Zorhan Bassong

[Filip]

On 6/23/2023 at 8:40 AM, InglewoodJack said:

This does not put him near NT contention- remember that this is a player who couldn’t crack Montreal’s roster, hence why he’s in Romania. I don’t know that he’s at a much higher level than Richie Ennin right now for example. Romania seems like it’s in the same tier as countries like Hungary and to a lesser extent Greece who have a rich soccer tradition but aren’t exactly at their peak right now. It’s a good move though, I remember when Ongaro was in Romania there was talk of how difficult it is for foreigners to stick in that league and many get randomly dropped never to be heard from again, so moving up to a bigger team is a good sign.

Cool that they’re playing Sheriff though. Such a strange team. They’ve won 21 Moldovan league titles since 2000, yet they play in Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway state that has never to my knowledge been controlled by Moldova and is best known for having done a pretty good job at preserving the last remnants of the Soviet Union. Their league is ranked 33rd in the world, just above Kosovo and Lichtenstein, yet two years ago they beat Madrid at Bernabeu. They’ve also played 90 champions league games which must put them towards the top of the list in terms of appearances.

Even though nowhere near the relative level of 2005-2013 days, the Romanian league is overall stronger than the Hungarian top-flight (although not a massive difference either), but definitely weaker than the Greek Super League

A lot of foreigners have done pretty well in Romania and spent years there or transferred on up to better leagues, it really depends on the context of the team and manager too. and of course, first impression / how you adapt

Teams like CFR Cluj, Rapid, Craiova count a lot on foreigners from Ghana, France, Croatia, Belgium, Portugal, Brazil

not as many from North America, but normal that they’re paying attention to CPL as potential bargains from the relatively new league

What I heard and saw of Ongaro, though, he didn’t adapt very well to the rhythm there. UTA was also in a precarious situation fighting relegation and had a change in management which is always tough on new arrivals

Maybe it would’ve been better to start for a Liga 2 side fighting for promotion and go from there

Hope to see more CPL products in Romania / Europe in general in the next few years, hopefully the preparation will be better than Ongaro had

Edited June 26, 2023 by Filip

[Filip]

71 mins today for Bassong off the bench (Doukoure injured) in a very experimental team as Farul rest many starters for the second leg vs Sheriff on Tuesday (currently leading 1-0 on aggregate)

[Filip]

Horrible second leg.. conceded twice in extra time to destroy that first leg lead

Beyond the players' performance, Hagi decided to play it defensively and showed his tactical limits.. 

Really poor decisions and lack of experience as they drop to Conference league qualifiers now, CFR Cluj or FCSB would’ve fared better here.. shame

and no clue why Bassong wasn’t even on the bench.

[jordan]

Leaves on a mutual termination

 https://www.farulconstanta.com/stiri/noutati/succes-zorhan-bassong

[Atlantic]

Signs with Sporting KC

https://x.com/sportingkc/status/1734604123285135615?s=46&t=jq2aEPgJj7vxzNx1NF6O7A

[Footyeh]

His agent deserves a raise after this move.  

[Atlantic]

43 minutes ago, Footyeh said:

His agent deserves a raise after this move.  

Agreed. I wish him all the best but I have a feeling this ends with a mid-season contract termination or he’s loaned to SKC II for half the season 

[BearcatSA]

I hope he does really welll here.  Under promise but over deliver.