20 years passed yesterday since Steaua Bucuresti won the European Champions Cup. On May 7, 1986 Steaua was triumphing on "Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan" stadium from Sevilla, against the Spaniards from FC Barcelona, score 2-0 on penalties, being the first East European team to win the most important trophy reserved to the clubs.

The members of the 1986 team gathered on Friday to celebrate the biggest success in the history of the Romanian football. On this occasion, the former captain of Steaua in the 80s, Tudorel Stoica stated that the performance gained in 1986 by the red-blue, namely the European Champions Cup, cannot be equalled by any team from Romania in the future.

"My opinion is that no Romanian team can repeat the performance in the Champions League. They could do it in UEFA Cup, which is a rather accessible competition for our teams," stated Stoica.

He rememorized the feelings lived when returning to the country after having won the Cup, when Steaua supporters were greeted at Otopeni Airport by thousands of people, unusually for that time.

"We were amazed, but it was an extraordinary thing, because people were able to show their joy and love for us, and we were able to offer them the most wanted trophy in international football."

The coach of Steaua in the 1986 final, Emeric Ienei showed his disappointment with the fact that precisely the representatives of the club from Ghencea Blvd did not think at marking the celebration of 20 years since the best performance ever registered by a club in the history of Romanian football. "We hope that we will also be remembered by those who seem to have forgotten that 20 years ago Steaua won the most wanted trophy, the European Champions Cup. The great merit is not having won the Cup, but the fact that the team remained for four more years in top in Europe, being once again a semi-finalist and finalist. It was not a falling star, it was a star that remained in the Europeans' memory," commented the coach.

The hero of Steaua in Sevilla, goalie Helmuth Duckadam, who stopped four penalties in the final against Barcelona, a performance for which he was even registered in the Guinness Book, hopes that all footballers who were part of Steaua that season should see each other every year, “because times passes and leaves traces behind.” "I envy Piturca, as it seems time has not changed him," mentioned Duckadam.

Coach Anghel Iordanescu, coach assistant of Steaua in 1986 said that Steaua’s performance was even higher as it was obtained by a team formed exclusively of Romanian players. "What counts most is that we dominated for four-five more years the European football after that final. This year, Steaua was one step away from a great performance and we all regret they couldn’t play the final.", commented Iordanescu.

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