Ever heard about Nadia Comaneci? Of course you have. It’s a universal story of talent and exceptional achievements, of determination and overwhelming talent. A story born in a small Romanian city, called Onesti, somewhere in the heart of the Eastern province of Moldova. Nadia Comaneci, the greatest star of world gymnastics, started up her career in Onesti, climbing to the very heights of tens of Olympics, world and European titles.
We are now in 2012, some fifty years after Nadia was born in Onesti, and the city is happy to welcome a new birth. A new stadium, a new sport, a new challenge. Minifootball commenced its local journey in Onesti only a few weeks ago. And doing so, it all started up with joy and high expectations. Even more, with great expertise, because the manager of the new sports complex is a proven achiever: Gheorghe Burleanu, former football player on the first national division, where he scored 59 goals. Burleanu, considered as one the best midfielders to have ever played in Romanian football, is nowadays a tireless minifootball fan.
“We are eager to build up a strong competition in Onesti”, said Mr. Burleanu. “We want to build teams which are capable of proving their worth on the national level.”
Safe to say is that Mr Burleanu’s dream of winning a minifootball national title for Onesti is strongly backed up by the Mayor of the city, Emil Lemnaru. Actually, everybody on the local council welcomed the idea of a new sport complex dedicated to the spectacular play of minifootball. The construction was erected in a record time, in order to make possible for the local champion team to participate in the zonal preliminaries, which will decide the participants in the national tournament, due in summer 2012.
New cities, new dreams held close to the heart, a renewed hope for achievement. No matter big or small, Romanian cities welcome minifootball and build stronger, healthier communities. “During the past two years, minifootball literally flourished all over our country”, says Razvan Burleanu, president of the Romanian Minifootball Federation and… the elder son of Gheorghe Burleanu, manager of Bacau Minifootball Association.
“We are fortunate to have so many people come and play spectacular games, thus proving that our effort and initiative are welcomed everywhere. Onesti, the last star to be part of the Romanian minifootball constellation, will certainly have a great role to play in this city’s sports agenda. And we hope that one day, our famous Nadia Comaneci will come to Onesti and visit this new sports complex, as the newcomers promised that they will fight to prove their worth at home and on the national stage”.