ALIN PAICU: "Sunday evening, we found again a piece of the respect deserved by some footballers, suspected, by anything other than lack of character".
8 May 2007. Dinamo, clear leader in Liga I for football, choked the province's hopes for the second place. The "red dogs" beat CFR 1-0 and left clear way to Steaua for Champions League. Shocking, the result seemed aganst all dinamovist beliefs, against history and nature. And, not last, against a suitcase filled with the green grass of Pipera. The money, recognized by Becali himself , actioned fast. The man who competes with Andreea Esca at public appearences had made yet another hit. The team spirit was ruined after the pot splitting and the Lazio adventure failed. Mircea Rednic left the bench, and the "red dogs" watched from their armchairs Steaua's Champions League adventure.
4 May 2008. Now,a year later, Dinamo, clear leader, this time for the Liga I mediocrity, slams Steaua's hopes. The "red dogs" win the derby 2-1 and give CFR the green light for their first championship title in their history. The influence of the Becali brothers, Victor and Ioan, that renewed their family's epic journey, after years of separation, a new case of money, more substantial than the previous one, from cousin Gigi and his arrogant declarations - these are the rumours that fueled a new winning script for Steaua. Talnar's boys - a coach for rainy days that never goes unfashioned - justified, in 90 electrifying minutes, their reputation of "dogs". The right price, for this match? 4.5 millions euro, money that came from Cluj, according to the same Gigi Becali.
Dinamo is not a white horse with a red bridle. It is not the Girl with the matches or Fanfan in Tulipe. Fresh air wasn't always breathed in "the hole", and not because it smelled like gas. Xerox forged contracts , antological rigged games - remeber the match from Piatra Neamt, in 2001? - players that were sold without any real benefit for the club, are just some of the stickers, hard to detach from the club's cabinet.
Besides the money that probably urged the "red-whites" to the battle, we must notice that last year also, in the CFR match, and now, in the game with Steaua, Dinamo did its best in order to win, to find the right solution to the dark equation of the game. And, keeping the proportions, Margaritescu's determination looked like a performance given by Gerrard, and Bratu's rush to the goal reminded us of Henry. And that Dinamo had, Sunday evening, an honest rival, preoccupied of reaching its goal through passes, shots or pressing. And the winner was, before CFR, the sport itself.
Finally, allow the one signing these lines to make a confession. In 1990 he lost, after Mircea Lucescu left the club, his love for Dinamo. In 1993, when he made his debut in journalism, he lost, inevitably, his sympathy for the "red dogs". And a year later, when Mironas made his debut for the "red-whites", after, a few days earlier, he played in the same stage for Bistrita, the author lost his consideration for Dinamo. To find again, Sunday evening, a piece of the respect deserved by some footballers, suspected, by anything other than lack of character. Notre respect, Dinamo, notre respect, Steaua!
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