Sports Roundup
The latest in football, women's handball and athletics
Florin Orban, 06.06.2022, 13:45
Romanian
national football team has had a flawed debut confrontation in the fresh edition
of the National League’ Division B. In Podgorica, Romania sustained a nil-2
defeated by the host team, Montenegro. Scoring for the hosts were Stefan Mugoša on 66 minutes and Marko Vukčević in minute 87. Both
goals were made possible because of captain Vlad Chiricheş’s errors of the
pitch. Montenegro definitely had the upper hand tactically but also in one-to-one
confrontations. It took our national squad 94 minutes of play to make at attempted
shot at goal. It was the first official match of Romanian national team’s new
head-coach, Edward Iordanescu. The latter took full responsibility for the
failure. Yet Iordanescu stressed that he did not take over a functional team,
but a team that several times wasted the opportunity to qualify for international
competitions. In another Group 3 fixture as part of League B, in Helsinki, Finland
drew against Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1-all. After the first round, Romania is at
the bottom of the table. On Tuesday in Zenica Romanian faces Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Romania’s defender Iulian Cristea will be unavailable for the match. We recall
Cristea sustained a serious injury early into the match against Montenegro.
According to head-coach Iordanescu, Cristea needs a long recovery break.
Romanian handballer Cristina Neagu has been
designated the most efficient scorer in this year’s edition of the Champions’ League.
Even after the League’s final tournament, held this past weekend in Budapest, all
told, no other handballer was able to score more goals that Neagu’s 110. We recall
Cristina Neagu’s current team, CSM Bucharest, was unable to move past the quarterfinals.
Also, Neagu, for the seventh time running, was included in the dream team of
the Champions League’s season, created according to the supporters’ votes.
33-year old Neagu has also been included in the All-Star team before, in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Norway’s
Vipers Kristiansand have won this year’s edition of the Champions League. In the
final Vipers outclassed Gyor of Hungary, 33 to 31. Playing for Gyor was Romanian
national team’s pivot, Crina Pintea, who scored three goals.
The southern Romanian
city of Craiova this past weekend played host to Romania’s International Athletics
Championships. However, Romania’s top-flight athletes were abroad taking part
in top international competitions. For instance, distance runner Mihaela
Bobocea, has had an eventful week. On Tuesday at the international competition
in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, Bobocea came in 4th in the 1,500m
race. However, her timing secured Mihaela Bobocea the ticket for the World
Championships held in July in the USA, but also the European Championships held
in Germany, in July. This past Friday in Manchester, in World Athletics Continental Tour contest, Bobocea won the 800m race. Then In
Morocco on Sunday, at the international contest in the Moroccan capital city Rabat,
Bobocea cam in 5th in the 1,500 m race, in a competition as part of the Diamond
League circuit.
(EN)