Article by Eduard Apostol – Published on Saturday, 07 February 2026 23:27 / Updated on Sunday, 08 February 2026 00:01
“Universitatea Craiova, the most Portuguese club in Romania” is the title appearing in the print edition of A Bola, in a link on page 1, and inside generous spaces are given to the story that Lusitanians Mario Felgueiras (sports director), Filipe Coelho (coach) and Samuel Teles (midfielder) are writing in Bănie.
At the same time, the articles dedicated to the club from Oltenia and the experience of the three in Romanian territory are also offered to readers in the online edition of the prestigious publication.
8Portuguese are in total at Craiova University, in addition to the three mentioned, there are also four collaborators of Filipe Coelho (Bruno Romão and Markus Berger – assistant coaches, Ricardo Vasconcelos – video analyst. Hugo Pina – main scout and Tiago Joana – physiotherapist)
The University of Craiova seen as “a sleeping giant”, which can take advantage of the situations at FCSB and CFR Cluj
“The University of Craiova is the most Portuguese club in Romania and has spent the year leading the championship, a competition that it wants to win for the first time in 45 years and for which it has been fighting for in recent years, but without success”, wrote the Portuguese in the introduction of the material.
The experiences of Felgueiras, Coelho and Teles are detailed, with Mario bringing his compatriots to the team from Craiova.
“In the Romanian championship, FCSB and CFR Cluj, the usual winners, are in the middle of the ranking, and this could be a golden opportunity to wake up a sleeping giant”, the Lusitanians also mentioned in the report. The painful defeat in Athens, with AEK (2-3), is brought back to memory, where, because of a goal, the failure, the Oltenians lost the qualification in the European spring.
“There is a huge fan base in Craiova, which creates pressure to win again. The club sees this pressure as positive and motivating to achieve its goals this season and the next,” wrote Pedro Casteleiro, who signed the article.
Filipe Coelho: “I didn't have the awareness of how big this club is”
“There is a very strong desire on the part of the owner, the shareholders and the management to make the club a big club, not only in Romania, but also in Europe,” Felgueiras said.
“When I say big, I obviously mean regular participation in European competitions, and this year we managed to do that. It's been a long time, more than 30 years, since the club last participated in the group stages, so it was very important. What the club really wants is to be here on these stages, not just once and sporadically,” explained the sporting director.
“We're having a very good season and I'm very happy to be a part of it. It's only halfway and it can be much more successful,” Teles emphasized.
“It's a club with a huge and passionate fan base. It's a big club. We didn't have that awareness and I think people in Portugal don't realize how important Craiova is in Romania,” Coelho said.
“30,000 fans in the stands, a fantastic stadium, people who really love football. The adaptation turned out to be easy. It's a club that allows us to work, offers us all the conditions, a good infrastructure. I'm very happy with what I found and all that's left for me is to work to achieve the goals,” said the coach.
