Corvinul Hunedoara maintains chances of qualification in the third preliminary round of the Europa League after the draw recorded in Sibiu, with the Croatian team HNK Rijeka. The team from the second league thus continues its amazing run in European competitions.
Corvinul Hunedoara – Rijeka. Photo by Daniel Guță. TRUTH
More than 7,500 people attended, on Thursday evening, in the Municipal Stadium in Sibiu (video), at the match between Corvinul Hunedoara and the Croatian team HNK Rijeka, in the first leg of the second preliminary round of the Europa League.
Before the start of the match, the team from Croatia was seen as the favorite, but the match was balanced and lacked spectacularity. A few scoring chances were shared by both teams.
Corvinul Hunedoara had the public on its side, thousands of supporters coming to the match from Hunedoara, a city about an hour and a half away by car from Sibiu (130 kilometers, on the highway). Several dozen die-hard supporters were also present at the match.
“It was a balanced match between two good teams who played football. We keep the chances for qualification. We have nothing to lose and we have to play our chances, do what we set out in training”, said the coach of the hosts, Florin Maxim, at the end of the match.
The second leg of the meeting between Corvinul Hunedoara and HNK Rijeka is scheduled for August 1, in Croatia. Some of the Hunedoran supporters will accompany their team to the Croatian port city, located 950 kilometers from Hunedoara, the place where Romania’s first military submarine – NMS Delfinul – was built in the 1930s.
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Corvinul Rijeka Photo Daniel Guță THE TRUTH (24) JPG
The winner of Corvinul Hunedoara – Rijeka will qualify for the third preliminary round of the Europa League, where they will face the winner of Sheriff Tiraspol – Elfsborg. If it is eliminated by HNK Rijeka from the Europa League, Corvinul will play in the third preliminary round of the Conference League with the winner between FC Milsami Orhei (Moldova) and FC Astana (Kazakhstan). The winner of the Romanian Cup would be the host in the first match.
The Corvinul paradox, performances in the poor football of Hunedoara
Founded in 1921, Corvinul Hunedoara achieved the most important performance in its history this year, when it won the Romanian Football Cup and qualified for the Europa League preliminaries, even though it currently operates in Romania’s Second Football League.
Corvinul Hunedoara plays its championship matches at the “Michael Klein” Municipal Stadium in Hunedoara, inaugurated in 1960, but in an advanced state of disrepair, just like other football fields within the sports base.
Michael Klein Stadium (video) will be demolished to make way for the construction of a modern arena.
The arena in Hunedoara is used both for matches and for the training of the Corvinul Hunedoara team, while another football field in the sports base is used for the training and games of the junior groups of the club.
In Hunedoara, there are no other football fields that present themselves in good conditions for practicing performance sports.
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Corvinul Rijeka Photo Daniel Guță THE TRUTH (10) JPG
Under these conditions, Corvinul Hunedoara managed to achieve European performances, while the rest of the football clubs in Hunedoara county remained anonymous. Recently, CSM Deva officials announced the withdrawal of the football team from the Third League and the dissolution of other divisions, and in recent years the teams from Brad and Hațeg, now in the Fourth League, have reached the threshold of dissolution.
As in the case of Corvinul Hunedoara, the town halls were the main financiers of the sports clubs in Hunedoara county, private investors not being interested in getting involved in their sponsorship.
