Two talented players from our academy achieved an outstanding result with Romania’s U17 national team: Bencze Lóránd and Bota Darius are set to prepare for the World Cup.

Two talented players from our academy achieved an outstanding result with Romania’s U17 national team: Bencze Lóránd (pictured on the left) and Bota Darius are set to prepare for the World Cup.

With our academy players in the squad, Romania’s U17 national team qualified for the age-group World Cup. The team coached by Mircea Diaconescu defeated Iceland 5–2 and Portugal 1–0 in their qualifying group in Italy. Although they lost their final match against the hosts and missed out on European Championship qualification, they secured a place at the World Cup this autumn as one of the best runners-up. Bota Darius started all three matches and scored against Iceland, while Bencze Lóránd featured once as a starter and once as a substitute.

We asked our academy players about their experiences during the national team camp. Bencze Lóránd, who returned home with a minor injury, is facing an important step in his career, as he may soon move to Puskás Akadémia in Felcsút, depending on his recovery. He described the training camp as long and demanding, facing strong opponents and gaining valuable experience. He believes he performed well and aims to maintain this level if he continues to receive call-ups. “I am very proud that we achieved such a result and that we will participate in a World Cup. We want to deliver similar performances there and reach at least the semi-finals,” said the young talent. Regarding his future plans at Puskás Akadémia, he is highly motivated: he wants to improve as much as possible, play regularly, break into senior football, and within three years become a consistent player in the second or even the first division.

Alongside Bencze Lóránd, who has already made his debut in the Superliga for FK Csíkszereda, Bota Darius has recently been receiving more and more playing time with the senior team, most recently starting in the match against Metaloglobus. “It was an indescribable experience to be part of the national team, to represent my country, and to do so successfully by qualifying for the World Cup – it’s incredible. It was a very tough but beautiful period, and I can’t wait to meet my teammates again and continue what we started,” he said. In the near future, he aims to continue working with our Superliga team, collect as many minutes as possible, and despite his young age, become a key player.

Lóri, Darius, we wish you the best of luck in achieving all your goals!

R. A.