Matei Popa

Goalkeeper - FCSB U20
18 Apr 2027
Sunday
Process

Marked for Matei Popa

32 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Juri Cisotti stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Juri Cisotti and FCSB agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at FCSB

Jubal was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Newertton falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

No hiding place for André Duarte

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to André Duarte, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Newertton has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at FCSB will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

Răzvan Udrea returns from a loan that taught him nothing

0 appearances and 0 clean sheets. A goalkeeper learns his job by playing it, and a season that gave him neither the games nor the shut-outs is a year taken off the front of a career.

Market

Nothing to show for Matei Popa's season away

0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument FCSB will have this month.

Squad

Newertton still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at FCSB would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

Market

The Ofri Arad talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FCSB know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

Back issues
31 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at FCSB

Juri Cisotti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

At 21, Newertton is already the best thing here

An average of 7.00 in a first team he is several years too young for. FCSB have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Squad

Words at FCSB training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Newertton is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

FCSB beat the market to Charles Petro from Botosani

Botosani will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Charles Petro has pre-agreed a move to FCSB, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Market

André Duarte told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” André Duarte has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at FCSB.

Market

A year in the wrong dressing room for Răzvan Udrea

He went out to keep goal every week and came back with 0 games and 0 of them shut out. Somebody at FCSB argued for this move last summer; nobody is arguing for it now.

Market

A year in the wrong dressing room for Matei Popa

He went out to keep goal every week and came back with 0 games and 0 of them shut out. Somebody at FCSB argued for this move last summer; nobody is arguing for it now.

The dugout

Darius Olaru has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at FCSB will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

André Duarte asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

29 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at FCSB

Jubal and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at FCSB

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Newertton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Emmanuel Boateng

FCSB asked and Hapoel Tel Aviv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Loan watch

Matei Popa has seen enough of Zadar

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at FCSB, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Daniel Bîrligea’s exile

10 goals in 19 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at FCSB updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

Juri Cisotti gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Juri Cisotti is on it.

The dugout

Tudor Băluţă knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tudor Băluţă trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Meriton Korenica question follows FCSB around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Meriton Korenica’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

The manager makes Siyabonga Ngezana a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at FCSB. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

29 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Noa Mikić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Words exchanged at Zadar

Damir Barisic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Alexandr Degtev

Zadar asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Avispa Fukuoka expected to open talks for Ante Ivanovic

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zadar will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

The dugout

Noa Mikić has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Zadar will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

The Damir Grbic story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Damir Grbic signs something — a contract at Zadar or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Squad

Matei Popa has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zadar will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

Squad

A season on the outside for Tomislav Vrsaljko

He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Zadar has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.

The dugout

Matei Popa knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zadar, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

  • Market Window shut, Antonio Babic still here
  • Boardroom The Zadar board put their names to it
  • Loan watch Milan Colak watches his loan from the bench
27 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Goran Simunovic asks to leave Zadar

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone

That is the business done at Zadar until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Squad

Noa Mikić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Antonio Marin

Zadar asked and Olimpija Ljubljana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Tempers go at Zadar

Damir Grbic was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

Tomislav Stanisic wants to come home

“I did not go to Segesta to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zadar and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.

Transfer targets

Zadar try to borrow Dimitrije Stevanović

Cukaricki have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Market

Zadar buy the years ahead of Daniel Vinković

He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Squad

A step back for Matei Popa at Zadar

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

In brief

25 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

FCSB turn down Universitatea Craiova for Ştefan Târnovanu

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Nicusor Coman

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FCSB have done the hard part with Astra, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

A falling-out at FCSB

Juri Cisotti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at FCSB training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Newertton is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

FCSB agree a free transfer for Samuel Teles

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Transfer targets

FCSB rebuffed over Daniele Montevago

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Modena have kept their man, and FCSB go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Loan watch

Matei Popa wants to come home

“I did not go to Zadar to sit and watch. I want to come back to FCSB and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.

Transfer targets

FCSB try to borrow Jubal

Krasnodar have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

The dugout

When it matters, Juri Cisotti plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

25 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Zadar say no — this time

The offer from HNK Rijeka for Damir Barisic was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Mislav Majer puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zadar, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Daniel Vinković turns down Zadar

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: HNK Vukovar 1991 keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Noa Mikić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Matei Popa falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Zadar rebuffed over Benjamín González

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. All Boys have kept their man, and Zadar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

Kristijan Corluka gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Transfer targets

Zadar ask about Gonzalo Puntano

A loan enquiry to Gimnasia y Esgrima: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Zadar ask about Matej Jurička

A loan enquiry to Podbrezova: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

23 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Zadar turn down Cibalia for Damir Grbic

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Bojan Erceg hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zadar can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tomislav Kovacevic honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Zadar had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Squad

Noa Mikić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

Milan Colak has seen enough of Imotski

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zadar, and 4 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Words exchanged at Zadar

Kristijan Corluka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

Matei Popa gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Transfer targets

Zadar ask about Nazar Domchak

A loan enquiry to Slavia Prague: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Georgi Lazarov is in the works

Zadar have made the call to Cherno More. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

22 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Zadar are top

48 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.

Squad

Remember the name: Robert Budimir

He is 19, he is averaging 7.24, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

Squad

A falling-out at Zadar

Damir Barisic and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Matei Popa falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Zadar lose Kristijan Kasalo

19 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout

Matei Popa asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Loan watch

Mario Cop keeps scoring at Lucko

12 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

The dugout

When it matters, Ante Ivanovic plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Tomislav Horvat story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomislav Horvat signs something — a contract at Zadar or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

21 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at FCSB

Ştefan Târnovanu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at FCSB

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Newertton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Loan watch

Matei Popa has seen enough of Zadar

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at FCSB, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

When it matters, Juri Cisotti plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Daniel Graovac's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

The dugout

The manager makes Siyabonga Ngezana a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at FCSB. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

20 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A falling-out at Zadar

Noa Mikić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Zadar training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomislav Kovacevic is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Home is on Trey George's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zadar are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

Matei Popa wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Zadar will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

The dugout

When it matters, Noa Mikić plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager makes Matei Popa a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zadar. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

19 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words exchanged at Zadar

Noa Mikić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Matei Popa falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

Tomislav Stanisic has seen enough of Segesta

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zadar, and 3 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Tomislav Kovacevic slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Tomislav Kovacevic is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

Squad

Damir Barisic named player of the month

The award goes to Damir Barisic, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.

The dugout

Zadar keep their word to Ante Ivanovic

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

Loan watch

Mario Cop wants to stay at Lucko

“I am playing every week here and I feel like a footballer again.” 12 appearances and 6 goals on loan, and a decision waiting in the summer.

The dugout

Matej Barisic has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Zadar will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

Matei Popa has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Matei Popa has written the date down.

In brief

17 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The cup run ends for FCSB

0‑1 against Botosani, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

Meriton Korenica was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 30. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Words at FCSB training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Newertton is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Words exchanged at FCSB

Denis Drăguş and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Boardroom

Nobody left the FCSB dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Loan watch

Matei Popa counts the days

“I watch every FCSB game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zadar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

Andrei Bancu faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andrei Bancu after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Player ratings

One moment undoes Daniel Graovac

There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.

The dugout

Daniel Graovac gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

16 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Damir Barisic

28 goals and a season average of 7.95 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Cibalia end the Zadar run at 17

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 17 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Player ratings

Both of them Damir Barisic's — 9.10

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.10, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Tempers go at Zadar

Damir Barisic was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Damir Barisic’s goal not enough for Zadar

Damir Barisic scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Cibalia, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

A row about effort at Zadar

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomislav Kovacevic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Marko Colak: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Noa Mikić has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Zadar will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

Nikola Bjelica gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

15 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Nobody wants to play Zadar right now

17 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Damir Barisic is carrying Zadar

26 goals and a season average of 7.91. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Tomislav Kovacevic leads the rout of Imotski

6‑0, and Tomislav Kovacevic took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zadar tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

Tomislav Kovacevic takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

3 goals for Damir Barisic

The match ball belongs to Damir Barisic, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Robert Budimir at 19 — 8.37

The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Robert Budimir did not need any: 8.37, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

Damir Barisic in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 goals as Zadar and Imotski go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zadar and Imotski, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

The run at home goes on for Zadar

9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

In brief

13 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Newertton runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

A brace, and Denis Drăguş takes the afternoon — 8.93

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Denis Drăguş provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Juri Cisotti yet — 8.07

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.07 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Eddy Gnahoré — 7.47

A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 7.47, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

Match

FCSB see off Voluntari

Three points for FCSB, 3‑1 the final word against Voluntari in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Siyabonga Ngezana

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Meriton Korenica's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Loan watch

Matei Popa has seen enough of Zadar

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at FCSB, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

A satisfied Andrei Bancu

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Andrei Bancu could afford to be generous.

In brief

11 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Nobody wants to play Zadar right now

12 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Damir Barisic is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.74 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Zadar strike at the death to beat Segesta

There were 89 minutes on the clock and Segesta had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Zadar did not stop to explain themselves.

Squad

A day Damir Barisic will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

Robert Budimir, 19, steals the show — 7.99

Marked 7.99 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Match

Another one collected away from home

5 on the bounce on the road for Zadar. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

Squad

Damir Barisic in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Damir Barisic the difference as Zadar beat Segesta

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Damir Barisic. 3‑2 against Segesta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

A row about effort at Zadar

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomislav Kovacevic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

10 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Zadar make it 11 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zadar have 11 straight wins of it.

Match

Zadar run riot against Lucko

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Damir Barisic scores twice — 9.55

Two goals and a mark of 9.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Match

Nobody above Zadar

First, on 30 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.

Squad

Damir Barisic is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.64 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Robert Budimir is the real thing at 19

A season average of 7.11 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Zadar know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

Squad

A falling-out at Zadar

Damir Barisic and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Zadar

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matei Popa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Damir Grbic

Marked 8.98 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

9 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Juri Cisotti, 33, rolls back the years — 7.99

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.99 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

A falling-out at FCSB

Juri Cisotti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Whatever happens, FCSB do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Newertton falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Denis Drăguş was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.11. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The dugout

No hiding place for Daniel Dragusin

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Dragusin, and the manager let it.

Match

FCSB at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 6, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

Loan watch

Matei Popa has seen enough of Zadar

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at FCSB, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

Meriton Korenica gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Meriton Korenica is on it.

In brief

  • Match FCSB and Viitorul take a point apiece
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout The form table has caught Mamadou Thiam
8 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Zadar cannot stop winning

9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Match

Damir Grbic leads the rout of Sesvete

4‑0, and Damir Grbic took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zadar tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Both of them Damir Grbic's — 9.44

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Damir Barisic

12 goals and a season average of 7.44 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Tempers go at Zadar

Damir Barisic was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Noa Mikić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Damir Barisic in the eights

A performance of 8.85 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Matej Barisic

At 17 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

Tomislav Kovacevic in the eights

A performance of 8.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

  • Looking ahead The big one: Dugopolje come into view
  • The dugout Marko Colak: “That is the standard”
  • The dugout Matei Popa knocks on the manager’s door
7 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Zadar make it 8 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zadar have 8 straight wins of it.

Match

Zadar run riot against Cibalia

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Both of them Damir Grbic's — 9.56

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.56, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Matej Barisic asks to leave Zadar

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Transfer targets

Lukas Đikić turns down Zadar

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: HNK Rijeka keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Damir Barisic is carrying Zadar

11 goals and a season average of 7.37. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

A row about effort at Zadar

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matei Popa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Damir Barisic was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.98. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Match

Zadar are at home on the road

3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.

In brief

  • Player ratings Robert Budimir beats them one at a time
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Noa Mikić gets picked when it counts
3 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Damir Barisic leads the rout of Sibenik

4‑0, and Damir Barisic took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zadar tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Both of them Damir Barisic's — 9.53

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.53, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Both of them Damir Grbic's — 9.00

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Lokomotiva Zagreb come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Zadar did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Robert Budimir at 18 — 7.94

The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Robert Budimir did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Match

Zadar cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Damir Barisic in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zadar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Matei Popa

Zadar asked and FCSB said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Antonio Babic

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

2 Edition

The FCSB Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Matei Popa has said yes to Latina

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FCSB have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ştefan Târnovanu

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

FCSB turn down Pandurii for Mihai Popescu

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Juri Cisotti

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Ofri Arad signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ofri Arad and FCSB agree another 4 years.

Transfer targets

FCSB rebuffed over Assad Al Hamlawi

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Universitatea Craiova have kept their man, and FCSB go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

A falling-out at FCSB

Juri Cisotti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

FCSB bid $85.0K for Marius Puscas

The offer went to Astra this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Market

FCSB promote Cosmin Iancu from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Cosmin Iancu has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

  • Market Mihai Cicaldau steps up from the FCSB academy
  • Squad 6 new faces, and FCSB are still learning each other
  • The dugout Ofri Arad knocks on the manager’s door
2 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Robert Budimir, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.36

A mark of 8.36 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

Tomislav Kovacevic signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tomislav Kovacevic and Zadar agree another 4 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Zadar

Damir Barisic and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Zadar see off Segesta

Three points for Zadar, 2‑1 the final word against Segesta in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Robert Budimir

At 18 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

Words at Zadar training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Budimir is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Tomislav Kovacevic at his very best

Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Zadar.

Match

Robert Budimir answers Segesta immediately

Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Robert Budimir had Zadar level again within 1 minutes, and Segesta never got to play with a lead at all.

Player ratings

Duje Budimir beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

  • Transfer targets A loan move for Matei Popa is in the works
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Tomislav Kovacevic knocks on the manager's door