The City - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ploiești The Club & Players http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Petrolul_Ploiești Stadium - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadionul_Ilie_Oană Recent Results & Players - http://www.soccerway.com/teams/romania/sc-fc-petrolul-ploiesti/ Record in Europe - http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=53030/profile/index.html Romanian League Table - http://www.soccerbase.com/tournaments/tournament.sd?tourn_id=1330 LIKELY TEAM Goalkeeper - Pecanna (Brazil) Defenders - Geraldo Alves (Portugal), Guilherne (Brazil), Sebastian Achim (Romania), Alexandru Benga (Romania) Midfield â Sony Mustivar (France), Damien Boudjemaa (France), Filipe Teixeira (Portugal) and either Ovidiu Hoban (Romania) or Njongo Priso (Cameroon) or Pablo de Lucas (Spain) Strikers â Gigu Grozav (Romania), Hamza Younes (Tunisia) From the Swans Website Swansea City have been drawn against Romanian side Petrolul Ploiesti in the Europa League Play-Off stage. In the draw made in Nyon the Swans have been given a home advantage in the first leg at the Liberty Stadium, which will take place on Thursday, August, 22 with the return leg a week later on August 29. Ploiesti won the Romanian Cup last season and finished third in their league. They are managed by Cosmin Contra, who played under Laudrup at Getafe. Should the Swans progress they will enter the Group Stage draw in Monaco on Friday, August 30. Kick Off - 7.05pm Liberty Stadium, Swansea.
Does anyone else reckon that he's just made the names up in that team ? I wonder if they play for Bongo Bongo land
I'm not so sure, I feel this could be very tricky. and I'm less happy about going there for the second leg. I still have flashbacks of Wales going to Romania and being 5-0 down at halftime.....
There are not going to be many 'big' teams in the Europe league that are going to happy if they are drawn against us due to our style of play etc, all we need to do is have a high tempo game in the first leg and put the game out of doubt 3-0 swans from the first leg. not being cocky but I do feel that we can more than hold our own against anyone in this touenament and need to assert ourselves on these games and show our intent
Petrolul are cup winners from last season, and we will have them watched and analysed so that we are ready for the games." Morten Wieghorst Assistant Manager Morten Wieghorst admits the Swans are venturing into the unknown in the Europa League Play-Offs but underlined the clubâs determination to reach the Group Stages of the tournament. The Swans were today drawn alongside Romanian cup winners Petrolul Ploiesti after Michael Laudrupâs side saw off Swedish outfit Malmo in Sweden on Thursday night. Petrolul came through a tough test with Swans striker Wilfried Bonyâs former club Vitesse Arnhem, as they won the second leg 2-1 in Holland to take the tie overall 3-2. The first leg will be held at the Liberty Stadium on Thursday, August 22 with the return leg at the 15-000-capacity Ilie Oana stadium in Ploiesti. And while Wieghorst concedes the Swans have little information on their opponents at present, he insists they will be up to speed by the time the first leg arrives. âI donât know too much about this Romanian team, but I know Romanian football develops technically gifted players,â said Wieghorst. âI have played against Romanian national teams in the past and they were good sides. âPetrolul are cup winners from last season, and we will have them watched and analysed so that we are ready for the games. âWe are at home first, and there are always pros and cons regarding playing at home in the first leg, but we will do everything we can to progress to the Group stages.â Petrolul are managed by former Romanian international Cosmin Contra, who played under Laudrup while at Getafe in La Liga. And Wieghorst is also very familiar with the defender, having played against him during his career. âHe used to play for the manager when they were in Spain at Getafe,â Wieghorst recalled. âHe was a steady, reliable player who was in the team that reached the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup with Getafe. âItâs interesting that the managers know each other quite well, but both will be doing everything they can to ensure their sides progress.â I wonder who the club will be using to watch opposition ? hopefully he'll get a lot of air miles in this season
It had better not be Cyril. If the Daily Fail is to be believed, it is the Romanians that are killing and eating all the UK swans
trundles,the Romanian National Airline is TAROM,and they fly from Heathrow to Bucharest. I once flew with them to Bangkok,and we had a six hour wait in Bucharest airport. A very sombre place at the time,due to Caecescou's poisonous regime. The air stewardesses were the as dour as they come, and looked as if they had been quarried from a slate mine in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Nothing was open at the airport,so no coffee,etc.,available. There were about two armed soldiers to each passenger, one of whom was unceremoniously carted off for taking photographs through the lounge window, of planes parked on the runway,some distance away. He didn't return. I often wonder whatever happened to him. All in all,not a pleasant experience. I gave one of the soldiers a couple of cigarettes,and you'd have thought I had given him a million pounds. Life was very hard for Romanians in those dark days,but hopefully, it's better now. Good luck ticket hunting.
I don't think it's much better though vetch, it's probably gone from state controlled mafia to private mafia where every westerner will be a target of extreme financial extraction!! I hope we get this game won in the first leg, their fans and players may not be up for it as much then ala malmo.
I did use the word "hopefully",Norway,but you are probably right in your assessment. A trip to see the second leg is not high on my agenda.
4-0 first leg and more of the same 0-0 in the second leg...and then into the qualifying stage....that is the time to follow the swans and not these forgone conclusion games, give us something to worry about and really test our players for a bit of excitement...
