Maspalomas, December 24, 2006

Name: Rapid Bucharest

Address: Bd. Bucarestii Noi, 170 (Bucharest)

Telephone: (+21) 223 43 90

Fax: (+21) 260 19 89

Website: www.fcrapid.ro

E-mail: rapid@fcrapid.ro

Year founded: 1923

Stadium: Giulesti Valentín (19,100 spectators)

Titles won: 3 Rumanian leagues, 12 Rumanian cups, 3 Rumanian Supercups

Rapid Bucharest is the third most important team in Rumania. After a highly productive start to the century, in which the white and reds managed to win two leagues and two Rumanian cups (they are currently the winners of this championship), they have undergone an intensive process of technical reorganisation in order to maintain their status as one of the great Rumanian teams.   The task of maintaining the level achieved over the past years has fallen on Razvan Lucescu, a former player who met with success in the Nacional team, of Portugal, after winning one League cup with Rapid in the year 2002.  He is a young coach (born in 1969) who has given the team a more offensive vision of the game. To date, things are going well. Rapid is placed third in its league, just a stone’s throw from Steaua Bucharest, although the leader, Dinamo Bucharest will be hard to reach and is now set to become the next winner of the national league.   In all cases, fans visiting the Maspalomas Municipal Stadium will have the chance to see a strong team, with high technical quality and a refined taste for football.

Rapid is known for its line-up which is organised around the Rumanian star Moldovan. The preferred line-up of the coach Lucescu is that of four men in defence, three midfield players and three centre forwards. Consequently, a spectacular game is guaranteed by the owners of the Giulescu Valentin Stadium, who dream of once again hosting important European competitions there. Rapid has played in one European Cup and has now competed ten times in the UEFA Cup. It has also participated in competitions in the former Soviet block. In 1958, it was runner-up in the Central European Clubs Cup , which was won by CSK Moscow. This season it has competed in the UEFA Cup and is currently in group G, with powerful rivals such as the Greek team Panathinaikos and the French PSG (who eliminated the Silema, Sarajevo and Nacional teams during the previous legs). Lucescu’s men didn’t lose any of their matches, but neither did they win any, and were eliminated from the first leg of the competition.

The star

One of the most important names in Rumanian football has returned home, in an attempt to prove that like good wines, older players mature with age.  Moldovan’s career is just like that of any famous international player.  He started off in the First Division of the Rumania league at the age of 18, with the Gloria Bistrita, but soon changed to the powerful Dinamo. From there, he went to the Swiss, English, Turkish leagues and finally, to the French team Nantes, where he won the French title in the 2000-2001 season.  He has been selected to play for his country on 70 occasions and continues to play in all the matches disputed by his team.   Last year, he played 25 matches and scored 14 goals.  This year he has already scored 7 (in 15 games).

An important note

Rapid will competing in Maspalomas with quite a few good players.  Of these, we should mention the midfield player Budoi, a Rumanian international who has already won a couple of titles with the red and whites. He is a regular player in his team and his best assets is his speed and his ability to join the three strikers in the attack designed by  Rasvan Lucescu.  This season, he has already scored 5 goals, which is quite a considerable number for a player who has to move up into the attacking position from far back in the field.   Two of the interesting international players who have joined Rapid recently are also worth a mention.  Karamyan joined the club this year, after being considered practically a god in his native Armenia. He is a midfield player with an excellent vision of the game, characterised by his ability to control the ball and send it to any point in the field with great precision.  Among the strikers, we should also make mention of the Australian player Griffiths.

Dorsal	Nombre	Puesto	Año	País	Internacional
1	Dănuţ Dumitru Coman	Goalkeeper	79	ROM	7
12	Edel Apoula Edima Bete	Goalkeeper	86	CAM	0
30	Andrei Daniel Marinescu	Goalkeeper	85	ROM	0
32	Mihai Adrian Minca	Goalkeeper	84	ROM	0
5	Ionuţ Cristian Stancu	Defender	83	ROM	0
6	Ionuţ Alin Rada	Defender	82	ROM	2
14	Danut Perja	Defender	74	ROM	0
19	Ionuţ Cristian Sapunaru	Defender	84	ROM	0
23	Marius Marcel Constantin	Defender	84	ROM	1
24	Vasile Maftei	Defender	81	ROM	3
28	Nicolae Constantin	Defender	73	ROM	0
8	Valentin Marian Negru	Midfielder	82	ROM	0
9	Emanoil Valentin Badoi	Midfielder	75	ROM	10
10	Artavazd Karamyan	Midfielder	79	ARM	30
13	Ciprian Vasilache	Midfielder	83	ROM	0
15	Costin Lazar	Midfielder	81	ROM	2
17	Marius C. Maldarasanu	Midfielder	75	ROM	8
18	Nicolae Grigore	Midfielder	83	ROM	0
21	Emil Cosmin Dica	Midfielder	82	ROM	0
25	Constantin Romeo Stancu	Midfielder	78	ROM	0
7	Ianis Alin Zicu	Striker	83	ROM	0
11	Ryan Alan Griffiths	Striker	81	AUS	15
20	Lucian Burdujan	Striker	84	ROM	0
27	Ionut Costinel Mazilu	Striker	82	ROM	7
29	Mihai Mugurel Buga	Striker	77	ROM	5
99	Dinu Viorel Moldovan	Striker	72	ROM	70