Athlete of the week

Florin Orban, 16.03.2021, 12:46

Romanian international footballer Valentin Mihaila was
one of the Serie A 27th round’s scorers. Currently signed up by
Parma, this past Sunday Mihaila provided the opener in Parma’s home game
against AS Rome. On 9th minute Mihaila drew first blood as the other
Romanian playing for Parma, Dennis Man, centered the ball from the right-hand
side of the pitch. According to a statistic quoted by Agerpres, it was for the
first time since the 2004-2005 season when a Romanian provided an assist for
another Romanian in a Serie A fixture. Parma won the match against Rome, 2-nil;
reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Valentin Mihaila the
Athlete of the week.

Valentin Mihăilă scored for Parma for the second time
in a row in a Serie A match. This past Sunday Mihaila scored against Fiorentina
on 90 minutes, away from home. Yet Parma sadly wasted the opportunity the win,
since Fiorentina scored in the 4th minute of extra time, and the
match ended 3-all. Notwithstanding, the fact that Parma grabbed a point in the
match against Fiorentina was crucial for Parma’s race against relegation.
Furthermore, the three points Parma won in the match against Rome enable the
former team to keep its hopes alive for another season in Serie A.

Valentin Mihăilă was born in 2000, on February 2nd.
He made his debut in professional football when he was 17, in Universitatea
Craiova’s match against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe, counting towards Romanian Cup in
football, a fixture Craiova won, 2-nil. It was not until 2018 when Mihaila
played for Universitatea Craiova’s first lineup. Also in 2018, Valentin Mihaila
played for Universitatea Craiova in Europa League preliminaries; we recall that
back then Craiova sustained a 1-3 defeat by RP Leipzig. In 2020, Valentin
Mihaila was sold to Parma for 8 million and a half Euros, the heftiest sum ever
to have been paid for a Romanian League One footballer.