has been advised by doctors to quit football as he is suffering from hepatitis. The 32-year-old Gireada has played more than 200 games in Romania's Divizia A and will be sorely missed by Bacau.
'My last chance'
Bacau's coach, Gheorghe Poenaru, and the club president, Gheorghe Chivorchian, see the 28-year-old Ardeleanu as the man to replace Gireada at the heart of the club's defence. "It's my last chance and I'm determined not to miss it," the player said. "I feel OK, as good as I felt before the injury two years ago."
Several operations
On 20 April 1999, Ardeleanu's right leg was broken in two places in a challenge with Marius Lacatus during an away game against FC Steaua Bucuresti. After several operations, and several months stuck in a hospital bed, his top-flight career looked over. He put on weight and dropped down a division, joining FC Onesti last year.
