BUCHAREST — Aime Lema arrived first. It was earlier than Lema — the coach of A.S.F. Fratia Bucharest, a middle-of-the-pack team in the Romanian fifth division — would normally arrive for a game. But this day was different; it was his first day in charge.

He stood alone in the middle of the bumpy, ruined field at the team’s stadium. On one side was a long-defunct crane and the reddish, decomposing remains of the once-thriving Vulcan metal works, located on the outskirts of Bucharest.

On the other side, open, marshy fields disappeared in the distance. A shepherd urged forward a flock of sheep. A wire pen with hens, a rooster and a baby goat shared the grounds with a collapsing blue metal stand and a rundown clubhouse without electricity.

Lema, 45, poked at the bald patches in the grass with his foot as he spoke to his players on his cellphone. It was a chilly morning, and they would rather spend Florii, Palm Sunday in the Romanian Orthodox Church, with their families.