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FOOTBALL EUROPE: Dacia down but not disheartened

/noticias.info/ They may have blown their chance to fight for the title, but FC Dacia Chisinau are going places in Moldovan football under promising young coach Emil Caras.

Decisive defeat
Dacia went into their 30 March meeting with Divizia Nationala leaders and seven-in-a-row champions FC Sheriff on the back of a run of seven straight victories, and had they won, they would have been in a position to push for the title. As it was they lost 2-1, but seven points behind Leonid Kuchuk's side in second place, Dacia still have every right to reflect on a more than decent campaign.

Intertoto experience
After finishing third last season behind Moldova's mighty two of Sheriff and FC Zimbru Chisinau, Caras' side took strength from the summer's UEFA Intertoto Cup. They chalked wins against FK Baku and FC St. Gallen before losing out to Hamburger SV, and pressed on in what has been an unusually competitive league campaign, with FC Nistru Otaci also up among the usual top sides.

Immense promise
Caras is now being spoken of as the most promising young coach in Moldova, but the 40-year-old remains modest, telling uefa.com: "We have managed to build a good team here with the help of experienced players. Our main strength is team play. We are obviously doing well, but it's too early to make any promises as we still have hard games to come against our main rivals in the battle for podium places."

Chance gone
Five points ahead of third-placed Nistru, a UEFA Cup place looks well within Dacia's grasp, and Caras would be delighted to play in Europe again. "I hope we can qualify for the UEFA Cup this term as we learned a lot from our European experience last summer," he said. Not enough, however, to outpace Sheriff and the coach admits that when they lost to the leaders they also lost their "chance to fight for the title".

Long-term work
With eight games to go, Sheriff are seven points clear at the top of the table and, given that they have only lost one league game in the last two seasons, are unlikely to slip up. Caras hopes the work he and the club's owners are doing will allow them to challenge for the title some other time. "In order to be competitive at such a high level we need to make constant progress," he said.

Changing style
"It's essential to develop the club's infrastructure, such as the training ground, the stadium and the youth academy," Caras added. "The club's board is working hard on this, while my job is to raise the quality of the players. Dacia have always been well known for the commitment and toughness of their players, but we would like to show attacking, quick and smart football." notas_de_prensa_archivo