Romanian Football in 2016
An overview of our footballers' involvement in national and international competitions.
Florin Orban, 05.01.2017, 14:00
At the end of this year Romania ranks 39th in the official standings of the International Football Federation. It is the lowest ranking since 2011, despite our country taking part in the European Championships this year after a long break.
In terms of inter-club competitions, the best performing team was Astra Giurgiu. For the first time in the clubs history, Astra won the First League trophy, also in a year that marked the introduction of the new play-off / play-out system. At the end of the 2015-2016 season, Astra topped the league tables with a 5-point lead over runners-up Steaua Bucharest. The 2015 champions won the League Cup, after defeating Concordia Chiajna 2-1 in the finals. CFR Cluj won the Romanian Cup after defeating Dinamo Bucharest 7-6. The score was 2-all at the end of regular time and extra time, with the team from Cluj emerging the winners of the penalty shootout.
In European competitions, the first team to play its first official match as part of the new European football season was CSMS Iasi, which played in the second preliminary round of Europa League. The team from Iasi however was knocked out by Hajduk Split, after drawing 2-all at home and losing 1-2 away from home.
Astra Giurgiu had an excellent run. It played in the Champions League third preliminary round, where it was knocked out by F.C. Copenhagen. Astra drew 1-all at home and was trounced nil-3 away from home. In Europa League, the team from Giurgiu edged out West Ham United of England, after drawing 1-all on home turf and winning 1-nil on the London Olympic Stadium. Astra put up a very good performance in Group 2, finishing in 2nd place after AS Rome, ahead of Viktoria Plzen and Austria Vienna. In the Europa League round of 32, Astra will be playing Genk of Belgium in February.
In the Champions League preliminaries, Steaua had a slightly better performance than Astra. In the third preliminary round Steaua knocked out Sparta Prague after drawing 1-all away from home and winning 2-nil at home. In the play-off Steaua was pitted against Manchester City. The English team trashed Steaua nil-5 on National Arena Stadium in Bucharest and 1-nil at home. Steaua played however in the Europa League group phase, but had an overall subpar performance. Laurentiu Reghecampfs trainees ended Group L in 4th place, after Osmanlispor of Turkey, Villareal of Spain and FC Zurich of Switzerland.
Viitorul Constanta played only two games at its first appearance in European competitions. In the third preliminary round of Europa League, Gheorghe Hagis trainees lost 5-nil to Gent of Belgium away from home, and ended the return leg in a blank draw. Also in the third preliminary round, Pandurii Targu Jiu was knocked out by Maccabi Tel Aviv, after losing 1-3 in Drobeta Turnu Severin and 1-2 in Israel.
In news from domestic football, the first half of the 2016-2017 football season has brought about a surprising leader: Viitorul Constanta.
Moving on now to the Romanian national team. 2016 was not the best year for our team. At the European Championship in France, Romania played in Group A, lost to France 1-2 and to Albania nil-1. It did manage to get a 1-all draw in the match against Switzerland, which gave them the last place in the group tables.
For the 2018 World Cup preliminaries, Romania has hired a new coach, German Cristoph Daum. The results however did not rise to the expectations. In September, on Cluj Arena, the Romanian team drew 1-all against Montenegro. In October, Romania defeated Armenia 5-nil away from home. Our teams next feature was the away game against Kazakhstan, which they ended in a blank draw. Then, in the final official game of the year, Romania lost nil-3 to Poland on National Arena Stadium in Bucharest. Consequently, Romania now ranks 4th in preliminary Group E, after Poland, Montenegro and Denmark.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
