Article by Alexandru Tomuțiu – Published Sunday, March 15, 2026 11:13 p.m. / Updated Monday, March 16, 2026 12:12 a.m.
Mihai Popescu (32 years old), the central defender from FCSB, returned to the field in draw with Metaloglobus0-0, after a break of 5 months. He said what it was like for him to play again.
Mihai Popescu entered the field in the 76th minute, replacing the injured Daniel Graovac. He regrets that the Bosnian left the pitch with a broken nasal pyramid.
He is convinced that Mirel Rădoi will manage to implement his style of play, and the team will perform better from the next match.
Mihai Popescu, after FCSB – Metaloglobus: “I want to return to the same level”
“Unfortunately, it couldn't be a win. We have work to do, but we'll definitely get back to winning ways. Unfortunately, nobody would want to replace an injured player. We're on the bench to do our job. We're sorry for Graovac, I didn't get to talk to him, but we hope he'll be fine.
There should somehow be a barrier of fear in our minds, but I've been training with the team for a while and I've also played a match for the second team. I say I got over that fear. It was a good 15 minutes for me, I'm trying to take what's good and build on it.
Indeed, being away from the team and seeing what is written in the press, you somehow try to take things positively. I was always like this during this period and I say that it helped me a lot. I also had my family close to me and I want to thank them all.
I don't have to prove anything to anyone, I just want to get back to the same level I was before the injury. We all know Mirel, we know how important he is to this club. There will be beautiful moments, but we still have work to do.
Slowly, slowly we start to understand what he wants to convey to us and I think that will start to be seen from the next match. The objective is to qualify for the Conference, but we have matches to win to get there”, said Mihai Popescu, at Prima Sport.
