Freshly installed national head coach Mircea Lucescu told a press conference on Tuesday that he takes a lot of risk by accepting to take over at the helm of the national team, but he emphasized that Romanian football is worth it.
„I am one hundred percent a product of Romanian football, which has made some waves in Europe, either with the national team or with club squads. I am putting myself on the line here and I realize that I am taking a very big risk. But I think Romanian football is worth it. Because I don’t need money or a career… What prompted me to accept were the moments lived at the national team as a player and as a coach. And I’d like those moments to return. I will give my all for the happiness of the fans who want the national team to go further. I will do my best to help the boys in the national squad. It won’t be easy, I am the one who risks, but I am confident that it can be done,” Lucescu said.
The new head coach mentioned that if the players of the national team don’t believe in him, he will step aside without a fuss.
„I took it upon myself to try to qualify the national team to the World Cup. We will do absolutely everything in our powers. I don’t want any of us to have regrets. But I want us to hold on to this extraordinary hope that we can do it. And I am convinced that the players will adhere to this aspiration of ours. I need everyone’s help, of all the players in the first place. If they believe in me, we will succeed, if they don’t, I will just step aside, that’s not a problem,” he said.
Mircea Lucescu, the most awarded coach in the history of Romanian football, was officially installed on Tuesday as the head coach of the Romanian national team, a position he also held 38 years ago.
The 79-year-old technical expert, who parted ways with Dynamo Kyiv on November 3, 2023, signed a two-year contract with the Romanian Football Federation, with the goal of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup organized by the United States of America, Mexico and Canada.
Throughout his career, Lucescu coached Corvinul Hunedoara, the Romanian national team, Dinamo Bucharest, Pisa, Brescia, Reggiana, FC Rapid Bucharest, Inter Milan, Galatasaray Istanbul, Besiktas Istanbul, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit Saint Petersburg, the Turkish national team, and Dynamo Kyiv.
AGERPRES
