Football Flash

The Romanian national team’s newly appointed manager Cristoph Daum has made public the enlarged pool of regulars to be used in the national team’s forthcoming fixtures counting towards the qualifying campaign for the World Championship in Russia. On October 8th, Romania takes on Armenia, while on October 11, the national team will be up against Kazakhstan. Just like in the fixture against Montenegro, Cristoph Daum’s option for the lineup was quite surprising.

Newsroom, 22.09.2016, 13:53

Steaua’s goalie Florin Nita may stand a chance to play for the national squad, given his excellent run in recent games, while Gabi Enache, one of the most controversial of Steaua’s footballers has also been included on Daum’s list. Romanian national squad’s pool of regulars includes the following football players: goalkeepers Ciprian Tătăruşanu (Fiorentina), Costel Pantilimon (Watford), Silviu Lung (Astra Giurgiu) and Florin Niţă (Steaua Bucharest).

The defensive players are Cristian Săpunaru (Astra Giurgiu), Romario Benzar (Viitorul Constanta), Valerică Găman (Karabükspor), Cosmin Moţi (Ludogorets Razgrad), Dragoş Grigore (Al Sailiya), Alin Toşca (Steaua Bucureşti), Steliano Filip (Dinamo Buccharest), Gabriel Enache (Steaua Bucharest), Răzvan Raţ (Rayo Vallecano) and Iasmin Latovlevici (Karabükspor). Playing in the midfield are Eric Bicfalvi (Tom Tomsk), Ovidiu Hoban (Hapoel Beer Sheva), Răzvan Marin (Viitorul Constanta), Nicolae Stanciu (Anderlecht Brussels), Alexandru Maxim (VfB Stuttgart), Alexandru Chipciu (Anderlecht Brussels), Adrian Popa (Steaua Bucharest), Andrei Prepeliţă (FC Rostov), Dorin Rotariu (Dinamo Bucharest).

The strikers summoned for the national team are Bogdan Stancu (Genclerbirligi), Florin Andone (Deportivo La Coruña), Claudiu Keşeru (Ludogorets Razgrad) and Denis Alibec (Astra Giurgiu).

In a fixture counting towards the 9th round of domestic League One in football, Poli Iasi defeated Pandurii Targu Jiu, 3-2, while Viitorul from Constanta held Dinamo Bucharest to a 1-all draw. On Wednesday, Universitatea Craiova grabbed a 1-nil win in their fixture against FC Voluntari, while Concordia Chiajna sustained a 2-nil defeat against FC Botosani on home turf. On Thursday, Gaz Metan Medias go against Poli Timisoara, ASA Targu Mures take on Astra Giurgiu, while Steaua Bucharest face CFR Cluj. Steaua are on top position in the table with 20 points, followed in descending order by Universitatea Craiova with 17 points and Dinamo Bucharest with 16 points. Bottom-of-the-table teams are Astra Giurgiu with 5 points, ASA Targu Mures with minus 3 points and Poli Timisoara, with minus 10 points.

(Translated by Eugen Nasta)