Friendlies

Our schedule this summer:

Friday July 11. 20.30 (East European Time GMT +2) on television channel Sport.ro: CFR Cluj - Preston North End (15th in the Football League Championship)

Sunday, July 13. 19.00 (East European Time GMT +2) on television channel Sport.ro: CFR Cluj - Panathinaikos Atena (3rd in Greece)

Tuesday, July 15. 19.00 (East European Time GMT +2) on television channel Sport.ro: CFR Cluj - VFB Bochum (12th in Germany)

Thursday, July 17. 19.00 (East European Time GMT +2) on television channel Sport.ro: CFR Cluj - Motherwell (3rd in Scotland)


So far we've tied with the Poles from Groclin (1-1) and beaten Dynamo Kiev (3-2).

Our fixture against Austria Karnten was cancelled due to heavy rainfall, resulting in an unplayable pitch. Hopefully, the weather won't influence our next few friendlies.

Not to be too much trouble, but could we get a little information in this section on the outcomes of the matches and any players who looked good?

You can read the match reviews on cfrcluj.net, on the home page. But I'll post them here too.

C.F.R. Cluj - VFL Bochum 3-1

C.F.R. won in their fourth friendly match this summer. The team from Cluj dominated most of the game against a side that finished 13th in last year's Bundesliga. The game started out well, with a Panin cross from the left side that nobody could reach to tap in. Then, after only 9 minutes of play a goal came along. C.F.R.'s new signing, Alvaro Pereira, crossed from the left side. After several deflections in the 6-yard box, the ball went to Andre de Galiassi who tapped it in. Although C.F.R. had scored, Bochum could not get back into the game. The Transylvanians had chance after chance. Emmanuel Kone and Prette's shots were both blocked, while Andre Leao's header sailed over the net. In the 15th minute, Panin passed to Sebastian Dubarbier who could only manage a shot directly at the opposing goalkeeper, Rene Renno. Then, in the 21st and 25th minutes, the Germans had their first efforts on goal, but both of their long-distance efforts sailed wide. At last, C.F.R.'s second goal game along. Ciprian Deac put in a lovely throughball for Didi, who was fouled by the goalkeeper in Bochum's box. The resulting penalty was taken without any fuss by Gabi Muresan. The end of the first half was very exciting. Cluj missed two chances when Diego Ruiz's shots were parried by Rene Renno. Still, ironically enough it was Bochum who scored next. After a counter-attack Danny Fuchs managed to reduce his team's handicap.

The second half brought about many changes in both squads, so the tempo of play was much less consistent. The Germans could not seem to reach the C.F.R. goal, so they had to rely on shots from outside 20 meters. In the 68th minute, Gustavo Oberman missed a good scoring chance after Deac hit in a low cross from the left flank. Five minutes later, the same Deac received a beautiful heel pass from Prette and put the ball in the box for Diego Ruiz`s calm, one-touch goal. During the 78th minute, Sixto Peralta`s deflection failed to find the back of Bochum`s net. However, the end of the game was to Bochum`s discretion. First, Dubrovki`s free kick was nearly hit in. Then, the same player hit a surprising free kick from a 70 degree angle into the post.

The victory against Bochum today can be called a ``rematch`` of sorts. This is because in 1973, C.F.R. faced Bochum in Germany for a friendly and lost 1-3.

Video summary of the fixture can be seen on sport.ro here.

Conclusions: The victory against Bochum was very clear. C.F.R. dominated the first 80 minutes of the match. The German goal came, illogically, after C.F.R. had missed two big scoring chances. The defense was very strong today. Muresan and Sousa were like two stone walls blocking the way to the net. Panin and Pereira moved up a lot and passed very well with the midfielders. Pereira even managed an assist on the first goal. Emmanuel Kone seems to get better and stronger with every passing game. The youngster was superb today. Although he had only one go at goal, his passing and dribbling skills helped to break Bochum`s otherwise strong defense. Leao and Prette also played quite well, which is a vast improvement over their performances in the last month. Deac was probably the man of the match. He literally created two of our goals with two equally brilliant passes. He also set up Oberman for a nice one time effort late in the game. Didi seems to be getting back into shape too. His presence on the field was not overly obvious, but he managed to win a penalty in the 38th minute. However, Dubarbier was probably the one dissappointment. The young striker missed any scoring chance he got and he lost many of the balls that got to him. The second half brought many changes and a general decrease in the level of play. Still, Stancioiu had some very good positioning in goal, but he should have been more careful on the one free kick that hit the post. Semedo was useful to the team`s counterattacking play, but at times he dribbled far too much. Finally Ruiz and Peralta both impressed. Ruiz scored the final goal, but also missed several chances. Peralta again proved his wonderful passing ability, and seems to have earned a place on the starting eleven.

CFR Cluj: Nuno Claro 6- Panin 6, G. Mureşan 7, De Sousa 6, Pereira 6 - E. Kone 7, Leao 6, Prette 6, Deac 8 - Dubarbier 5, Didi 6

Subsituted in: Stancioiu 6, Semedo 5, Ruiz 7, Peralta 6, Cadu 6, Tony 6, Oberman 6, Minteuan, Trica, D. Toma

VFL Bochum: René Renno - Matias Concha, Marcel Maltriz, Stanislav Sestak, Marcin Mieciel - Danny Fuchs, Oliver Schröder, Dennis Grote, Mimoun Azaouagh - Bonig, Anthar Yahia

Hi!

Will you post your reviews of the friendlies against Motherwell and FC Bihor??
Please! It'll be great to know about that two matches

thanks!

MalcoM

Sorry about the delay with the reviews. I'm currently travelling for a few days, so I won't be able to update until later today or tommorow.
Patience, please.

Alex

Site updated. I posted the reviews of both matches as well as some other news.

Hey!

Thanks a lot, the site is every day better

MalcoM