Entire history of a team can be resumed to one match only. This is the story of such a team. And of course, it’s about a Romanian team, one which was founded in 1932.
Many of you may have never heard about it but in Romanian football, Flacăra Moreni will always be famous for its one-time UEFA participation. Promoted just few seasons back, Moreni came to its best finish in the Romanian top tier (Divizia A, how it was known back then – Liga 1, today), 4th place in the 1988/1989 season. Moreni ended the season with 36 points, the same number of points as the famous Universitatea Craiova, but their goal difference was better, +16 (63 goals scored, 47 conceded). Craiova had 0 (52 goals scored, 52 goals conceded). Final table of that seasons:
In front of about 50.000 people, Flacăra Moreni played its first ever match in an European Cup on September, the 13th, 1989. Their opposition was FC Porto and the match has been played on Estadio das Antas and most probably it hasn’t been seen by any Moreni fan. Flacăra lost 2-0 but kept some hopes for the second leg. Of course, hopes to score at least a goal. We use to call it, “the honor goal”. Nobody believed in a qualification in front of Porto. 27 September 1989 is a date to be remembered by all Moreni fans and not only. On “Flacăra Moreni Stadium” came to play the most important team of all time in the club’s history: F.C. PORTO! 8.000 people hoped to see a goal of their favorites against the Portuguese. Magalhães scored first and Porto took the lead. Nothing to 1 after 21 minutes. Porto had 3-0 on aggregate at that time.
TO BE CONTINUED