Sports Roundup

The latest from football and volleyball

Ștefan Baciu, 10.06.2019, 13:33

Romania’s national football team on Friday night
played an away fixture against Norway, counting towards Group F as part of the
EURO 2020 preliminaries. The match ended 2-all, with Romania providing the
equalizers coming from two goals down, thanks to Claudiu Keseru’s goals, with
the second goal being scored in extra time. Romania’s national football team’s
head-coach Cosmin Contra said the final score was auspicious for the
Romanians, given the national squad’s performance on the pitch until the scoreboard
indicated the 2-nil lead for Norway. Contra went on to say that at the end of the
preliminary stage, the draw against Norway could bring Romania the qualifying
ticket for the EURO 2020.

In the women’s nations’ competition at the World
Mountain Ultra-marathon Championships held in Portugal’s Miranda Da Corvo this
past Saturday, Romania walked away with silver. In the men’s nations’ competition, Romania came in 6th.
In the women’s individual event, best-placed was Denisa Dragomir, who came in 5th,
while in the men’s individual event, the best-placed athlete was Leonard
Mitrica, who came in 14th. Taking part in theWorld Mountain Ultra-marathon Championships were
athletes from 54 countries.

Romania’s men’s national volleyball team has grabbed
the fourth win in a row in Group B of Silver League, a second-tier competition
as part of the European Championship. In Alexandria this past Saturday, Romania
secured a 3-1 overall win against Azerbaijan (25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 27-25).
Romania is at the top of the table, with 12 points, followed by Denmark, with
9, Azerbaijan, with 3 points, and Georgia, with no points on their record
sheet. Should they win the group, Romania plays a double-legged playoff tie
against the winner of Group A, in order to qualify for the 2020 edition of the
Golden league elite group of the European Volleyball Championship.

In news from women’s volleyball, Romania’s national
team secured a 3-nil win against Israel, (25-14, 25-15, 25-21), in a fixture
played in Alexandria this past Saturday, counting towards Silver League’s Group
A. Israel are at the top of the table, with 8 points in 4 games played. Romania
are 2nd-placed, with 7 points, 3rd-placed are Cyprus,
with 3 points in 2 games played, while after three games, Georgia are at the
bottom of the table with zero points on their record sheet. Romania’s next
fixture is the away match against Cyprus on June 12.

In news from domestic football, FC Hermannstadt have
made an important step closer to maintaining their position in League One,
since they grabbed a 2-nil win in the first leg of the play-off tie
against Universitatea Cluj. According to League One’s final rankings, FC
Hermannstadt were 12th placed, while Universitatea Cluj came in 3rd
at the end of League Two competition season. The second leg of the play-off tie
is scheduled in Sibiu on Wednesday, June 10th.