17 September 2007, by Lorna Danion

Cluj and Portuguese contingent flying high in Romania

Farul Constanta 0-2 CFR Cluj

When Romanian club CFR Cluj added a dozen new players to their multi-national squad during the close season, which included increasing their Portuguese contingent to ten, they could hardly have expected such instant results from their team.

Twelve signings were made over the course of the summer, with Andre Leao (Beira Mar), Nuno Claro (Pacos Ferreira) and Amoreirinha (Benfica) joined by players from Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Nigeria and Sweden.

Yet with a host of new players still adapting to life in the north-west of the country, the team sit top of the Romanian league after seven matches, as Sunday’s 2-0 win at Farul Constanta saw Cluj continue their unbeaten start.

Championship challenge

With a current record of five wins and two draws, including four wins from four away from home, Cluj hold a two-point lead over second place Rapid Bucharest, suggesting that an improvement on last season’s highest ever finish of third place is a realistic target.

One of the club’s new signings, Argentine Cristian Fabbiani, scored both goals on Sunday as Cluj secured a comfortable victory at Farul, while both strikes came after significant contributions from Portuguese forward Antonio Semedo.

The influx of new players at the CFR Stadium has given new manager Ioan And a wealth of options to chose from, yet there were four players from Portugal in the Cluj line-up for the match. Defenders Tony and Ricardo Cadu, midfielder Dani and Semedo, who is considered a key player, all played from the start.

Next up for Cluj is a home match with Politehnica Iasi, which serves as a good warm-up for the visit of defending champions Dinamo Bucharest the following week on Saturday 29th September.