Former national team coach Victor Pițurcă has delivered a harsh verdict on the performances of Romanian clubs in European competitions, stating that every victory achieved by these teams over recent years has been nothing more than a “coincidence,” attributable to a deficiency in talent.
This summer, four Romanian teams entered European qualifiers, yet only Universitatea Craiova remains with a realistic chance of advancing in the Europa League. They will face the Finnish side KuPS at home after a 1-1 draw in the first leg.
CFR Cluj’s chances are bleak after suffering a 0-5 defeat at home to Tromso, while local rival U Cluj was eliminated by Norwegian team Brann, losing 3-5 on aggregate. FCSB endured the most humiliating exit, crashing out against Auda with a 3-7 aggregate score.
Victor Pițurcă on the State of Romanian Teams in Europe: “This is Our Value!”
Pițurcă expressed his frustration over the continued defeats, saying, “I don’t know why you’re surprised; I see comments all the time about teams losing… This is our value now! It’s very clear, not just from this moment but from previous years.”
He added, “I believe that when we manage to defeat a big team, either it’s a coincidence, or one of our teams is having a very good moment. But there is no consistency, no value, and so on. Period!” His remarks were made in an interview with sport.ro.
Recently, Pițurcă criticized FCSB harshly following their disappointing loss to Auda.
This is the current value of FCSB. Luckily, their players, when they saw certain comments, went onto the field and performed better. They weren’t a weak team, as some say. If they say Auda is weak, the conclusion is that FCSB is much weaker. That means they are very, very weak! – Victor Pițurcă
His statements prompted a mocking response from Mihai Stoica, the chairman of FCSB’s Board of Directors.
I know he is elderly and I treat him with kid gloves; Pițurcă hasn’t had European cup matches as a coach/manager, compared to the qualifications I have in the European spring. I refresh his memory because I believe he is playing tricks at this age. I’ll only say this: now I focus, I must respond to a titan of Romanian football, I mean, I’m being very ironic here. – Mihai Stoica
