Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Cup final opposed Steaua and Universitatea, second and third in the championship, Bucharest vs Craiova. Trying to win at least something, the enemies fought and at the end the provincials prevailed 2-1. Steaua was left empty-handed this season. For Universitatea the Cup was a success.

Happy indeed: winning their very first cup! With that added to their first title, won in 1973-74, Universitatea firmly established itself among the best Romanian clubs. It was to stay on top permanently – more trophies were to come soon.

Yet, to a point, the winners in 1977 represented transitional time
: Dinamo and Universitatea depended on well established players, representing the 'lost' 1970s generation. Both clubs had to make changes, introduce new players, build well-rounded squads. So far, it looked like one-two outstanding players were enough for winning at home – but not abroad. Steaua looked more like team for the future – it was younger squad, not exactly at its prime yet, and therefore unable to maintain strong performance. But it was a squad coming inevitably to maturity, whereas Dinamo and Universitatea were to really start new teams.