Article by Eduard Apostol, Alexandru Barbu – Published on Thursday, 16 October 2025, 09:57 / Updated on Thursday, 16 October 2025 09:58
Zeljko Kopic, coach of the “dogs”, nominated the Galati arena as the one with maximum pressure encountered in almost two years by Romania. At the same time, he also mentioned the stadiums in Iasi and Botoșani
It's not the “Volcano on Oblemenco”, it's not even Giulesti or the National Arena with the FCSB gallery as the opponent. It is neither “Ilie Oană”, nor Arad, nor Cluj. Zeljko Kopic, 48 years old, the Dynamo coach, nominated another stadium of a Superliga opponent as the one where he felt the most pressure in Romania.
Zeljko Kopic about the stadium in Romania where he felt maximum pressure: “Galați!”. Two other nominated arenas
“Which is the most difficult stadium, with the greatest pressure, for your team, in the Romanian championship?”, the red-white coach was asked on the occasion of the appearance on the GSP Live show.
The Croat answered without thinking too much: “Galatians. Gauls, I think. It was very difficult to play there. There is a lot of pressure in every stadium. Now, Poli Iasi is in the second league, but it is not easy to play there.
It is not easy to play either in Botoșani or Galați, as I said. There are many stadiums where the energy level is very high when Dinamo comes”, commented the technician who revitalized the “pack” in the last two years.
Since taking over the team from the capital, Kopa has not defeated Oțelul in Galaţi, in the 13,900-seat stadium. It is the only failure of Dinamo in the current season, score 1-2. Even in the previous two duels, he did not manage to score a victory in the arena on the banks of the Danube. A draw, 1-1, and a failure, 0-1, in the 90+3 minute.
“Arc de Triomphe” or the National Arena?
Since he came to Dinamo, on December 1, 2023, Kopic has played with the “dogs” on home ground either on the “Arcul de Triumf” or on the National Arena. He explained how he sees the situation of the two stadiums, referring to the team he coaches.
“The players felt very good on the Arc. I had some good results, it was like home there. We played 80-90% of the matches there and we were very strong. For us, that play-off (from last season) was a very important thing.
For me, when we had to talk about where to play, I knew we couldn't have the same level of results at the National Arena as at the Arc de Triomphe. But my idea was to adapt to the players. Let's get everything ready for this season.
For me, Dinamo must play in the best stadium, at the highest level, to see the quality of the players and coaches. The regular season side was excellent on the Arc de Triomphe.
After that, the decision was to adapt to the National Arena. And from now on, it's natural for me to play only at the Arena”, replied the Dynamo coach.
FULL VIDEO | The GSP Live show with guest Zeljko Kopic
