Forum
Reply

Petrolul Ploiesti V Swansea city matchday thread
at 03:29 30 Aug 2013

Nah, the ref did a good job. Typical European referee, always helping a bit the home side, get used to it. Donnelly's goal was correctly ruled out. He should have scored in the first try btw.

People in Ploiesti was very dissapointed with their team's attitude in Wales. All these days they were stressing how important was to win the 2nd leg and 'to clean' the image of the first game, especially the coach Contra (he even said the 4-0 win wasn't impossible, trying to motivate his boys). So it's normal they played so...aggressive.

I don't think your team played that bad. Vitesse did worse in Ploiesti and they got a 1-1 (not enough at the end :) ). To be honest, I expected Petrolul would create more clear chances, but Swansea defended relatively well and Grozav's absence was important. Petrolul at home is not an easy rival. They press and run the 90 minutes and their fans are wild. I don't remember when was the last time they lost there. Even Steaua suffer there, and they are a CL team after all :)

Good luck in the groups stage. Maybe you share group with Pandurii, the only Romanian team still in the tournament.

Forum
Reply

Hello from Petrolul Ploiesti fans
at 16:08 22 Aug 2013

The final 'i' in Ploiesti doesn't sound.

Petrolul number 7, Grozav, will be apparently scouted by Schalke tonight.

[Post edited 22 Aug 2013 16:13]

Forum
Reply

Hello from Petrolul Ploiesti fans
at 15:51 22 Aug 2013

Really interesting indeed.
Hitler was very interested in the oil of Ploiesti, but it was more an agreement than an invasion. They became the main oil supplier for nazi Germany. American planes bombed then the zone, trying to destroy the refineries. They started the Operation Tidal Wave, which finally resulted a failure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tidal_Wave

Recently Petrolul fans displayed a beautiful choreography about these facts
https://www.facebook.com/casarebelde/posts/388432667892826

"Operation Tidal Wave - August 1943: no assault brought us down! Ploiesti never surrenders!"

There are wonderful stories told by American pilots, knocked down there, about how well they were treated by Romanian peasants.

[Post edited 22 Aug 2013 15:57]

Forum
Reply

Losing our religion?
at 15:00 22 Aug 2013

LOL That thing of Barça and Spain having possesion 'for the sake of passing' is one of the biggest farces any football fan can read nowadays. If Barça and Spain do that, it's because it has very clear purposes for their own benefit. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't (judging by titles we can't blame them of playing that way). I don't know why Italian catenaccio is 'socially' accepted, while Barcelona way of playing receives so much criticism. Any style should be respected, because any team want to win using their weapons.

That United fan was probably angry because in the last two CL finals against Barcelona his team didn't see the ball

Forum
Reply

Petrolul
at 14:34 11 Aug 2013

You're right but after Boudjemaa's performance against Vitesse it's hard to think he'll be reserve against Swansea. He was superb in Arnhem!

Probably Priso will play in domestic league, and Boudjemaa will be used in these European games.

Forum
Reply

Petrolul
at 14:30 11 Aug 2013

Petrolul is the only Romanian team that beat Liverpool in European cups. Other teams like Steaua, Dinamo and Rapid never won in their games.

Forum
Reply

Petrolul
at 23:11 9 Aug 2013

Hi all. I know Petrolul quite well. I honestly think Petrolul was one of the 5-6 better unseeded teams. Their victory against Vitesse was not casual, as they're a hard rival to beat. They have lost very few games in the last 5 months, probably not more than a couple. If any of you think this is an amateur team from a dark country that don't know how to link two passes, well take that off of your heads. They have competitive players that know how to do their job very well, and they are probably the best team in Romania just after Steaua Bucharest.
Having said that, Swansea are obviously favourites, especially because they are used to play against very hard opponents week after week and they have more quality players.

Their standard line-up would be something like this:

Peçanha, the keeper, is quite reliable. The right back Alcenat is very good, but he'll miss the 1st leg because he was sent off against Vitesse. Important absence in my opinion. Guilherme on the left isn't so good, but he likes to attack and generally doesn't make stupid mistakes. The centre backs are solid, but they can suffer against good strikers.
In midfield we find Hoban and the Spanish De Lucas. Both are creative and quite good with the ball. De Lucas has a good left foot and Hoban is difficult to dispossess. Hoban runs and works a lot, but sometimes it's not enough to help properly the defence.
Right wing for Boudjemaa, who was brilliant yesterday against Vitesse. He's quick and skillful. The left wing is for Grozav, the number 7, who can be considered the star of the team. He's quite talented and has very good conditions, but he tends to dissappear during the games. He can decide the games in a glint though. Usual player in Romanian national team.
In attack they'll play probably with Hamza, a clever and complete forward, and Dore, a newcomer who's impressing in the few games he has played in the team. He came to replace the goalscorer of past season, Bokila.
Petrolul got several of these players from unknown teams in France, Spain or Portugal, but they have formed a good team with them. There are other alternatives, like playing with the technical offensive midfielder Teixeira or the hardworking midfielder Mustivar, but that depends on what the coach Contra thinks it's the best for the team.

Petrolul is a decent team that can create problems if Swansea don't take them seriously. In their home game their fans will produce an awesome atmosphere.

[Post edited 9 Aug 2013 23:11]

Please log in to use all the site's facilities

Deluxe

Site Scores

Forum Votes:	0
Comment Votes:	0
Prediction League:	0
TOTAL:	0