It has been more than a week since the European Minifootball Championship wrote its final note. The teams went home with great memories, so what else should we do now than say a few things about the champions ?
Well, for starters, we need to thank to all participant teams for their effort to come and to be part of a great event.

They played spectacular games, they proved that minifootball is a sport that is worth much more than it is today. The steps taken on these days are crucial, for it is our common effort and goal to make good things happen. Hopefelly, next year we will be joined by new national teams and surely, the future holds a lot for us to be glad about.

 Soon enough, we will be posting on the official Romanian federation site, a review of this tournament, describing the event as it happened, hour by hour. Until then, perhaps it is good to write a short review  about the champions.

The Romanian team was coached, for the second year in a row, by one of our top international football refferees - now retired, of course - mister Tiberiu Lajos. Tibi resides in the Western end of Romania, in a city that is well known all over Europe - Timisoara. The interesting fact about Timisoara is that they have a strong local championship, no less than 126 teams playing in 7 leagues and divisions. Tiberiu Lajos is the local manager of the competition that takes place in downtown Timisoara, inside the Politechnical University sport complex.
It comes to no surprise that Timisoara is a pool of excellent minifootball players. Actually, three players from this city came to Tulcea and played for the Romanian side. Cristinel Popa is a legal attorney during weekdays, but also one of the best goallies in the country ! He proved his excellent skills during the final match with Czech Republic, denying the Czechs 2 out of 3 sudden-death penalties ! That was enough for Romania to win the final and become - again - European minifootball champs. 
The top scorer of the tournament was Claudiu Dumitru, (top scorer in Bratislava last year, too). He is a native of Oltenia, but resides in Timisoara. Claudiu playes for CLUB AS, a team currently sitted on the third place in the first Timisoara minifootball league. The leagues leaders, MAV GLISSANDO, are very lucky to have among their players another Romanian international player - Miroslav Nicodin, who made his mark in the finals, scoring the second goal.

 
Another well known Romania minifootball center is located in Iasi. The capital of Romanian Moldova won three of the past 4 national championships. MAGIC IASI are the current vice-champions of Romania, and we can safely say that these three national titles have been won mainly due to their excellent defensive play. The fact that their goallie, Cornel Matcaboja, is also the main goalkeeper of the national team comes to no surprise. Marian Anton, also from Magic Iasi as well as Alin Cruceanu (Terramold Iasi) are also proven values which participated to many national and regional tournaments, not to mention their weekly county championship where they among the very best.

Buzau is a city located in central Romania. A city where minifootball is very popular - proven by the fact that Consiliul Judetean Buzau is the best minifootball team in Romania ! This team has a contelation of excellent players, some of them former first football division celebrities. In Tulcea, we have seen three players from this team - the amazing libero Romeo Stan (the tall guy who was towering our defense !), as well as Milan Marius and Alin Lungu. Funny enough, only a month ago, these players were trying to score deciseve goals against ... Cristi Popa and his local team, in a series of three games counting for the Romanian Super Cup ehich was eventually won by Consiliul Local Buzau against WMT Timisoara.

 
Suceava sent, on this summer, the most surprising team at our national championships. The local Suceava championship was afiliated to the Federation in 2010, time enough for the hard working local players to cacth up with everything that was to be known. They won the third place at national level. Railex Suceava, the best team from this beautiful Northern county, sent two players to Tulcea: the speedy forward Sorin Nicoara, as well as the sneeky Ovidiu Bosancu, another player who made the difference in our strong defense department.

Zalau is located nearby Hungary, some 600 kilometers NW of Tulcea. A small city with a great heart, Zalau prouds itself with a great local championship which promoted another national star, the former Romanian Cup winners. This year, Szeles Tibor, from Euroglia Nusfalau, and Beko Gabor from Autoland Hossu represented Transilvania and Zalau in the Romanian team.

Tulcea, hosts of this wonderfull event, sent on the field a very tallented forward, Florin Popa. This pocket-sized forward, although kept on the sidelines in the firts two games, managed to score important goals, thus sending the local fans into the seventh heaven !

Last but nevertheless one of the most remarkable players comes from Bacau, a city with great minifootball potential. He is sometimes called The Argentinian, for his soft touches which remind of South American football. His name is Sorin Ghius, a brainy playmaker who might have been a very good soccer player if not for a string of unfortunate injuries during the past years. 

These guys are now home. They carried our hopes and done well, but the most important thing is that all of us who have been in Tulcea and seen or played in the tournament, we are now friends. Good friends, we hope, as we shall meet again next year !