Football Flash

The latest in Romanian football

Florin Orban, 11.01.2018, 12:36

As Romanias current Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has recently announced on a TV station, the former international footballer Gheorghe Popescu has been appointed sports adviser to the Prime Minister. Over 1988 and 2003, Gheorghe Popescu had 115 caps for the national squad, for which he scored 16 goals. Among the club teams he was signed up by, there were Universitatea Craiova, Steaua Bucharest, Barcelona FC and Turkeys Galatasaray. In 2014, Gheorghe Popescu received a three-year prison sentence in a file linked to illegal transfer of footballers. Popescu was released on parole in 2015.

The Croatian midfielder Ivan Pesic signed a contract with Dinamo Bucharest football club. The contract is valid until the summer of 2020. Born on April 6, 1992, Pesic began his football career with Hajduk Split. Pesic also played for Austria Klagenfurt, Sibenik, Zadar and RNK Split. The Croatian midfielder played 108 matches and scored 9 goals in Croatias League One, for such teams as NK Zadar, RNK Split and Hajduk Split. For the 2017-2018 season, Ivan Pesic played in 12 domestic championship matches and in Hajduk Splits fixture in the Cup of Croatia.

For the ongoing competition break, the transfer of Pesic is the first one made by Dinamo Bucharest. Also, returning to Dinamos pool of regulars are three footballers that were on loan in the first part of the domestic championship. They are Mihai Popescu and Vlad Olteanu who played for FC Voluntari, and Daniel Popa, who played for FC Botoşani.

Romanias football champions FC Viitorul Constanţa is to play a friendly game against Galatasaray Istanbul on January 14. The match is part of the Romanian champion teams training stage in Turkey, scheduled over January 12 and 26. Scheduled for Viitoruls training period in Belek are seven other training matches. On January 18, Viitorul will take on Russian second league team Luci Vladivostok and Swiss team Grasshopper Zurich. On January 22nd Viitorul Constanta will take on Azeri team Kapaz and Russias FC Rostov. On January 25 Romanias champions will play Cernomoreţ Odesa of Ukraine and Polands Jagiellonia Bialystok.

(translated by: Eugen Nasta)