Article by Maria Olteanu – Published on Sunday, 12 April 2026, 22:34 / Updated on Sunday, 12 April 2026 22:35
Mehmet Topal (40 years old), the coach of Petrolul, had only words of praise for the young Rareș Pop (20), a player on loan to the Prahov team from Rapid. Topal, back in Ploiesti, praised Pop, the author of a goal in the victory on the first day of Easter.
On Sunday afternoon, Petrol achieved an extremely important success in the fight to save from relegation, with Unirea Slobozia, score 2-1, in stage number 4 of the play-out. Topal's remark, after the match, in the flash-interview, was Rare Popwho scored the 1-1 goal in the 65th minute with a shot from outside the box.
Topal, reverence in front of Rareș Pop: “He's special”
“From what I saw at Rareş Pop, my opinion is that he will be an important player in the national team! He will develop and we will protect him like the other players, Boţogan or Dumi. They are quality players, we have young players from the second team and they will also have opportunities to play.
Rare Pop is special, he is a special talent and now he is playing at half his capacity. Nothing has been achieved yet, it is only the beginning“, Mehmet Topal said after the match, on the Digi Sport microphone.
4goals and 3 decisive assists has Rareș Pop, this season, in all competitions
500,000 eurosis the market share of Rareș Pop, according to Transfermarkt
Topal's other thoughts on the match
Then, speaking about the match, Topal, who returned with two consecutive victories at the helm of Prahoven, commented:
“We are all happy. We started the match well, we showed that we were well in the field and that helped us.
Slobozia played well in 10 players and I congratulate the opponents. It was a fair fight and I want to thank my players and my staff. We showed that we have character even at 0-1. I fought on.
It was an important victory and we have to prepare for the next week. Every match is like a final and we have to prove and give everything.
We tried to vary after the break. At halftime we changed the system and some players. The bank supported the team. Today everything went as we wanted and we are happy that we won.
To be calm, we need two more victories, because the teams are close and we have to go up. It doesn't mean that we are calm and we have to concentrate”, Topal said.
Mehmet Topal
The ranking from the Superliga play-out
