Romanian minifootball local championships have all started the second half of the competition. After a long and harsh winter, 30.000 plus players from more than 1.500 teams scattered all over the country rejoined the spirit of fair play and picked it up from where they left in autumn.
In Timisoara, the city where a national record of 113 teams participates in the championship, the leaders GLISSANDO have already extended their lead at the top of the first division. This is a sure bet for a renewed rivalry at the national championship finals to be held in summer, where Timisoara wants to win its first national title.
This won’t be an easy task to achieve, as many of the best competitors from last years finals are leaders on their local divisions, and will probably be among the best 24 Romanian teams to join the national tournament. Suceava and Iasi, as well as Buzau, Zalau and Deva are some of the cities where the local champions have always been among the favourites on national events. Their hegemony has been recently challenged by newcomers such as Targoviste, Targu Mures and Satu Mare, places where minifootball caught up on the fast drive and produced competitive teams.
“We expect a new national championship to be held most probably in Deva”, mentioned Razvan Burleanu, president of the Romanian Minifootball Federation, “although the competition among the cities which want to host this great annual event is still open”. “The Executive Committee is happy to acknowledge the ever growing popularity of this sport, both here in Romania, as well as in Europe, as we look forward to honour our continental title in 2012. That is why we are extremely dedicated to promoting the best players, the best teams, the best local managers and hopefully see Romania win again the European national championship”.
For now, the crop is growing, the matches – some 1.000 every week – are the appropriate way to train those players who deserve to represent the country at the international level. Romania’s minifootball has become a national sport, a national event which takes place almost every day all over the country’s stadiums where this sport is played with such dedication and desire to win.