RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

The Year 2021 in Football

How Romanian footballers performed in 2021

The Year 2021 in Football
The Year 2021 in Football

, 30.12.2021, 18:04

The Romanian football has been affected by a severe
crisis for many years now. This situation, which has been dragging on for so long,
has made many to believe that this is actual normality, that the low level of
performances, the lowest in the past fifty years, is the normal one.


Football fans in Romania in 2021 hoped for a comeback
of the national selection and the qualification of at least one football club
in top spring competitions. None of these happened though.




Even with headcoach Mirel Radoi at the helm, the
national eleven was unable to qualify for the world cup. Most of the time, our
footballers managed only lackluster shows in the preliminaries and the results
they obtained were the same. Part of Group
J, Romania started off on the right foot in March with a 3-2 win against North
Macedonia in Bucharest. It was followed by a predictable 1-0 home defeat
against Germany but our footballers came a cropper against Armenia in Yerevan
3-2 in spite of getting the upper hand 2-1.




In late March at the European Under-21 Championship
co-hosted by Hungary and Slovenia, our side was stopped in its tracks in the
group’s stage. However, the shows put up by our young footballers coached by
Adrian Mutu weren’t bad at all; one-all with the Netherlands, nil-all against
Germany plus a 2-1 win against Hungary proves that Romanian football still has potential.




The year 2021 has its importance for the Romanian
footballers because of their presence in the Olympic Games after an absence of
6 decades. This performance became possible thanks to our squad’s 2019
qualification for the semifinals of the European Under-21 Championship
co-hosted by Italy and San Marino. In July in Japan, our footballers secured a
1-0 win against Honduras. They got trounced by South Korea 4-0 and made it nil-all
against New Zealand. Romania thus ended up on the third position in its group
and left the competition.




Romania’s national football side resumed its
qualifying matches for World Cup 2022 with a 2-0 away win against Iceland in
September and the same score against Liechtenstein at home. Their away game
against North Macedonia was a goaless draw. After Armenia versus Liechtenstein
had ended in one-all, Romania became favourite for a second place in the group
that would secure a place in the play-offs and hopefully their qualification
for the competition in Qatar.






In October our side lost 1-2 to Germany and got a
one-nil home win against Armenia. Sadly, in November our footballers drew their
home match against Iceland nil-all and their 2-0 win against Liechtenstein
didn’t count any more. So Romania ended up on the third position in its group
topped by Germany and North Macedonia went into the playoff.




At the level of domestic club competitions, CFR Cluj
secured their seventh champion title, which added to those it obtained in 2008,
2010, 2012, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Romania’s Cup went to Universitatea Craiova
which secured a 3-2 win against Astra Giurgiu in Ploiești.




All the Romanian club sides were eliminated from
Europe’s top football competitions apart from CFR Cluj, which made it to the
groups of Conference League. However, the shows put up by our footballers in
this competition were below expectations and they ended up at the bottom of
group D.




(bill)

Sports Roundup
Sport Monday, 04 November 2024

Sports Roundup

  Romania concluded the European Junior and U23 Championships in weightlifting held in Raszyn, Poland, with 11 medals, of which 4 gold, one...

Sports Roundup
Sports Roundup
Sport Friday, 01 November 2024

Sports Weekend

Romania’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Thursday outperformed German side Fuchse Berlin 38-31 in a home game counting towards the Champions...

Sports Weekend
Sports - Photo: Gerd Altmann / pixabay.com)
Sport Thursday, 31 October 2024

Sports flash

Romanian women’s basketball team Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe have succeeded their first win in EuroCup’s Group C. On Wednesday, holders Sepsi grabbed...

Sports flash
Photo: phillipkofler / pixabay.com
Sport Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Radio Romania International Sports club

Romanian Cup in football’s group phase kick-started on Tuesday. As part of the 2024-2025 edition, Romania’s best teams will thus prove their...

Radio Romania International Sports club
Sport Monday, 28 October 2024

Sports Round-up

The Romanian football Superleague matches were held this weekend. This leg’s derby was undoubtedly Sunday’s match hosted by the National Arena...

Sports Round-up
Sport Thursday, 24 October 2024

Sports flash

Dynamo Bucharest men’s handball team, on home turf on Wednesday, defeated Portuguese opponents Sporting Lisbon, 33-29, in a fixture counting...

Sports flash
Sport Wednesday, 23 October 2024

RRI Sport Club– Women’s handball

At the end of next month, a new edition of the European Women’s Handball Championship is scheduled to start. Matches will take place in...

RRI Sport Club– Women’s handball
Sport Tuesday, 22 October 2024

Athlete of the week – Table tennis player Bernadette Szőcs

Last week, the European Table Tennis Championships were held in Linz, Austria. Romania was represented by 11 athletes: six girls and five boys. The...

Athlete of the week – Table tennis player Bernadette Szőcs

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company