Rapid, wrap up for 2024 & hopes for 2025, under Marius Șumudică

I was waiting for Dinamo – Rapid to end, in order to comment how my favorite team stands at the end of 2024, and what are the certain prospects for 2025. Horrible game. Both teams played miserable. If somebody would tell them at the beginning of the game that it will end 0-0, both would…

Rapid Bucharest, catastrophic season 2023-2024

Rapid extended, at subliminal level, the centenary, to 2024. In the hope the season to come – which now has ended – will be better than the 2022-2023, that ended in a 5th place. Rapid Bucharest entered the play-off in second place, fairly away from fcsb, but without signaling what was about to happen. Basically,…

Rapid 2023 – was it a good year or one to forget?

Rapid 2023 | It is the most important year in the history of Rapid Bucharest. Simply because it is year number 100, a legendary mark. Being at its end, now I will draw a line, split in three, all relevant, to determine if, from sporting perspective, it was a productive year or not. From all…

Rapid Bucharest 2022/2023 season – the milestone of one century

It is done. Year no. 100 from Rapid Bucharest’s history comes to an end with a big celebration, on 25th of June. First, though, let’s switch our attention to the competitional season that has just ended. A 5th spot in the table that looks acceptable, but in reality it is not the case, not only…

Marko Dugandzic, first Rapid Bucharest national top-scorer in 57 years

Marko Dugandzic is the guy that scored two consecutive hat-tricks (not necessary literally speaking…) for Rapid Bucharest on Giulesti stadium. The first one, against Sepsi was the fastest since 1972! 51 years ago. A good achievement, indeed. I am supporting Rapid for 24 years now and I have studied in depth, the club’s history, but…

Cristi Săpunaru

The Romanian football is rotten from one side to another. The press, the sports people, everybody. Or, OK, most of them. In principle, if you are decent you don’t appear more than a couple of times / year at the television. And I am generous. I am not referring to football players here or important…

Rareș Ilie, the Romanian prodigy – complete portrait

I have talked and wrote many times about Rareș Ilie long before the Romanian “press” – you’ll find later on that the brackets are really needed – heard of him, let alone see his qualities. Most of them, anyway, didn’t see any quality in this guy. But Nice, number 5 in 2021-2022 Ligue 1 saw…

Rapid Bucharest, 2021/2022 season – one year before the big celebration

OK, so the football season is over for Rapid Bucharest. Even though the fans hopped for a qualification in the Europe Conference League, a kind of Intertoto Cup, this never happened, after two brutally abnormal defeats in the last two matches, against FCU and CS Mioveni, two “umplutura” teams, as we say in Romania. Of…