In the 11th stage of the Romanian Football League 2, Gloria Buzeu, 8th place (17 points), meets Progressul Spartak, 17th place, with 11 points, at home at the Crang Arena. It will be played on Monday, October 24, from 16:00.

Teams are built differently. If Gloria Buzeu’s heir is sponsored by the city hall led by the main mayor Konstantin Tom, thus surviving on the state budget, then Progresul Spartac is managed by a patron-coach, that is, fed by private funds.

In just a few stages of the new season, Buzoytsi got rid of teacher Kristi Pustaya, who almost made it to the playoffs last season, and appointed Adrian Michalch as a coach.

The technician, who was born in Slobozhanshchyna, earned the nickname “Peasant” in 2022 after Kindia Tirgovishte of the first division, where he showed poor results.

And the goals are different: Gloria Buzeu hopes for the playoffs, and Progressul Spartak wants to stay in the middle of the hierarchy. The Crang side were in action on Wednesday in the Romanian Cup as Spartak watched their first division rivals FC Botosani lose 1-0 from the sidelines.

Progressul does not claim to be a continuation of the former National FC. He has a small budget and team salaries are minimal in the economy. But bonuses for victory are beauty. In this way, the competition is stimulated in every match and the tactic has paid off: the exit from Ligue 3 has been achieved.

A former junior player of Steaua and Student Sport, 39-year-old Andrii Rezvan Erimia is one of the founders of the association that takes care of the Progressul Spartak club. At the same time, he also holds the position of head coach of the Bucharest team, having a Pro license.

If Gike Hagi was the patron-coach at Viitorul, and Gigi Becali is active in FCSB as a financier but also as an unlicensed coach, then in the second league of Romanian football there is the case of Erimia.

39-year-old Andrii Erimiya is the patron-coach of Progresul Spartac. Erimia is a way of saying patron coach, because the money actually comes from financier Gabriel Redulescu, a “progressive” who provides a budget of several hundred thousand euros per season.

“Hagi” started his junior soccer career at Steaua and has completed his ASE to date. He comes from a failed football player. At the age of 19, realizing that he would not be able to break into the first echelon, he hung up his boots on a nail.

He immediately started coaching, and at 21 he was a colleague of former teachers. They started from the bottom, with the children’s and younger groups, who moved forward with the motto: “A promising coach is better than a loser.”

Arriving at Progresul Spartac, Erimia was promoted from Progresul in Ligue 2 with an average player age of 21, the team’s veteran was 24 years old. The boys come from the outskirts of the capital.

Born in Roat de Jos, Giurgiu, Eremia moved to Bucharest with his schooling and for football he first went to Steaua where he was coached by former great defender Stefan Sames.

“I left Steaua worse than when I came,” concluded Andriy, alluding to the system based on knapsacks and the fact that coaches sometimes came to training drunk. Andrii somehow found his place in the team, which included the son of Viktor Pitsurke and the son of former handball player Vasile Shtange.

Then moving to Student Sports, he worked with coach Romika Chihaya, as well as two great talent discoverers and polishers from the Regie group, Kornel Vlad and Kornel Jürke. This, too, went in parallel with school: “She graduated from ASER until now, majoring in Commerce.”

Andrei was attracted by the mirage of the clearing. He dreams of getting to the bench of Inter Milan, but, first of all, he is satisfied with the entry of Progress into the second division.

Several clubs, including Progresul Spartak 1944 (others being AS Progresul București and CS Progresul 2005), are credited with the role of heir to the deceased Progresul.

The former coach of FC Național Erimiya clarified the matter. “We are not Progress. We are Spartak Progress. Progresul/FC Național died in 2009. However, we are a team with many players who started football in Kotrochen,” Erimia said in September 2019.

Superbet offers odds of 2 that more goals will be scored in the second half than in the first.

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