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Tiraspol's FC Sheriff heading to UEFA Champions League
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.
A four-nil win over Tiligul brought FC Sheriff to the UEFA Champions League with Alexey Kuchuk (shown) scoring two of the goalsTIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - They don't want to be part of Moldova ... but since Pridnestrovie is not yet internationally recognized, the only national league that they can currently play in is Moldova's.
This is no problem for soccer team FC Sheriff Tiraspol. While Pridnestrovie may be eight times smaller than its next door neighbor, it is no match for Moldova when it comes to playing professional soccer (football).
On Friday, FC Sheriff clinched their eighth successive Moldovan league title after winning 4-0 away to FC Tiligul Tiraspol, another local Pridnestrovie team. In a paradox for a country which unsuccessfully lays claim to Pridnestrovie's territory, no team from Moldova managed to make it to the Moldovan National League ("Divizia Naţională") finals this season.
- Calling for independence
Alexey Kuchuk scored twice for the champions, with Aleksandr Erokhin and Sergei Alekseev also on the scoresheet as FC Sheriff reclaimed their crown with four games to spare. With the victory, FC Sheriff has won the title a total of eight times. No other team in Pridnestrovie or Moldova has ever surpassed this. FC Sheriff Tiraspol has held its Divizia Naţională supremacy uninterrupted since the 2000-2001 season.
The team, under coach Leonid Kuchuk, is now heading to the UEFA Champions League, while FC Dacia Chisinau, FC Tiligul Tiraspol, FC Zimbru Chisinau and FC Nistru Otaci are all vying along for a UEFA Cup place.
With the Moldovan teams, FC Sheriff has rival relations, and in those matches many fans of the team hold banners calling for the independence of Pridnestrovie (also known as Transnistria) from Moldova.
See also:
» Tiraspol's FC Sheriff eyes UEFA Champions League
» Pridnestrovie team ranks #137 among world's best football clubs
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With the latest arrival of Fred Nelson De Oliveira, Pridnestrovie's capital is feeling the Brazilian invasion on the soccer field. The midfielder is the fifth Brazilian to have signed with FC Sheriff Tiraspol. The team also has contract players from Argentina and a number of African countries. . . 
