Sure of the dam with FCSB, Marius Croitoru came transfigured to the interview: “I have aged 3 years”
Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Sunday, May 10, 2026, 7:33 p.m. / Updated Sunday, May 10, 2026, 7:33 p.m.
Marius Croitoru (45 years old), the coach of FC Botoșani, drew the first conclusions after the end of the game in which his team managed to get a draw with Petrolul, score 1-1and secure their place in the Conference League play-off semi-final with FCSB.
Extremely emotional and exhausted, after a complicated match for his students, who came back at the end, after being led 0-1, Croitoru admitted that the duel had “aged 3 years”, not explaining how the Moldovans were able to score the goal in the 61st minute.
All in all, despite the criticism he sprinkled in the speech, he was satisfied with the result recorded and proud of the boys he is training, his team being sure that they can fight at the end of the season for the last place in Europe. The duel with FCSB will be played on May 23 or 24.
Marius Croitoru's reaction, after the draw with Petrolul: “I'm very angry, because I worked on these things in training”
“I've aged 3 years! It's a shame about the work of the boys. We scored from basically nothing! From nothing! I don't know how some teams score so easily. It's beyond my comprehension.
But, I'm proud of my boys and the way they behaved. It proved once again that Botoșaniul only plays on the field. We tried to win today for us, to give us the opportunity to move up one more position.
We go to Csikszereda to play a good game and hope we can go up. I congratulate the boys on all they have achieved this year.
Offensively, we had 4 injuries this week. The first half was in our control. I'm angry because the opposing team only got into the box once and we scored!
I'm really upset because I worked on this stuff in training. Their team has changed a lot for the better, after the arrival of Mr. Topal”, said Marius Croitoru, after the match, quoted by digisport.ro.
The ranking from the Superliga play-out
