Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Saturday, April 25, 2026 23:34 / Updated Saturday, April 25, 2026 23:41
Andrei Cordea (26 years old) scored the only goal of the the CFR derby – U Cluj 1-0in the 70th minute, from the penalty. He then commented on the victory and coach Daniel Pancu's decision to start with him as a reserve.
It had been a long time since the last match that Andrei Cordea started as a reserve. Today, in the Cluj derby, Daniel Pancu left him on the bench at the start, but threw him into the fight in the 62nd minute. Just eight minutes later, Cordea emotionlessly converted a penalty that brought victory to the cherry team.
“It was an important night for us. If we didn't manage to win, we probably didn't have any chance to achieve our goal. It worked out for us, I'm glad I managed to score and help my team-mates, the team to get the 3 points.
The last match wasn't supposed to be a scandal either. Unfortunately, I responded to the challenges. It wasn't in my nature, I had to mind my own business, but that's it, I passed, no problem. Any miracle lasts 3 days. Now look it's another match. I managed to score and believe me I am very happy today”, said the CFR winger in the first phase.
Andrei Cordea, jumped from the first “11” at CFR – U Cluj: “I didn't know, we didn't have any discussion”
Asked if he knew he would not be part of the first 11, Cordea replied:
“I didn't know, I didn't have any discussion with Mister. He's the type who doesn't even show you in training if you're a starter or a reserve. We didn't talk today either. He told me [în timpul meciului] to be ready when I go in and that was my motivation.
Naturally, I wanted to start as a starter, but when I saw that I wasn't, my focus was to go in and be decisive, to make a difference”.
Cordea reveals: “We are up to date with money”
He later confirmed that all salary arrears were paid and that the team was visited on Friday by the boss Ioan Varga:
“It mattered a lot. He came yesterday, right here we met him. He greeted us individually. Cadu also came, you don't need much to know that he is a legend. The financial problems have also been solved, we are up to date with the money. Let people stop talking about problems at CFR“.
All this gives him hope that CFR, which came within two points of the first place, can fight for the title:
“I say it in every interview: the goal here was to win the championship. Even if I was in 14th place, I was still talking about the championship. At the end the line will be drawn and then we will be able to say whether we have achieved our goal or not. At the moment we are in the cards and we will play our chance.”
