Marius Șumudică, the 55-year-old coach of CFR Cluj, addressed the team’s recent setback, suffering a 1-0 loss against UTA in the 12th round of the Superliga. This defeat in Arad marked the fourth for CFR under his leadership.
UTA secured their victory with a goal from Omar El Sawy in the 55th minute. Earlier, Lorenzo Biliboc had the best chance for CFR, hitting the crossbar shortly after halftime.
Șumudică on the Match: “Deserved Result! This is All We Can Do”
In a post-match interview, Marius Șumudică emphasized the need to improve after the loss, stating, “UTA deserved the victory. We lost all duels in terms of strength and power. They have quality players from midfield up, and they have been playing together for a long time. It’s a cohesive team, and they were better than us, even if they didn’t create many clear chances.”
He mentioned a missed opportunity by Biliboc, saying, “We had a clear chance to score first. If you don’t score… that’s just how it is. We tried to maintain a 0-0 scoreline for as long as we could, but it’s tough to hold out if you don’t score. Just like in Pitești, we played fearfully in the first half; we were afraid to build up play. Despite working on this all week, that fear shows up. In the second half, we scored in Pitești, but we couldn’t here. If we had scored first, the game would have been different.”
He also reflected on the team’s current state, noting, “We are the shadow of the CFR team from previous years. We need to recognize our position. Eighteen players from last year have left. We can’t expect to transform overnight.”
Looking to the future, he stated, “It’s going to be very difficult in every aspect. If we don’t wake up and show that we are a team willing to put in the effort on the pitch, we will struggle. I can’t fault the players for their attitude; they wanted to win, but this is what we can do at the moment.” He concluded that without scoring, it’s challenging to compete, stressing the importance of converting clear chances, like Biliboc’s miss from close range.
After 12 rounds, CFR Cluj remains with 16 points.
