Youthful enthusiasm lifts Moldovan gloom
Thursday 11 December 2008
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Moldova coach Igor Dobrovolski (©Football Association of Moldova)
Fans in Moldova are pinning their hopes for the future on a renaissance in youth football, after Football Association of Moldova president Pavel Ciobanu conceded that "2008 was an extremely poor year for the national team".
Forgettable year
Moldovan football may be enduring their darkest hour just before dawn. Few will look back on the past 12 months with much affection, as Divizia Nationala's top clubs failed to make a ripple in Europe and the national team failed to follow up a run of promising results last autumn. They claimed victories against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malta and Hungary and a draw against Turkey, form that saw Moldova placed in pot 4 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw. Yet Igor Dobrovolski's side have not lived up to expectations. A friendly triumph against Kazakhstan in early 2008 was followed by a sequence of nine games without a win, including defeats in three of their four competitive matches.
Ongoing disputes
The national team's situation has not been helped by ongoing problems with many of Moldova's Russian-based players. Nicolae Josan, Alexandru Gatcan and Serghei Namasco have all refused to play for Moldova, while FC Spartak Moskva's Serghei Covalciuc has not represented his country in two years. "The players who come into this team are the strongest ones we have; I'm not interested in the ones who refuse to play for our national team," said former Soviet international midfielder Dobrovolski. "Because of the circumstances we are having to build new team with a lot of youngsters being added into the squad. However, they have been unable to replace the ones who have left."
Renewed focus
Fortunately for the long-term future of Moldovan football, good youngsters are becoming easier to find. Champions and current league leaders FC Sheriff are now committed to their academy, as are third-placed FC Zimbru Chişinău, with their coach Ion Caras confident his "youngsters will be strong enough to fight for the title next year". Zimbru's young guns include 19-year-old Oleg Andronic, Divizia Nationala's top scorer with 12 goals in 15 appearances so far this term, his cousin Igor Andronic and highly-regarded defender Igor Armash. "In some games we have had ten or even eleven players on the pitch from our own academy," Caras added. "We have not had a similar situation for 50 or 60 years."
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