Friday, June 23, 2023

Romania the Cup

 

The Cup final was only continuation of the clash between Dinamo and Steaua. Hagi scored the only goal of the final and Dinamo was beaten again.



Very frustrating, indeed – once again ending with nothing. One may feel sorry for those excellent players – year after year without a trophy. And an intriguing point: transfers between bitter rivals were hardly permitted in the Communist world – yet, practically at the same time Ilie Dumitrescu played for both Steaua and Dinamo. True, he was not yet first rate star, but how was possible to transfer from the Police to the Army – or the other way around, for photos of this period are somewhat blurred and one can't be sure of the exact time?





Once again triumphal Steaua. Well, here is Ilie Dumitrescu again... Never mind. Steaua was just slightly stronger team than Dinamo as far as players are compared one by one. At least on this level their victorious march was just. Third consecutive title, third consecutive Cup, third consecutive double... increasing their total records to 14 titles and 17 Cups. Apart form all political scheming and tricks, Steaua was really one of the greatest teams in the world at this time.