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Tiraspol's FC Sheriff eyes UEFA Champions League
FC Sheriff is preparing itself to put Pridnestrovie's name on the map this year. The Tiraspol-based team has set its sights on the UEFA Champions League. To get there, it has hired new players from Argentina, Romania and from within Pridnestrovie itself.
For 2008, FC Sheriff plans to at least get to the UEFA Champions League's third qualifying round. (File photo)TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - FC Sheriff Tiraspol is not just the top football team (soccer team) in Pridnestrovie, but is also solidly at the head of the Moldovan league as well.
FC Sheriff Tiraspol is unbeaten in the league for 18 months and are closing in on its eighth successive title.
In the words of FIFA, "a Sheriff is laying down the law in Moldova, specifically Sheriff Tiraspol": The champions are setting the standards again this term and are undefeated after 18 games. Closest rivals Dacia Chisinau are four points off the lead in second.
As the dominant team, FC Sheriff Tiraspol has brushed aside all-comers this term. Assuming an all-powerful position, the Tiraspol-based players have yet to suffer a single defeat in the regional league (Moldova and Pridnestrovie, also known as Transdniester / Transnistria).
- New players from Argentina, Romania
The winter breaks in Pridnestrovie have long been characterized by major changes in the teams, but few expected the upheaval that this year brought with champions FC Sheriff making wide-ranging alterations.
The Tiraspol team first lost goalkeeper Stanislav Namasco to FC Alania Vladikavkaz before defenders Semion Bulgaru, Ibrahim Gnanou and Wallace left for Viborg FF, FC Midtjylland and Fredrikstad FK respectively and Ben Idrissa Derme terminated his contract by mutual consent, UEFA reports.
The club moved quickly to replace Namasco, bringing in local home Serghei Pascenco from FC Tiraspol, a native-born citizen of Pridnestrovie.
However, coach Leonid Koutchouk faces a tough task as he searches for a brand new defence. He has brought in three promising Romanians but all – Andrei Enescu, Ionut Radu and Paul Sandu – are forwards. The latest addition to the team, arriving in Pridnestrovie just last week, is Luis "Lucho" Rodriguez from Argentina.
The club stresses that the new transfer policy is evidence of long-term planning rather than short-term solutions. In a written statement, FC Sheriff made it clear that "fans are asking for more than another league title" and explained that: "They're looking towards the UEFA Champions League and that's why we are most active in the transfer market during the winter breaks. There are six months before the next UEFA Champions League campaign and we have enough time to build a new team. Nobody knew most of the players who joined Sheriff last winter, but then they came to be recognized as irreplaceable and capable of getting to the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round." (With information from UEFA, FIFA, FC Sheriff press service)
See also:
» UEFA Champions League dreams go Cold Turkey for Pridnestrovie
» German FIFA referee for Tiraspol's stadium
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With four goals against Tiligul's zero, FC Sheriff Tiraspol now heads to the UEFA Champions League with four games to spare. Despite neither of them wanting to be part of Moldova, the two teams had to battle it out for supremacy in the Moldovan National League. FC Sheriff has held the title uninterrupted for the past eight years. . . 
