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| ROMANIA Is not known for doing well in the European Championships. The last one, 1996, was a downright embarrassment, with the team losing all three first round matches (although the second match against Bulgaria is highly contested, as Munteanu's goal was discounted by the ref). Before that, in 1984, they also failed to get past the first round. Will they follow through after a strong qualifying round performance, or will they suck it up when they have to play teams that aren't Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein? Romania's most recent match was a victory in Constanta on April 26 against Cyprus. It was a 2-0 win, with goals by up-and-coming strikers Adrian Mutu and Ionel Ganea. A month earlier, they were upset 2-0 by Greece. While it is important to note that for both these matches Ienei did not have the squad at full strength, this performance isn't exactly European Champions' calibre. In February, the team (mostly Divizia A players, as the rest of the team had commitments with their club sides) played in a tournament in Cyprus, along with other small Eastern European teams. In the "Ghetto Cup," Romania placed second after having lost to Cyprus in the final. The real test for the team will be a friendly against the Netherlands on May 27. Romania is in Group A, along with England, Germany, and Portugal. Against Germany, Romania has gone 1-2-7 in 10 matches, with a record of 20%. This may seem like the Germans have an obvious upper hand, but if you look at where the statistics come from, namely before the Second World War and the Early nineties (both of which were not exactly high points in Romanian soccer), combined with the recent performances of both teams, they are pretty evenly matched. In France, Croatia defeated Romania 1-0 on a sketchy penalty. They then defeated Germany 3-0 with an even more incompetent ref. Using the theorem of football transitivity, Romania could beat Germany 2-0, if the ref happens to be on the dimmer side. Romania has a 2-6-2 record with England. The last time the English have defeated Romania was in 1970, a win which was followed by many draws, up until the World Cup, in which Romania won 2-1 in the first round. For some reason, the English have a problem dealing with defending Romania's attack (if you consider fouling Constantin Galca every time he touches the ball to be "defense"). This, of course, is fine by me. Portugal were in Romania's qualification group, so both teams know what to expect from one another. Romania defeated Portugal in Lisbon, and drew in Bucharest. Their overall record is 4-2-4. Overall, the matches in this group should be close and exciting to watch. Any side could beat the other two on any given day. Good times will be had by all. (Big ups to the RSSF archive for all this interesting data.) Romania's style of play has traditionally been the counter-attack. For those unfamiliar with it, classic Romanian counter-attack looks something like this: While the opponents are trying (unsuccessfully) to score, keeping the ball in Romania's end, Romania's defense will take possession of the ball. Suddenly, there are seven or eight yellow shirts, with the ball, on the other side of the field, surprising the opponent and creating an offensive overload. Before the rest of the team figures out what is going on and gets back on defense, the Romanians have already scored. This is the style made famous by Anghel Iodanescu, the style which took them into the quarterfinals (although they should have really gone farther than that, but now is not the time to talk about what a dirty player Klas Ingesson is) at World Cup USA '94. Romania generally uses a 4-4-2 lineup, but during the World Cup Iordanescu did experiment with 3-5-2. The team's main strength is that player for player, Romania probably has the most individual talent of most of the teams in the tournament. On defense there's Gica Popescu and Dan Petrescu, in the midfield, aside from Gheorghe Hagi, there is also the often-underrated Costel Galca, while up front there are Adrian Ilie and a new addition to the team, Adrian Mutu of Inter. The main weaknesses are age (a lot of these guys, like Hagi and Popescu, are well into their thirties), the fact that there is a new coach, whose style the team is still adjusting to, and many of these players are extremely injury prone (Adrian Ilie in particular). Players to Watch Defense - Gheorghe "Gica" Popescu has been called the "most complete Romanian player." Although he normally plays sweeper, he has also been used in a man-marking position as well as a defensive midfielder and has been equally successful. Gica was born in Calafat (near Craiova) on September 9, 1967. He started his playing career at Universitatea Craiova, spending the 1987-88 season at Steaua doing "compulsory military service" (whatever). That season, Steaua were national champions. After the 1990 world cup, when Romanian players had a chance to play in more competitive leagues, Gica joined PSV Einhoven, where he was the national championships in 1991 and 1992. After the 1994 world cup, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur, where he did not get as much playing time, as he, as well as the other Romanians in the league, couldn't adjust very well the the playing style in the premier league. In 1995 he moved to FC Barcelona, where he won the league cup. In 1997, he moved to Galatasaray, and in his first season, he and Gheorghe Hagi helped lead the team to a Turkish national championship. Today, Gica is still at Galatasaray, who are on their way to doing the "treble" - winning the national championship, the league cup, and the UEFA cup. On the national side, Gica's playing is a HUGE factor in the success of the team. A longtime veteran of international play, Gica was Romanian player of the year in 1989 and 1990. His game is always consistent, and, despite his age, he remains an effective defender without resorting to playing dirty. Midfield - Gheorghe Hagi I could write a book about all the awards and honors Gheorghe Hagi has earned throughout his career - Romanian player of the year, Divizia A championships, Divizia A top scorer - but no small paragraph is really enough to do him justice. Gheorghe Hagi, known as "the Maradona of the Carpathians" is easily one of the greatest players of all time. He is a genius on the field, and his ability to score from free kicks using his deadly left foot is legendary. In his hometown of Constanta, the stadium was re-named in his honor. He was born February fifth, 1965, and began playing for his local side, Farul Constanta in 1982. He later joined Sportul Studentesc, in while at Sportul he was the leading scorer in the Divizia A in the 1985-86 season. He was immediately signed by Steaua Bucharest, where he went on to win the European supercup. With Steaua, Hagi led the team to three league and cup doubles. After the 1990 world cup, he went to Real Madrid, and in 1992 joined Brescia in the Serie A. In 1994 he played for Barcelona with Gica Popescu, and he left Barcelona for Galatasaray in '96. Hagi made his debut for the national side at the age of 18 in 1983. Since then he was been, literally, the cause of the rise of Romanian soccer in the 1990s. His playing style revolutionized the Romanian game - his speed and creativity made those famous counter-attacks possible. At 5'8" tall, wearing size five boots, Hagi is one of the more diminutive players on the field, but in terms of his impact on the game, and the status of Romanian soccer, he is larger than life. By bringing so much respect to Romanian soccer, Hagi opened up opportunities for future players, as clubs from all over Europe come to scout talent in Romania. Hagi, deservedly, was named Romanian player of the century. Although he is a shadow of his former self as a player, he really still is amazing to watch for both Galatasaray and the national team. After this season, however Gheorghe Hagi will be hanging up those size five boots for good. After a failed attempt to retire from the national side a year and a half ago, Hagi is calling it quits with soccer altogether. As this is his last tournament, we can only expect he will play in a way he would want us to remember him by. Forward - Adrian Ilie As Emeric Ienei and Victor Piturca have been altering the attack for nearly every international match, only one name has remained consistently in the lineup of choice - Adrian Ilie. Born April 22 in Craiova, Ilie's beginnings in soccer were humble, playing midfield for Electroputere Craiova. Steaua soon got wind of this talented midfielder and signed him in 1993. With Ilie as the main play-maker, Steaua won the league championships 1994-1996. In 1996, he went to Galatasaray, where he was converted to an out-and-out forward, where, as it turns out, he really excelled. He was signed by Valencia in the spring of 1998. Galatasaray, frustrated that one of their star players was leaving, decided to start a rumor that Ilie had hepatitis B. Great Idea, guys! At any rate, the medical tests showed that this was false, and Ilie went to Spain, where he made a big splash in the league by scoring 12 goals in the last 15 games. Nicknamed "la Cobra" for his ability to strike from nowhere, Ilie easily won over the fans - despite saying in his first month there that he would leave if there was a team that would pay his $30 million dollar buy-out fee. The next season, Ilie, paired with Argentina's Claudio Lopez, was a huge factor in Valencia's success. This season, has not been so great, as Ilie has been plagued with injuries, and he and the new coach, Hector Cuper, do not get along very well. Ilie's career with the national side really took off after Euro '96, where he came in as a substitute for Ilie Dumitrescu. After it became obvious that Ilie could kick Dumi's ass six ways to Sunday, Ilie has been the go-to guy up front ever since. If his form in the Champions' League matches is any indicator, this could be a great tournament for Ilie, provided he stays healthy. Others Constantin "Costel" Galca - Not too many people know who Costel Galca even is. He is mostly known as "number 5" and "that really fast guy who keeps getting fouled." An excellent passer and dribbler, Galca is the one who gets the ball to the Ilie, and Hagi, and others. Those of you who follow Espanyol already know this, but he's also a goalscorer when he needs to be. He is also known for not diving when fouled. He doesn't get all the press that Ilie, Hagi, and other players get, which is really too bad. But pay attention to this guy - he is literally where the action is. Adrian Mutu - 18 goals in 18 games for Dinamo Bucharest. No, this isn't Ceausescu-era-Rodion-Camataru-rigging-games-to-get-the golden-boot, this is actual talent. He got his start on the U21 side and now has a place on the national side, and will even start should Ilie get hurt. Currently at Inter, he is doing pretty well there too. This kid is the wave of the future - so if he has a good tournament, you will be seeing him in the next Nike soccer ad. Just remember, you heard it here first. Dan Petrescu - I can't not mention this guy. A wing-back with Chelsea, Dan plays in the midfield as well as defense. He's a great defender, and quite fast considering his age. He has a knack for coming up with a goal when it's needed most - like against the US in 1994 or England in 1998. He was recently named to the all-century Romanian team. For those of you only semi-familiar with Romanian soccer, first of all, shame on you (just kidding) and secondly he's the one who kind of looks like special agent Fox Mulder on the X Files. Before the match against Greece, Romanians had high hopes about their team. Adi Ilie said that he believed they could go all the way to the final match. The loss to Greece was a complete debacle for Ienei as a coach, as journalists proclaimed that we should have stuck with Piturca. (Actually, we should have hired Mircea Lucescu). The FRF is not widely respected, probably because most everyone believes that they can make better decisions than its boss, Mircea Sandu. Sandu says that if the team really screws up this summer, Ienei is still the coach. My Transylvania-gypsy-style fortune telling abilities tell me otherwise. Although most Romanians, due to widespread corruption during the Ceausescu era continuing into the present, are very cynical about the Divizia A, the national team has always been a source of pride. Getting to see guys like Hagi kick butt a few times a year almost compensates for having an awful domestic league. This tournament has a lot of emotional significance, as Gheorghe Hagi is going to retire afterwards. This will hopefully not only motivate Hagi, who plans on going down in a blaze of glory, but also the rest of the team, many of whom are also nearing retirement age. This is the one time that the team really needs to pull together, because even advancing past the first round will be no small task. Adrian Ilie is right: Romania can go all the way, but are they willing to work for it? Zlata Militaru stelista1@hotmail.com |