Zenga gives Steaua zing

By Paul-Daniel Zaharia

The only Romanian team ever to have played in the UEFA Champions League group stages, the only Romanian team ever to win a major European competition and the most successful club in Romanian football with 21 titles and 20 Romanian Cups. The question is, what do FC Steaua Bucuresti have to prove?

Lean period
The answer is plenty. They may have been Champions League contenders in 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1996/97 and European Champion Clubs' Cup and UEFA Super Cup victors in 1986, but the bald fact remains - Steaua have won nothing since they last claimed the Romanian title in 2000/01.

New level
The coach who won that last title, Victor Piturca, resigned in August 2004 having forged the current Steaua squad in the years since taking charge of the club in January 2000. However, it is his successor, Walter Zenga, who has taken the team on to a new level this season.

'The best'
Having led Steaua's neighbours FC National Bucuresti to the Romanian Cup final in 2002/03, Zenga has been a massive hit at Steaua. "He is the best trainer we have worked with at Steaua and that's why we wish to extend his contract beyond June 2005," said Steaua's executive president Mihai Stoica.

Steaua targets
The former Italian international goalkeeper has left his mark at the club, but as far as he is concerned, the coach is merely doing what has been asked of him. "When I came to Steaua, the club's owner Gigi Becali told me to finish the first half of the season at the top of the table," he told uefa.com.

European aims
"And I did it," added the 44-year-old former FC Internazionale Milano player. "He also wanted us to qualify for the UEFA Cup group stages. I did that, too. This means that I have done and am doing my job. So I do not have any reason not be satisfied about my work."

Squad rotation
Pivotal to his success at Steaua has been getting his team to pull together as a group. "My first aim was to give to all the players the necessary self-confidence," he said. "I told them that none of them are key players and none of them are reserves. When players are missing, we need the others. We need a group spirit and all the players need to know that they are important and need to feel ready to play at the highest level."

Controversial match
This philosophy has not always won Zenga supporters in the stands. Having beaten Serbo-Montenegrin side FK Zeleznik 4-2 in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, the coach controversially fielded a second-string side in the return leg, and watched as they lost 2-1 at home.

Consistent policy
The supporters were enraged, calling for Zenga's resignation and demanding that former Romanian international and Steaua hero Marius Lacatus be installed in his place. However, with the full support of his players and the club's board, Zenga survived that rebellion and continues to shuffle his pack.

Spanish trip
Zenga's policy will be further tested as his side visit Athletic Club Bilbao tonight, hoping for a third UEFA Cup Group B win which would almost certainly take them through to the next round, although the coach is not counting his chickens at all at the moment.

Close group
"I thought six points would be enough to qualify, but all five teams could end up with six points," he said. "So everything is possible. But I trust the players. Qualification would be a great achievement. More than we planned."