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CFR Cluj Set to Upset Bucuresti Monopoly

CFR Cluj are relative unknowns outside Romania, but they are set to upset the Bucure ti monopoly in Liga 1, and could earn qualification for the Champions League for the first time in their history this summer.

Liga 1, the top tier of Romanian football, has been dominated by clubs hailing from Bucure tii since its inception in 1909. The most successful teams over the years have been Steaua Bucure ti and Dinamo Bucure_ti (Romania's 'Big Two'), with 23 and 18 titles respectively and the other notable teams are Universitatea Craiova, Rapid Bucure ti, and UTA (wtih Universitatea Craiova the last non-Bucure_ti team to win the championship in 1990-91).

During the 2006/07 season CFR Cluj nearly broke the Bucure ti monopoly on the league, and this season they look to be on course to upset the apple-cart. So how has a relative unknown with no real history of success managed to challenge the Bucure i monopoly of Liga 1?

In a nutshell the answer is Árpád Pászkány. The Transylvanian tycoon has given CFR Cluj some clout, and he has made is possible for the little club from the city of Cluj-Napoca to challenge for the Liga 1 title. In just five year Árpád Pászkány has taken his local club from Romania's thrid division to the top of Liga 1, and he also has designs on conquering Europe.

CFR Cluj were founded in 1907 and in that time have only experienced a short spell in Liga 1, and that was between 1969-79. When Pászkány took control of CFR Cluj in 2002, he promised that he would take his local club to Liga 1 within four years. Six years on they are top of Liga 1, and Pászkány has kept his promise.

The trend in Romania is to produce your own talent due to limited finances, and then sell the best of this talent on to Western Europe or Russia to keep your club afloat (and hence the cycle starts all over again).

CFR Cluj under Pászkány have broke this mold, and have embarked on a spending spree. During the 2006/07 season CFR Cluj were 8 points clear of second placed Dinamo Bucure_ti at one point, before they let slip that lead and finished third.

In the summer of 2007 they embarked on a summer of rebuilding to ensure the same mistake did not happen. No fewer then 13 players joined the Transylvanian club, and only two of those were Romanian (being Eugen Trica and Radu Marginean). The most expensive signing was the Argentinian forward Cristian Fabbiani, bought from Lanus for £1.5m.

Fellow Argentinian Emmanuel Culio, a midfielder, was signed from Colo Colo, along with the Swedish defender Niklas Sandberg and the Brazilian forward Didi. All have impressed, but CFR's most popular player remains the Portuguese winger Semedo.

During the winter break CFR Cluj sat top of Liga 1, and again Pászkány opened the purse strings to ensure CFR Cluj are still there come the end of the season. They took their foreign player count to 20 by signing Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld. The 29-year-old arrived to add valuable experience after playing in the Champions League this season for Rosenborg.

Cluj executive president Iuliu Muresan said: "We insisted on this player (Lars Hirschfeld). We wanted him because he has plenty of Champions League experience and I am sure that he will help us win the title and not make fools of ourselves in the Champions League. We want to compete for the title each year and to play an important role in the Champions League."

His words were backed by Pászkány who has already said that if his side wins the title this season, he will invest £60m in the squad next summer for a proper assault on the Champions League. Romania's coefficient has risen sufficiently that, for the first time, the champions of Liga 1 will be guaranteed a place in the group stages.

Whether fotograf botez bucuresti CFR Cluj will be able to land their first Liga 1 title and upset the Bucure ti monopoly is still to be seen, and we will have to wait until late Spring to find out. However if Pászkány keeps to his promises then we could see a new superpower emerging in Eastern Europe next season, and yet another tycoon backing his local club to try and make an impact in the Champions League.