The first two players picked for this year’s "Performance Has a Future" team are from Constanţa. They won the first round of the trials held yesterday at Badea Cârțan sports complex in Constanţa.

Ionuț Dobre and Florin Cîniparu made an impression on the scouts of the Romanian Football Federation and were declared winners at the end of a competition which lasted four hours.

Ionuț Dobre (Medgidia), 14, is a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar and plays as a striker. Ionuț has not yet signed with any club, but he says he would love to play for Real Madrid.

Florin Cîniparu (Constanța), the other winner of the trials could be his opponent on pitch. Florin, 12, is registered with A.S. Kinder Constanța and dreams to wear the colors of Barcelona.

"We are happy to see that this year’s campaign has begun in full force, over 200 youngsters being present at the trials in Constanța. Ionuț and Florin made quite an impression on us, but there were many other young players who proved that Constanța had a remarkable pool of talents", said Ion Geolgău, Manager of the Scouting Department of the Romanian Football Federation.

Similar events will be held in Râmnicu Sărat (Buzău County, 17 September) and Putna (Suceava County, 1 October) as part of the "Performance Has a Future" campaign. Three other cities will be included in this project in March-April 2018.

The best eleven screened players will train next year in May at the National Football Center in Mogoșoaia and then will travel to Barcelona to the famous Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, the training grounds of FC Barcelona. The team will also have the opportunity to watch a game of FC Barcelona from the stands of Camp Nou.

The "Performance Has a Future" campaign is part of the Together We Are Football" program of the Romanian Football Federation" and will roll out from August 2017 to May 2018.

In the first year of this project, Gillette and the Romanian Football Federation organized scouting events at Moldova Nouă (Caraș-Severin County), Bascov (Argeș County), Jucu (Cluj County) and Pădureni (Vaslui County).

About "Turn the Village Streets into a Stadium"

The "Performance Has a Future" initiative carried out in partnership with Gillette is an offshoot of the "Turn the Village Streets into a Stadium" project which, in its turn, is part of "Together We Are Football", a comprehensive program which aims to promote grassroots football across Romania.

The program was launched by the Football Development Department of the Romanian Football Federation and is coordinated by Ciprian Paraschiv, Football Development Manager. The "Turn the Village Streets into a Stadium" project was conducted from September 2015 to April 2016 across 21 counties in Romania with the support of the local advisers of the Romanian Football Federation.

Over 1,000 elementary school pupils from over 120 rural schools were involved in the pilot stage. The program ended with a competition bringing in the most talented pupils from years one to four in the seven football regions of the country. The finals were held in Cluj. A panel consisting of Miodrag Belodedici, Ion Vlădoiu and Aurel Țicleanu picked the three winners who accompanied the national team at the European Championship in France.

About "Together We Are Football"

This concept provides a platform for a large strategic program encompassing various initiatives aimed to develop grassroots football and to reshape football as a social phenomenon in Romania. These initiatives cover the urban and rural areas and are carried out in partnership with the central and local authorities and the business sector.

Long-term goals address a wide array of areas of interest, from attracting more people to play the sport and the discovery of talents, to using football as a tool to improve social inclusion and social mobility, to promote exercise and physical activity and to encourage individual development through sport and its values.

Launched in September 2015, "Together We Are Football" was a novelty in the field of sport and education in Romania.

It also provided the Romanian Football Federation with a basis for other 13 projects including girls’ and boys’ competitions, scouting events, an Inter-District Cup and a special project "Turn the Village Streets into a Stadium" which was continued by "Performance Has a Future" – the National School Games for Elementary Schools, the National School Games for Secondary Schools, the National School Games for High Schools, the National University Football Championship (11-a-side), Unified Football (7-a-side), the National University Futsal Championship, Football and Femininity, Tymbark Cup, U7, U8, U9 and U10 National Football Interleague competitions, IPA Cup (amateur football), beach football competitions, the Inter-District Cup and "Turn the Village Streets into a Stadium"/ "Gillette – Performance Has a Future".