FCR Cluj

By Since66
September 30 2008

When the draw for the Champions League was made and Cluj were drawn into Chelsea's group, my first reaction was WHO? Two weeks ago, Cluj travelled to Rome and to the Olympic Stadium (the venue for the final) and stunned the footballing world with a 2-1 win over AS Roma.But who exactly are Cluj? They are known as CFR Cluj from the city of Cluj-Napoca inside Transylvania, home of Dracula.

Cluj became the first team outside of the capital Bucharest in seventeen years to clinch the Romanian title and their acheivement was compounded by UEFA awarding Romania an automatic Champions League place for the very first time.

CFR Cluj (CFR = Caile Ferate Romane, Romanian Railroads) were formed in 1907 as Cluj was part of Austria-Hungary until 1918 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved at the end of World War 1.

Apart from winning the title last season, Cluj have also won the Romanian Cup in 2008, they were runners up in the Intertoto Cup in 2005 and back in 1911 won the Transylvanian Championship.

What makes Cluj's acheivements even more remarkable, Cluj were playing in Romania's third division only seven years ago.

Cluj's stadium is called the Dr Constantin Radulescu and has a capacity of 25,000. Their cheapest season ticket is £25.

Cluj's playing squad includes Brazilian's, Portuguese and Argentinians with a couple of Europeans from Norway thrown into the mix.

No wonder Big Phil says he knows more about Cluj than we think.

Scolari said, "I have never played in Romania before, it will be my first time. But I have a lot of information about Cluj because I think they have about 11 Portuguese players when I was in Portugal, I heard many things about them.

"They also have two or three Argentine players and although I have never been to the stadium or the pitch I have told my players what to expect. But I don't need to tell them to take the game seriously because they know how important the points are. We respect Cluj and they have given us a warning with their first result."

Scolari is not resting on his laurels and continued by saying, "We know that if we win three games and draw one then we will be in the second round. So this game is very important because if we win we will be in a very good position.

"If you win the first three games you are in a fantastic position and then we will be in the second round. So this game is very important because if we win we will be in a very good position.

"If you win the first three games you are in a fantastic position and then after this you need only one draw. It's important to try to win this match away from home. If they beat us then they will have two more home games to come and it could be a difficult situation for us."

Chelsea's injury worries are well documented. No Essien, no Deco, no Carvalho and as predicted Joe Cole didn't travel with the squad that flew out from London yesterday.

It was a surprise to learn that Miroslav Stoch travelled instead of Scott Sinclair (Scott played for the reserves against Portsmouth on Tuesday night) and Welsh International youngster, Rhys Taylor has also travelled.