| SPORTS WEEKEND 31/10/2008 |
| (2008-10-31) |
| Last updated: 2008-11-02 18:10 EET |
Saturday will see the greatest derby match in the history of the Romanian football pitching Steaua Bucharest and Dinamo Bucharest. For over 50 years, their confrontation has been the most heated event of the Romanian football calendar. Regardless of the position of the two teams in the league table, matches between them have always been interesting, spectacular and sometimes even dramatic.
The match will be played on Dinamo’s stadium. First it appeared that Steaua’s fans would not make it to stadium in compact groups because Steaua owner Gigi Becali, currently at odds with the fans, refused to buy the tickets to which the Steaua fans were entitled to on Dinamo’s stadium. Later, Becali changed his mind, but Dinamo had already put up for sale some of the tickets initially put aside for Steaua fans.
The game on Saturday is expected to be very balanced. Dinamo are currently on top of the league table, six points ahead of Steaua, but have three important players off-duty: Florin Bratu, Ianis Zicu and Cristi Pulhac. Dinamo manager Mircea Rednic might be forced to send in a less spectacular line-up on the pitch, but one that he thinks will be the most efficient. Steaua, regardless of their recent weak results, have showed that they can play very well when sufficiently motivated. It is well known that in matchups between Steaua and Dinamo, motivation has never been an issue for either side.
Alexandru Deaconu was chosen as referee for the game, and this choice has stirred many controversies. Deaconu was also a referee in last season’s game between Rapid and Steaua, when a lighter thrown from the stands hit him on the head and made him put an end to the game. Later, football officials ruled that the game would go to Steaua 3-0.
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2026-06-09
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