Article by Cezar Titor – Published Friday, November 28, 2025, 1:57 p.m. / Updated Friday, November 28, 2025, 1:58 p.m.
Rodion Cămătaru, the legendary top of the Olteni, 67 years old, “dissected” the historical success of those from University of Craiova with Mainzscore 1-0, with the only goal of the game achieved by Assad Al Hamlawi from the penalty spot, for GSP.
The success of the “lions” against Mainz, a team on the verge of relegation to the Bundesliga, is the first success of a Romanian team against a German team achieved in regular time, after 19 years, from Dinamo – Leverkusen 2-1, on 29.11.2006. In this interval, there were 25 direct duels, according to GSP statistician Liviu Manolache. At the same time, it is also the first success of the white-blues against a German team, after almost 43 years! This has not happened since the famous 1-0 with Kaiserslautern, Negrila goal, a match in which Cămătaru was integral.
“Cami” expressed several important ideas: the victory was vital for Olteni, Craiova is starting to resemble, in terms of results, his generation, even if the format of the competition has changed a lot, and the fact that in football the result matters, emphasizing the lack of spectacularity of Filipe Coelho's boys, very pragmatic instead.
Rodion Cămătaru: “A qualification would mean a lot”
“It was a win we needed here, and it gives us hope for qualification, to stay there. The atmosphere was superb, I think it was also seen on TV. The stadium was full and the fans encouraged the team throughout the 90 minutes. And their supporters were very fair-play, I was really surprised by this. They behaved civilized, they did not create problems in the city either.
This Craiova team is starting to look a bit like my generation, of course. A qualification would mean a lot. The competition has changed a lot now compared to when we played: there are more matches for qualification, until you leave the group. But I hope we get out. I think a draw in the next game would be enough. There are two tough games coming up, with Sparta Prague and AEK Athens, but they can be solved. A good result can be achieved here at home with Sparta.
In football, you know how it is: the chance counts. They didn't play extraordinary football, but the points count. In the end, the result remains from a match. The world forgets how it was played, but the score remains in history. It's a good start for Coelho: two wins from two matches, and that gives high hopes. It doesn't matter now how it was played”, said the former great striker of Craiova and Dinamo, for Gazeta Sporturilor.
Here's how the Conference League single group standings look:
