| ROMANIAN FOOTBALL RETURNS TO THE EUROPEAN ELITE (22.11.2007) |
| (2007-11-22) |
| Last updated: 2007-11-26 15:56 EET |
More than 20 thousand people gathered on Wednesday evening at the National Stadium in Bucharest to celebrate Romania’s qualification for the Euro 2008 football championships. Coached by Victor Piturca, the Romanian players had already ensured a place in the final round to be played in Austria and Switzerland, two stages before the end of qualifications.
However, in order for the celebration to be complete, Romania had to put on a good performance against Albania. This was well understood by the footballers, who performed accordingly. They managed to score six goals and let in only one. Although players Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu missed the game, due to injuries, Romania’s team played flawlessly. The Albanians only played dangerously in the first half, missing some good scoring opportunities.
In the second half of the game, Romania’s national team unleashed their real potential and scored five times. Nicolae Dica scored the first goal in the 22nd minute. In the 53rd minute, Gabriel Tamas took the score to 2 nil, following a free kick. Daniel Niculae then scored another two goals, in the 63rd and 66th minutes. Two minutes later, the Romanian footballers received a penalty, which Ciprian Marica transformed into a goal. Minute 71st brought them another penalty, which Nicolae Dica scored from. The Albanians’ goal was scored by Edmond Kapllani, in minute 64th.
We recall that Romania won Group G in the preliminaries, totalling three points more than the Netherlands, the next team to qualify. Coached by Marco van Basten, the Dutch national team lost their game against Belarus, on Wednesday, 1-2.
The final draw for the groups in the final round will take place in Lucerne, on December 2nd. Romania is grouped in the third draw, together with Sweden, Germany and Spain. These are the only teams Romania will definitely not play against in the group stage in Euro 2008. Apart from these, Romania could face Italy, France, Portugal, Croatia and other strong teams.
Romania’s game against Albania was the final event hosted by the National Stadium in Bucharest, the biggest in Romania. The arena, more than 50 years old, is to be demolished, in order to make room for a new, modern stadium, with 55 thousand seats. The new construction will be completed in 2010 and will have six levels. The new stadium will have a transparent roof, allowing sunlight to illuminate the stadium during the day time.
(Florin Orban)
|
2025-04-03
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