At the end of the Dinamo – Craiova derby, Zeljko Kopic made the major announcement about Boateng: “This is the decision”
Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Monday, 09 February 2026, 22:58 / Updated on Monday, 09 February 2026 23:00
Zeljko Kopic (48), his coach Dinamois of the opinion that it draws with University of Craiova from the epilogue of the 26th stage of the Superliga, score 1-1, it was a fair result. The Croatian technician praised the quality of the opponents and revealed the tactical approach in the match at the National Arena.
Regarding transfers, Kopic pointed out that he needs quality players, but they are hard to find in the winter mercato period.
The Croatian coach also spoke about Kennedy Boateng, who has had big offers this mercato period, noting that the club's decision was to keep the defender despite the fact that his contract expires at the end of the season.
Zeljko Kopic, after Dinamo – Universitatea Craiova 1-1: “I am satisfied with the team's game”
“I am satisfied with the team's play, attitude, tactical discipline. It was a difficult match, with many duels, we deserved to score the first goal. Then we conceded, we lost a few duels. Craiova has quality, we had another opportunity towards the end, but the draw is fair.
We analyze the opponent every time, we wanted to play with a long ball from Marginea, that's how the goal came out. There were situations like that because the University of Craiova pressed up high. My players followed the instructions, and Craiova was very good in duels and on the second ball. It was a very difficult game, but I'm happy with our game.
Our plan is always to dominate every match, but it also depends on the opponent. Craiova has this European season behind them, they have experience, they always have players on the field who are ready to win the duels.
They blocked our offensive dominance at many times, but we knew we had to run a lot without the ball. This is the reason for the result.
Everyone in the club knows what we need. We're not a perfect team yet, but we're clearly growing. For me, as a coach, it's important to have quality players, a better team, but we have to accept reality. In winter, you can't really bring what you need. We have young players with a lot of potential, we have a standard team. I have faith in the players and we will fight in every game“, said Zeljko Kopic, at Prima Sport.
Later, in the post-match press conference, Zeljko Kopic also spoke about Kennedy Boateng's situationwhose contract expires at the end of this season, and the defender has a substantial offer from China: “It's not easy to keep calm. He had very good offers, but our decision is to stay like this until the summer.
I believe in his personality, in his human quality and that he will continue to work at the same level. He gave a lot for this club, but the club also gave him a lot”.
VIDEO. The goal scored by Alberto Soro in Dinamo – Universitatea Craiova
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