Mother-in-law puts pressure and gives her the best advice! The “double” champion of Romania is ready to return to the Super League: “May everything be fine”

– Denis, you are in full training at Sfântu Gheorghe. Next is a training camp in Antalya. How was the start of training?
– We are glad to be back. We have a training course here. I hope we finish it well. We will go to Antalya where we will continue and I hope everything is fine and everyone is healthy.

– The plans for this year for you, for the team, the promotion to the Superliga? How do you see the odds, how do you see the battle?
– Of course! That's my personal goal, and ours as a team. What can I say? We expect a difficult year, because we have some quite complicated matches, but we look forward with confidence, especially for the preparation we are doing. I think we will have some very good games and at the end we will be happy.

VIDEO. Denis Haruț: “The frustration of the relegation with Sepsi was quite big”

– Sepsis went through a nightmare period. How did you get over this relegation episode?
– Yes, it was quite complicated. You realize it was quite a frustration. Nobody wanted this thing, nobody thought about this thing. But I think that's how we show character, and we also show the character of the club, by getting back up where the club belongs.

– You didn't start the season very well, but you recovered along the way. How is League 2?
– We started a little hard, but especially now at the end we showed that we are a very cohesive and united team and group and we managed to get some good results, placing us in second place at the end. Yes, it is a difference from the first league. It's more direct football, but I think we have players who can integrate and understand what the level of League Two is and we can get back into League One again.

– Corvinul Hunedoara, FC Bihor, FC Voluntari, Sepsi, teams at the top of the ranking. How do you see the fight for promotion?
– It is quite tight, we are good teams with players who want to go up to the first league. At the end of the day, we have to focus on what we have to do and if we win every single game, it won't matter what the others are doing.

– How much did the quiet management and the fact that you don't necessarily have vocal supporters help you?
– The management always supported us, even in those difficult moments. Here we are a family and a united group and they have been by our side and are trying to give us everything we need to get back into the first league again and that is what we all want.

“The experience at FCSB helped me! I played with them in Europe”

– First league standings with FCSB and CFR Cluj out of the play-off places. But with Botoșani, your former team, there at the top of the ranking, does it surprise you?
– Yes, it is, let's say, a little surprising, but there were, if I remember correctly, years in which and when I was at FCSB there were times when we were in places outside the play-off and still in the end we managed to enter the play-off.

Denis Haruț in the Sepsi jersey. Photo: sportpictures.eu

– In your case, how was the experience at FCSB?
– I think it helped me. I also played in Europe, I was there with the boys, we won the championship. I think I learned what the pressure is at the matches there, I saw what it is like in Europe. So I don't consider it a negative part of my career at all.

– Practically, the difficult and harder moments helped you to plan your career in the future?
– One hundred percent. Normal. After all, success is made of hard times.

2 championship titleshas Denis Haruț with FCSB (2023-2024 and 2024-2025), plus the Romanian Supercup, from the 2024-2055 season. The central defender is quoted at 400,000 euros, according to transfermarkt

“Our place is in League 1! We will show it”

– Valeriu Iftime, Gigi Becali and Laszlo Dioszegi. Three totally different characters. How did you get along with them and who did you steal a secret from to help you in your career?
– It was a normal patron-player relationship. We never had more discussions than were necessary. But they are all three different. All three love football and are very eager to perform. You can clearly see this in everyone. What can I say? Everyone wants to win.

– The dream for 2026 is clearly promotion to the Super League, right?
– Yes.

– And then what do you think or how do you see your future?
– I don't know. I'm here at Sepsi and the only dream I can think of at the moment is to get back to League 1. Let's show that our place is there and from there we will see step by step what will follow.

– How is it, Denis, when you leave the stadium, from training? How is it at home with the wife, the child, the family?
– Now, during this preparation period, where fatigue also intervenes, you have to be patient, pay attention, be present, but everything is very good.

“I try to eat very healthy and rest as much as possible”

– Is life difficult as a dad?
– No, she is very beautiful. They're stages of life that I think every parent goes through, and like I said, you have to be present, you have to be there for them and just like they are for me.

– Do you have any secrets regarding preparation, nutrition, food?
– I can't say it's a secret. It's something normal. I try to eat very healthy. Rest as much as possible, especially during this period, to avoid injuries, but it's no secret.

– Pay attention to the numbers, the parameters?
– We have the staff that deals with the parameters. We have to play well, train well and see each other in training.

– So the numbers are good if nobody scolded you.
– At the moment yes, if no one told me anything. Ha, ha, ha!

Denis is a good kid. He left FCSB, went to Sfântu Gheorghe. They left Bucharest, I will visit them in Brașov. I also give Denis some pointers, not about football, but about activity and sports life. But it's OK. With restoration, with recovery. He really has to do training in addition to what he does with the team. That is, there are several means

Doina Melinte, mother-in-law of Denis (multiple medalist at the Olympic Games, the World and European Championships in the middle distance)