Fuente: © UEFA (English)
http://www.uefa.com/

FOOTBALL EUROPE: Ambitious Cluj thinking huge

/noticias.info/ by Paul-Daniel Zaharia
from Bucharest

After their multinational side ended the autumn fourth in the Romanian table, CFR Ecomax Cluj-Napoca are going all-out for a UEFA Champions League place.

European ambitions
The extent of Cluj's past achievements in European competition so far came as they were losing finalists to RC Lens in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup, but as they stand just three points behind FC Steaua Bucuresti in the race for the runners-up slot in Divizia A, they are thinking big. Runaway league leaders FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti may already have laid a convincing claim to one of Romania's UEFA Champions League slots, but as far as Cluj are concerned, second position - which offers a place in the second qualifying round - is very much up for grabs, and they have every intention of fighting for it.

Sizeable sum
In the two weeks that have passed since the end of the autumn campaign in Romania, Cluj have spent €1.3m - a sizeable sum by Divizia A standards - on bringing a raft of foreign players to the club in the hope of seizing the initiative when the season resumes in the spring. Having scored ten goals this season, Moldovan international forward Viorel Frunza has joined from Romanian rivals SC Vaslui on a four-and-a-half year contract, but - just as they did last summer - Cluj have been focusing on Portuguese and South American players to bolster their squad.

Exotic signings
Hence, they have signed Brazilian central defender Andre de Souza Galiassi and Paraguayan forward Miguel Ángel Cuellar from Bolivian champions Club Bolívar, both on three-and-a-half year contracts, while two defenders who had been playing in Portugal - CF Estrela da Amadora's French defender Antony da Silva and FC Paços de Ferreira's Federico Martinez - have also joined. "Now, we have a squad which can easily fight for one of the top three places, but we need one more midfielder," said Cluj's executive president Iuliu Muresan, who has earned the nickname 'Mourinho' for his commitment to Portuguese talent - he has signed six Portuguese players this year.

Foreign legion
At the moment, Cluj have more foreigners than any other side in Divizia A, with five Portuguese players, one Frenchman, a Moldovan, a Bolivian, a Paraguayan, a Brazilian and two Serbs on their books. That 12-man foreign legion, they hope, will be on the march into Europe next season. notas_de_prensa_archivo