Sports Roundup
A roundup of the latest performances obtained by athletes from Romania
Florin Orban, 12.08.2024, 13:46
After curtains fell on the Olympic Games in Paris, sports lovers in Romania and not only are again focusing on football with the European competitions in their third preliminary round and three Romanian sides attending.
The first team to play this week in the Champions League is FCSB. The Romanians will be up against the Czech champions Sparta Prague in Bucharest. FCSB put up a good show in the first game where they secured a one-all draw.
Cameroonian player Joyskim Dawa put FCSB in the lead in the 61st minute, but Nigerian Victor Olatunji leveled the scoring in the 78th minute. If they outperform Sparta, the Romanians will be up against the winner of the return game pitching the Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki against Swedish side Malmö. The first game in Sweden ended in a draw, two-all. If they don’t qualify, FCSB are to go straight into the play-offs of the Europa League, where they will be up against the Austrians from LASK Linz.
Two other Romanian sides will be playing on Thursday in the third qualifying round for the Conference League. Second-leaguer Corvinul Hunedoara, which won the Romanian Cup, will be taking on FC Astana in Kazakhstan.
Astana won the first game in Sibiu, two-one. If they win, Corvinul will be up either against the Scottish side St. Mirren or the Norwegians from Brann Bergen, which ended their first match in a one-all draw.
The other Romanian side in the Conference League, CFR Cluj, will be playing on their own ground the Israeli side Maccabi Petah Tikva. CFR secured a 1-0 win in the first match in Sofia, Bulgaria. If they qualify, CFR will be playing either the Bulgarian eleven CSKA Sofia 1948 or the Cypriot side Pafos FC. The Bulgarians won the first match 2-1.
Last weekend saw the games counting for the fifth leg of the Romanian Superleague. FCSB obtained their first win this season: 3-2 in Bucharest against Farul Constanta. On Saturday in Sibiu, local side Hermannstadt outperformed FC Botosani 2-1, then in Arad, western Romania, local side UTA clinched a one-nil win against Oţelul Galaţi. The day’s last match, Gloria Buzau versus Rapid Bucharest, also ended in a draw, one-all. On Sunday in Sfântu Gheorghe, central Romania, Universitatea Craiova defeated local side Sepsi 2-1, while in Cluj, western Romania, CFR secured a 3-0 win against Unirea Slobozia.
The leg’s last two games are to take place on Monday, when Petrolul Ploieşti plays Universitatea Cluj and Politehnica Iaşi takes on Dinamo Bucureşti. Two sides undefeated yet, Craiova and Oţelul, are topping the ranking each with 11 points, three points ahead the side on the third position.
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