The Beautiful Game

This post is dedicated to soccer, football, fotbal, futebol, fussball, etc. It doesn't matter where you come from or what language you speak, the "beautiful game" is played with style and finesse, toughness and grit, and is loved passionately all over the globe. Romanians are no exception to this rule. They can't live without their "fotbal". Kids play it anywhere and everywhere, no matter the conditions. When an important match is on, streets are empty and quiet, only to be interrupted by the celebratory roar after a goal. Public victory celebrations are the norm, and not just outside of the stadiums. In terms of league strength and national team competitiveness, Romanian soccer continues to climb the ladder of competition in Europe, a trend that should continue into the future.

As many loyal readers have probably figured out by now, I have become a big fan of soccer. I enjoyed and respected the game before I came to Romania, but it's different now. I understand it, I've seen it live at different levels of competition, I've lived through the ups and downs of a club season and national team competition, I've seen and felt the passion of the fans, etc. In short, I get it. Billions of fans can't be wrong. This American is convinced, soccer is indeed the world's game.

So, in this post I bring you some video and photo highlights of my soccer experience here in Romania, one aspect of my time here that I will truly miss. I'll have to get a Dish and Tivo. Dare to dream...


The boys from the team at Hogas last year during an inter-school tournament in Piatra Neamt. They play a shortened, down-sized version of the game with less players on a concrete terrain that is a bit larger than a basketball court. It can be rough out there, with no real protection and bad footwear. I saw some pretty nasty scrapes that day out in front of the school.


One of my former students, Mihai or Liviu, in action with the "gallery" watching in the background. As you may have noticed in the previous picture, he is one of a set of twins. I could never tell them apart, except for the fact that one of them was a goalkeeper. Both were great kids. Check out the action in the following video clip:




Some die-hards cheering on my former hometown team, F.C. Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt. Ceahlaul competed in the 'B' Division during the '05-'06 season, thus attendance was sparse. However, they made the jump to 'Liga I' for the '06-'07 campaign and are now struggling to avoid demotion back to 'B' as they compete with the big boys like Steaua, Dinamo and Rapid. As a result of their promotion, their stadium received a major face lift and is now fit to host international competition. Romania hosted Luxembourg for a Euro 2008 qualifier there a few weeks ago and everything looked great. I barely recognized the place.

Rough play or good acting? No matter, it's a yellow card for number 10 from Ceahlaul. 19 pleads his case in vain.

FC Ceahaul action vs. FC Targoviste. Ceaulaul wound up winning that day.

The old Ceahlaul logo. The club changed it after the jump to Liga I. This is unfortunate because they have a lot of tradition, dating back to 1919. Plus, I liked the old logo. It was unique. The new one is a bear or something. By the way, the club is named after the Ceahlaul Massif, a mountainous region in the area.

Some soldiers on security detail. Who and/or what they're protecting is anybody's guess, as not many showed up for this game in May '06.

Ceahlaul Stadium under the lights in May'06. As I mentioned earlier, the stadium has undergone major renovation. Thus, this view is a thing of the past.

Football Club Brasov. As you can see, not a big draw. Nice stadium, no fans. They've been languishing in the 'B' Division for a few years now. Many are not pleased with this fact, as FC Brasov is a team with a lot of history and tradition. Combine this fact with the presence of the new upstart in town, Forex Brasov, a team that looks poised for promotion to Liga I, and, well, it's hard to put butts in the seats. Check out the following clip from their victory over F.C. Braila. Yawn.




Great signs. I love that they're in English. "Come on Flag" has something to do with the former name of the club, which was associated with some sort of factory, "Steagul Rosie". Check out the "Mountain Sons" in the clip below, a 'B' division gallery in training. Not many of them, but they're having fun.

Now that's loyalty.

Dreaming of a return to Liga I...

Alright, let's get down to business. September 2006, Dan Pelinescu stadium in Timisoara, capacity 30,000. One of the best stadiums in Liga I and home to F.C.U. Politechnica Timisoara, or better known as Poli Timisoara. Poli is my second favorite team and its fans are considered to be "brothers" with the fans of Rapid. If they're not playing Rapid, I root for Poli.

Geared up and ready for the match. "BkP" is Balkan Petroleum London, the team's major sponsor.

The boys of Poli before the kickoff with Unirea Urziceni. Poli wound up winning 1-0 that evening. The gallery wasn't so big that day, but I was impressed nonetheless. Commando Viola Ultra Curva Sud. Check out the video clip:

Attendance was around 5,000 that evening. Pretty good considering that the opponent wasn't of much interest. The stadium is packed when Steaua, Dinamo and Rapid come to town.


April 1st, 2007, "America's number one Rapid fan"(as dubbed by his esteemed colleagues during an interview with Romania's Pro TV), undergoing pre-game preparation for the biggest derby of the season to date, Rapid vs. Steaua.

Rapid is my team. Of the three big Bucharest clubs, they're sort of the black sheep of the bunch. The stadium is in a not-so-nice part of town, and their fans are looked down upon by the elitist Dinamo and Steaua supporters, who don't hesitate to call them "gypsies". Rapid was founded as the rail workers club back in 1923 and its stadium is still owned by the Ministry of Transport. They're the blue collar team, a team with more history and tradition than Dinamo and Steaua, and have the most rabid and loyal fans.

Dinamo and Steaua were formed after communism took hold in the late 1940s. Dinamo was the securitate and police team and Steaua was the army team. These clubs both have a dubious past, as they used to apparently steal players at will from the other clubs, using threats of violence and intimidation. I've heard stories from the past of players and coaches being beaten and imprisoned for not doing the bidding of the thugs from Dinamo and Steaua. These days Dinamo is run by a psuedo-mafia conglomerate of "businessmen" and Steaua by one of Romania's most abhorrent personalities, Mr. George "Gigi" Becali. I love to watch Steaua lose and listen to Gigi whine about it during his infamous public tirades.

That's right, I'm a season ticket holder.

The One Man Invasion (OMI) showing us the way to Giulesti Stadium. A dream come true, two years in the making.

The Giulesti Stadium Beer House. You know I'm gonna go.

The OMI and Mr. Anderson. Forza Rapid, Muie Steaua!

The OMI makes his long-awaited entrance into the gallery area of Giulesti stadium.

Pre-game pose. We sat behind the north goal with the crazies, hooligans, superfans, or whatever you want to call them. We fit in perfectly. They're the cheap seats, but a whole lot of fun. See for yourself below...

Hai Rapidul, Hai Rapidul , Haidei! Ole , ole, ole, ole, Rapid, Rapid!

Most big clubs have a gallery leader, a superfan that leads the chants and cheers. His sound system is blasted into the gallery section and we are obliged to do his bidding. You don't want to get on his bad side.

I was fortunate to catch a couple of goals on video. The first clip is a goal by Cyril Thereau, a French national and forward for Steaua. He's one of the top scorers in Liga I. 1-0 Steaua.




This next clip is Rapid's second-half equalizer, an outstanding bicycle kick by Ianis Zicu, a member of the Romanian national team, in the 65th minute. 2-2 Rapid.




Rapid lost that night, 2-3. It was up and down all night. Rapid gave up some stupid goals and should have won 2-1. To deal with the stress, everybody lit up, even the kids. They start them young here in Romania.

Depending on my schedule, I may or may not be able to attend some more games. No matter, as I've had a blast watching and talking soccer with the Romanians. I've definitely got the bug and will be frequenting the Chicago Fire matches for sure when I get home. Maybe one day I'll be able to see some big European clubs live at their home stadiums? 2010 World Cup in South Africa? All I know is that there's a lot of of "fotbal" to look forward to in the future.