Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Tuesday, February 10, 2026 23:07 / Updated Tuesday, February 10, 2026 23:12
After CFR Cluj – Rapid 1-1Daniel Pancu spoke again about the conflict between Cristiano Bergodi and Andrei Cordea. The coach of the team from Gruia raged, this time disturbed by the reactions caused by the nervous outing on Saturday night.
At the end of the CFR Cluj – U Cluj match, Bergodi jumped at Cordea. He grabbed him and Muhar by the throat. In the interviews, Pancu raged: “Is a foreigner coming to beat my players, in my country?”.
The reaction of the coach from CFR Cluj caused waves, and he had another nervous outburst 3 days later. This time, he was disturbed by the fact that Andrei Cordea was called to the Disciplinary Commission, because he cursed Bergodi, but also by the reactions caused by his statements in the public space.
Among the fiercest voices against Pancu's reaction were Mihai Stoica and the sociologist Gelu Duminică. Asked about the statements given to Bergodi on Saturday, the CFR coach started in a calm tone, then gradually raised his tone, finally storming out of the interview.
Daniel Pancu: “I have also been abroad and tens of millions of people appreciate Romania thanks to me. We live in a sensitive world”
“That's what I felt like saying then. Seeing many reactions after which I burst out laughing, I realized that you can no longer call a man a foreigner with another passport. I understood that we have no ancestors and we have no future.
I have also been abroad and tens of millions of people appreciate Romania also thanks to me. We live in a sensitive world, it is better to be silent, if it is desired to be silent.
Related to Cordea. We have a player in great form, liable to be called up. I would call him up if I were a selector. In order: 1 – he is threatened with death, 2 – he is assaulted, 3 – he is eliminated, 4 – he is called to the committees.
A player is threatened with death for 10 minutes continuously, that I heard, physically assaulted and eliminated no one knows why. And he is called to commissions, I don't know why”declared Pancu, on Digi Sport 1, after the draw with Rapid.
Pancu's statements were ugly. I admit I was wrong. I was only supposed to go and talk to the referee there. I don't want to talk about Pancu, I closed the discussion, I don't want to know anything more about him. He didn't do the right thing when he said that. It could be any foreign coach.
– Cristiano Bergodi, U Cluj coach
