Article by Cezar Titor, Andrei Furnigă (video) – Published Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 8:14 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 8:15 p.m.
Farul Constanța, the team trained by Ianis Zicu, 42 years old, had an extremely difficult schedule in recent weeks, meeting the holders of the first three positions in the Superliga: Universitatea Craiova, Dinamo and Rapid.
The “Marinarii” achieved two spectacular victories on the shores of the Black Sea, 4-1 against the team from Bănie and 3-1 against Giulești, but they lost to Dinamo, 2-3, after a match in which the Dobrogeans led twice. The “Dogs” came back every time, and the winning goal was scored by Alex Pop at the end.
At the end of this series of strong games, Ianis Zicu made a comparison between the three teams at the top of the ranking, concluding that, from his point of view, Dinamo starts with the first chance in the fight for the title, being followed by Craiova University and, at a slightly greater distance, by Rapid.
Ianis Zicu: “In order, I think it would be Dinamo, Craiova and then Rapid”
“Even though Craiova lost 4-1 here, they were a very strong team. They have high value players and are strong in duels. In that match we scored in all the situations we had, and Craiova had more chances than Rapid.
After the game with Craiova I said that probably the score should have been 4-3. In order, I think it would be Dinamo, Craiova and Rapid. Rapid didn't seem as strong as the other two. And in the tour, when we lost Giulești, we had a very good half and our moments to equalize at 1-2.”
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Ianis Zicu played for Dinamo in three different periods: 2001-2003, 2005-2006, on loan from Inter, and 2007-2010. In Ștefan cel Mare, he won two titles, three Romanian Cups and a Supercup.
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In the 2006-2007 season, he also played for Rapid, with whom he won the Romanian Cup.
How the Superliga standings look like:
