The first leg at the Cimbom ended in a 2-2 draw after Dairo Moreno and Romanian International Bănel Nicoliţă each found the back of the net within the first 12 minutes. Galatasaray fought back to earn the draw with Shabani Nonda’s brace.

Galatasaray were without Harry Kewell for the first leg but with him in the lineup this past weekend they looked very powerful as they steamrollered over Denizlispor 4-1 in the opening match of the Turkcell Süper Lig campaign.

Marius Lăcătuş’s Roş-Albaştrii sit two points from the top of the Liga I table. They played to a 2-2 draw this past weekend against Gloria Bistriţa on the strength of Bogdan Stancu’s brace which included a strike deep into added-time. Steaua Bucureşti feature a host of internationally capped Tricolorii including Dorin Goian, Sorin Ghionea, Petre Marin, Adrian Neaga, Bănel Nicoliţă, Ionuţ Rada,Mirel Rădoi, Ovidiu Petre, Mihai Neşu, Eugen Baciu,Mihăiţă Pleşan as well as Razvan Ochirosii and Bogdan Stancu who featured in the U21 recent match against Wales.

I will report on the match once it concludes.

It was a tight tactical match, played mostly in the midfield without significant scoring opportunities that was decided from the penalty spot at the fiftieth minute by Nicolae Dică (Catania) to give Romania the 1-0 victory.

Should match statistics be posted by the Federaţia Română de Fotbal or FIFA I will post them. However with with World Cup qualifying starting in just over two-weeks against Lithuania in Cluj we’ll begin to look at the road to South Africa.

Goal
Bogdan Ionuţ Lobonţ (FC Dinamo Bucureşti),
Eduard Cornel Stăncioiu (CFR 1907 Cluj)

Defender
Cristian Ionuţ Săpunaru (FC Porto), George Cristian Ogăraru (AFC Ajax Amsterdam), Gabriel Sebastian Tamaş (AJ Auxerre), Sorin Ghionea (FC Steaua Bucureşti), Cosmin Iosif Moţi, Corneliu Cristian Pulhac (FC Dinamo Bucureşti)

Midfield
Cosmin Marius Contra (Getafe CF), Bănel Nicoliţă, Matei Mirel Rădoi (FC Steaua Bucureşti), Răzvan Vasile Cociş (FC Lokomotiv Moscova), Costin Lazăr (FC Rapid Bucureşti), Gabriel Ioan Paraschiv (FC Oţelul Galaţi), Nicolae Constantin Dică (Calcio Catania)

Forward
Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina), Ciprian Andrei Marica (VfB Stuttgart) Florin Daniel Bratu (FC Dinamo Bucureşti)

The deal to bring Marius Niculae from SPL’s Inverness CT back to Dinamo Bucureşti has now been completed.

The twenty-seven year-old native of Bucharest now returns home where his career started and will be a great asset to the club on the pitch as well as leadership in the community. Younger players, such as Gabriel Torje will benefit immensely from his experience.

In the long line of exciting Footballers from Romania, Gabriel Torje is emerging in the footsteps of the regions tradition. The youngest player of Romania’s U21 squad at only eighteen years of age commands respect on the pitch for his creativity and flourish. Plying his trade for the illustrious FC Dinamo Bucureşti, he is displaying early promise and maturity beyond his age. His stock continues to rise and gather a great deal of attention within every corner of Football and needs to be on the “watch-list” of every fan.

As a footnote, with the Liga 1 campaign just beginning, Gabriel started in right, scoring for Dinamo Bucureşti in their 1-1 draw against Pandurii Târgu Jiu. I’ll be posting further on his development as well as other of Romania’s top younger players as well as the senior squad.

After weeks of speculation, Fiorentina has announced it has received a formal offer by Roma for Adrian Mutu. Per La Gazzetta dello Sport, it is expected the offer is in the €20m range.

Updates to follow as more information becomes available.

The twenty-seven year-old native of Bucharest was given a weeks leave of absence from Inverness, noting it is unrelated to offers from Kaiserslautern FC of the second division of the German Bundesliga, Kayserispor in Turkey and PAOK FC of Thessaloniki Greece being rejected.

With Inverness manager Craig Brewster noting he is clear to negotiate with other clubs, he has further noted a transfer in the final year of his contract with the club will only receiving an amount the board deems acceptable. Rumours are circulating that the club has received and willing to accept a £400,000 that would see Marius return to Dinamo Bucureşti.

Likely a very good move for Marius - what is your opinion?

It was revealed today that twenty-four year-old Defender Gabriel Tamaş is in Glasgow, working on contractual terms with Celtic. AJ Auxerre has apparently been offered a fee in the €5m range, which they found acceptable. Details to follow but this would be a superb opportunity for Gabriel and expose him to top-flight to European competition.

So what is your opinion on this? Do you think a move to Roma would be a good situation for him or he should stay in Fiorentina?