Anti-dictator exposed bravery. ABBA. Rapid was in Division A, yes, moreover, in Division B. Rapid Bucharest, players and gallery, lived and sang ABBA. Between 1976 and 1989. These were the years of the earthquake, the Kavsist madness, the years of poverty and deprivation in the 1980s, these were the criminal years.

Episode V: ABBA

Rapid refused to be part of Evil. The driven built his world. The more impressive communism became, the faster and more creative Rapid became. The more they wanted division and hatred, the more the players and the Gallery proved courage and bravery. The more ideology was obeyed, the more anti-dictatorial Rapid was. Ion Manu, then the Rapids goaltender, admits that he experienced a strange, incredible phenomenon that he didn’t really know existed that made you human in a system against human. Threshold was fantastic and arrogant. VIDEO STORY with Rapid legend Ion Manu, yes that’s him, “Manu is louder than Reducan”.

These chants are unforgettable. Who can forget them?

Chanting “Manu, stronger than Redukana!” sure, even Ion Manu tells us he’s no better than Tamango, but “we were so bitter about not getting into A that the chant made me fearless in the Rapid goal.

Memorable “Country, Chase and Claw/The best attack in the country!”, sure, the Rapid didn’t have the best attack, but what mattered most was what the Gallery thought, not individual value. “Our imagination, the gallery and the players mattered,” Ion Manu also tells us.

They shouted, “There’s no fish like horse mackerel / no team like Rapid,” a saying derived from Ceausescu’s obsession with imposing a scientific diet. In addition, on the second stand in Julesti, an advertisement was placed: “You can’t eat without fish!”. How not to laugh at such nonsense and coincidences.

Anthem “We are at home everywhere / The gates are opening for us / There is no more beautiful team / And the beloved is like a rapid. Fast, Fast,/ Fight if you love us / Fast, Fast / Come on Fast Giulesti/ Come on Fast Giulesti” – also in that period, in a life full of problems, Anthem Rapida was born, created by Adrian Peunescu and Victor Socacu .

Do you know this one? “Rapid in A, the police are dying”, that is, Rapid comes and hits you, kills you, spoils your tricks. Dictators, when the world is better for you, Rapid comes and spoils your calculations. The arrangements of those with Dynamo (Militia and Security Club), Steaua (Army Club under the protection of Valentin, Ceausescu’s son), Sportul Studencesc (Nic’s Club, another son of Ceausescu), FC Skornicesti (Club created for the glory of confusing you dictator Nicolae Ceausescu).

In fact, he was so afraid of the unpredictable Rapid that the police arrested him and charged him with rape. Goanza, the investigation, released from custody, gave a goal to Dynamo and took revenge on Giulesti.

How much fun it was with “Cămătaru, bull’s head and golden ice on his leg” / Tă, ța, ța capriță ța, Cămătaru takes the ice! – chanted in 1987. Why? In two months, in the last 10 stages, striker Rodion Kematar-Dynamo managed to achieve from 17 to 44 goals and overtake the Austrian Tony Polster in the European hierarchy (39 successes). In the match against Rapid, he scored enough goals to win the Golden Boot, a trophy awarded by the major French magazine L’Equipe. The speedsters laughed at him and kicked their boots on the field. They took off his shoes and laughed at him.

“Andon, Andon, give them m..eeee!” It was 1989. Dynamo’s Ioan Andone scored against Stella, a team defended by Valentin Ceausescu. After the goal, Andone made a brave gesture, pointing his finger towards the stands where Ceausescu’s son was. In March 1989, Andone challenged Valentin Ceausescu. Then there was a match between “Rapid” and “Steau”. The same Valentin Ceausescu was in the stands, Rapidul scored a goal. The gallery, chanting towards the official tribune, recalls Andone’s defiant gesture.

This fantastic and crazy Rapid lived Ion Manu. He couldn’t forget them all.

He says he didn’t capture Rapid’s great record, but he lived this story of the incredible courage of Rapid, the poor man who was boycotted from the A Division. This is the Rapid of the years after the earthquake of 1977 and after the Revolution of 1989.

Manu: I left Rapid live meat

Ion Manu comes from the village of Redukanu. And his father sends him. “Go to Bucharest, become a goalkeeper like Reducanu!”. What better career could there be, what role model could there be for the poor village of Vladeni de Ialomita? Rika Reducanu became a champion goalkeeper in 1967 with Rapidul. You, Manul, be a watchman and become a man.

“I couldn’t go anywhere but Rapid. So when I came to Bucharest for high school, I entered high school and my father told me, “Hey kid, you’re going to play football at Rapida.” I should have listened to my parents, right? And I went to try Rapid with two classmates and I came across Nea Micky Mihăilescu. He made me dizzy. Lord, what a child you have made me. He did give it to me. It made me a snot. “Come on, boy, go to Dynamo, Steaua, Sportul, because Rapid is not for you.” Should I tell my dad? When you hear that I didn’t pass the exam in Rapid, that means I’m stupid. I have nothing to look for, I can’t tell him. I’ll be back in a week, I’ll meet Nea Miki there too. “God, you weren’t even there last week! I-I told you not to come here. Go to the champions, to Steaua, to Dynamo!” And I say: you know, I want a goalkeeper!” “Well, you brat, you see, you go to Titel Socec on Tuesday, and he sees those with you. Titel took me back to the bitumen fields near the old Great Bridge. “Come on, Manuel, catch the ball on the asphalt?” Woe to me, I started with some sloppiness, it doesn’t matter that I was offended, it doesn’t matter at all. I came home alive. Listen, I’m feeling it right now too. But I was proud: “You come on Thursday with two pictures and a report card. You’re in Rapida!”

“Nelu Motrok made his debut in my game in Tirgu Mures with a big team. I also scored two more goals and they beat us 6-2.”

“But it was a big team from Mures. I got promoted to the big team because Ionice hurt her shoulder and this was my chance. The fact is that we were then relegated, and followed by 6 years of torment in Division B. 6 years that hardened us all. In B then they played real football. They were values. And he played a little harder than now. But other than that, I was impressed that the stadiums were packed the whole time during the Rapid game. I was in B sir, but it was like I was in A. The stadium was full in Bucharest, I can understand, but also in the country? They wanted to beat us so that they could brag about it later. It was an occupation, great rage in Romania because we beat Rapid!. Oh my. Now I remember how in Calarasi we played once in the B division and they beat us 1-0. Now, when I went to train in Calaras, the whole Calaras knew me. I beat you! You see, we beat you one-zero!”

It was a depression, Rapid were not allowed to get into the A division

“We were considered, that is, a working team, and we helped the teams in the nomenclature. We had to wait for Scorniceşti to go higher than us, Moreni to go higher, Târgovișea to go higher, and we are also in second or third place. After 6 years it was our turn, and since then we stayed in A for another 5 years and then again in B. But these are the most wonderful years, I tell you. There were all sorts of experiences. And with the abuse we get from our heart-felt supporters. After defeats against Giulesti, after games against Republikei. We were cursed, loved, admired, there was excitement at our matches.

Goalkeeper? I was afraid and there were emotions until the referee blew the whistle to start the game, after that you did not understand what was happening

There were moments when I didn’t hear anyone, I don’t know the gallery, you can tell by concentration. The ball looked the way it is, the way it usually looks. But sometimes the ball looks so small, with those powerful shots. And you didn’t catch the ball. No, you took your swearing seriously too. It was okay if you let her fill your fridge. And there are situations and situations when you don’t catch the ball. You understand, the atmospheric conditions, we can say the condition of the pitch, that’s the word when these balls come, and in my time the pitches were like, I can’t say how. Now it makes me happy when I see a meadow on Juleshta. Well, I’m also afraid of falling on that grass, because it’s like a carpet. Well, at one time it was necessary to beat beads in front of the gate, because that’s how it was done, only mud remained, the grass ran behind such beads. And I had to hit the snags to get stronger. To be honest, the ball bounced badly after that. You see, with players on the pitch you don’t notice mistakes and there are a lot of them too, but with a goalkeeper if you do it you have to turn your back to a teammate and then the teammate and the people in the stands curse you. The goalkeeper immediately sees the mistake”

My big mistake in Rapida

“During 13 years here at Rapid I kept collecting but I remember, oh my god, I remember I won once in the B division when Nea Nelou Motrock was the coach and I was in exile . I was in Ploppen, I scored a goal… The opponent wanted to switch sides 40 m diagonally. People then also had firepower. And he hit unsuccessfully and punched a high ball into my goal. I relaxed, take an extra step and go under the ball, the ball falls behind and goes under the bar. Oh my! I lost one-nil. Nea Motrok told me: come to the unit on Tuesday and sit in custody until I call you from there. Do you understand what was in my soul? Motrok called me to the site, there was no arrest. Great life in Rapid. We didn’t have order, like other teams, we had shame, cheek.

The gallery cheered us up. Land, Rush and with Claw the best attack in the land

The fans were creative, spontaneous. But how was it with Cămătaru. When Kemataru should have scored three goals. And then they screamed like crazy. And they took off the shoe and showed it to Kematar. There was no fear. But what courage he had! He couldn’t put them all in jail. You see, this connection came to me after the August 23 stadium, then the National Arena, where 100,000 spectators came to the 60,000-capacity stadium. The Communist Party, what to do with them? Because it was difficult to get along with the crowd. How it was shouted with Skornichestvo! Against Ceausescu. What to do with them? Once an idea came, the idea unfolded. There was silence for a moment, as if expecting something. And suddenly the world came to life and screamed wildly. What system? We lived our passion, our courage. And, sir, it was truly fortunate that I beat the party team, you understand. When it didn’t work out, the fans mocked us, we went to the other side. Once I went out in a police car and took the policemen’s helmets. I took hats so that we would not be noticed outside. I am completely taken with the Rapid. When I bought my house, I bought it in Julesti. Do you know how it was? They sat by my window, greeted them, talked about the matches. It’s a pity that I didn’t manage to win any important trophy with Rapid. I won the Romanian Super Cup as a coach during the period when I was coach with Cristian Bergodi.”

Let me be honest with you when I heard today: I lost. See you next time

I want to break away from problems. Well, when we were losing and we were in Division B, we were sitting in the locker room looking for answers. Why do we lose? why With great pleasure, one can say, I found the truth. Maybe not immediately, after some time. But the defeat did not give us peace.”

See also:

• Episode I: Rapid Bucharest: Who Was First? Team or gallery? VIDEO story by Pompiliu Konstantin, author of the book Rapidism
• Episode II: “We always had a hurricane coming, who would protect us?” This is the glory of Rapid forever – an insider in a never-ending story. VIDEO STORY Naye Stanchiu, defending champion of “Rapid”.
• Episode III: “Rapid” played for the people, the communists fought for blackmail – VIDEO story Ion Ionescu, striker of the champion “Rapid” in 1967
• Episode IV: VIDEO. A lesser-known story is the 1967 March of Champions. Testimony after half a century of a man who walked from Ploiesti to Bucharest for the Rapid celebration: “He had a heart attack, what else to talk about”

  The series of multimedia stories “Portile yet not” was created with the support of SUPERBET