Marius Șumudică, surprised by Kopic's departure from Dinamo: “I will be interested”

He declared himself surprised by the split between the two parties. Marius Șumudica believes that it is very difficult for a foreign technician to be so appreciated in another country, as happened in the case of the Croatian.

Marius Șumudică: “It's hard in a foreign country to be so supported”

“I didn't expect him to leave. I think he was a supportive coach in every way. It's hard in a foreign country to be so supported. It is true that Dinamo's game was pleasing to the eye, Dinamo had ended up playing a very pleasant football, but at one point inefficient, considering the results that were expected in the end. I think he felt he was on a roll.

I don't know if it's true, but I'll be interested if he has an offer from Al Wahda in the United Arab Emirates. He probably felt the need to take the step in the discussions he had with the club's shareholders. I was surprised because it was said that he had signed for 3-4 years, that they wanted continuity. With a foreign coach it is out of the ordinary. Signing for four years is a lot. But they probably saw his way of working, his personality.

It is clear that he is a good coach, who left his mark on Romanian footballc, it was seen, that he only raised Dinamo to a certain level, but not to an extraordinary level of performance. We are still waiting for the freshmen to come out. One year, two, three, four. It took about three years for Dinamo to reach the championship. Dinamo, what problems did FCSB have this year, it had to be in the European cups, to win that playoff”, said Marius Șumudică, for fanatik.ro.

Zeljko Kopic he arrived at Dinamo on December 1, 2023 and quickly became very loved by the “dogs” supporters. In the first season, he managed to save the team from relegation to the relegation zone, and in the seasons that followed, he qualified the team from Bucharest in the play-offs.

In the recently concluded season, Dinamo finished in 4th place in the Superliga, with 39 points. The “Dogs” had the chance to return to the European Cups, but were defeated by rival FCSB in the Conference League play-off, score 1-2. The team also played in the semifinals of the Romanian Cup, where they were eliminated by Craiova in the penalty shootout.

More and more foreign coaches in the Super League

A few days after parting ways with Zeljko Kopic, Dinamo appointed Portuguese Nuno Campos as head coach.

Marius Șumudică did not overlook this appointment, considering that Romania is entering the world of modern football after more and more coaches from Western Europe are appointed in the Super League. In addition to Nuno Campos, there are two Portuguese technicians in the first echelon: Filipe Coelho (University of Craiova) and Ricardo Sousa (Ploiesti Oil).

But here we are also entering the world of world football. I was hearing Răzvan Lucescu, who said that if you were born in Portugal, you were already training at another level. We also enter this sphere. When a Portuguese appears and is successful, 3-4 more appear after him. If you are a good coach and you were born in Romania, it is very difficult to coach in Europe.

If you are Portuguese, you go on foot. It's full of Portuguese and Croatians in all leagues. They have an incredible market. Look in every championship, if there is a championship without a Portuguese coach.

– added Marius Șumudica

Nuno Campos, the new coach of Dinamo // PHOTO: Imago Images

Marius Șumudică, free of contract since March

Marius Șumudică is free of contract at the moment. On January 5, he was presented to the Saudis at Al Okhdood. His team had 5 points, 4 below the safe zone, and the goal was to save from relegation. The results under the command of Şumudica were catastrophic: two wins, two draws and 10 defeats, goal difference 13:33. Only 8 points, too little in the view of the management, who decided to intervene and sacked him before the end of the season.

Even though he left the team, it could not avoid relegation.

Recently, there have been rumors regarding his possible return to coaching, specifically at Amedspor, newly promoted to the first league in Turkey.