Football Flash
Florin Orban, 29.03.2018, 13:40
Romanias junior football team has failed to qualify for the final tournament of the Under-19 European Football Championship. Having defeated Serbia, 4-nil and Sweden, 2-1, Romanias Under-19 team sustained a 1-2 defeat in the match against Ukraine. Romania was in dire need of a draw in order to go through to the final tournament. Olimpiu Morutan scored the opener for Romania on 77 minutes, but because he took off his T-shirt in a celebratory gesture, he got yellow-booked for the second time, so Romania was one man shy on the pitch.
In the remaining minutes, Romania blocked itself in a defensive game, but Ukraines defender Aleksandr Safronov took advantage of a mistake made by Romanias keeper Andrei Vlad and provided the equalizer in minute 84. Ukraines Viktor Bondar sealed the fate of the match in extra time. Eventually Romania was left with nine players only, as Robert Neciu was also eliminated for receiving a second yellow card.
Games counting towards the 7th group of the Under-17 European Football Championships elite tournament were played in Hungary a few days ago. Romania came at the bottom of the table, with three defeats on their record sheet: 1 to 5 in the match against Israel, nil-2 against Hungary and 1-2 in the match against Slovenia. Romanias under-17 team is head-coached by the former Craiova international footballer Aurel Ticleanu.
On Wednesday, Cosmin Olaroiu was officially appointed head coach of the Chinese football team Jiangsu Suning. Olaroiu has thus replaced the famous Italian coach Fabio Capello. Xinhua news agency has reported that Capello left Jiangsu for personal reasons.
Two former Romanian football legends, international players Ioan Timofte and Iosif Rotariu have joined the group of former great footballers who support Ionut Lupescus candidacy for the position of President of the Romanian Football Federation. Real legends for the fans of western Romanian team Politechnica Timisoara, Timofte and Rotariu had two video messages recorded, explaining why Ionut Lupescu is the best option for the Federations presidency. (translated by Eugen Nasta)
