Smoke came out of my body
June 14, 2008 at 2:10 pm | In Romania | Leave a CommentTags: Florentin Petre, Romania
Friday’s match between Italy and Romania marked a significant landmark for Florentin Petre who fulfilled a cherished ambition to play again in a major finals after recovering from serious illness and a brush with death.
‘Difficult period’
The 32-year-old PFC CSKA Sofia forward was part of the Romania squad that reached the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2000™ but shortly after returning home to Bucharest, he was struck down by the hepatitis C virus. The illness floored him for two years and then, just as he was on the point of recovery, the diminutive winger was badly injured after being electrocuted in a fishing incident. “It was a difficult period for me because only I can tell you how much I missed football,” Petre told euro2008.com. “For me, football is like drinking water every day.
Chivu predicts return of ‘real’ Mutu
June 13, 2008 at 11:46 pm | In Romania | Leave a CommentTags: Adrian Mutu, Cristian Chivu, Romania
Romania captain Cristian Chivu is predicting that Adrian Mutu will rediscover his best form in their second UEFA EURO 2008™ Group C fixture against Italy in Zurich.
‘One of the best’
The ACF Fiorentina striker, whose grandmother died last weekend, put in a subdued performance as his country opened their finals campaign with a goalless draw against France on Monday and was brought off with 15 minutes remaining, yet Chivu is convinced Romania’s most potent attacking threat will be back to his best come kick-off against the world champions. “I don’t know if Italy’s defenders are sleeping calmly at night because Mutu is one of the best forwards in Italy and Europe,” said Chivu. “He scored 17 [Serie A] goals this season and has played for many years in Italy. If Mr Piţurcă selects him, I’m sure we will see the real Adrian Mutu and not the Mutu you saw against France.”
Can Romania make it lucky 13?
June 13, 2008 at 11:40 pm | In Romania | Leave a CommentTags: Romania
Friday the 13th has arrived but will it prove to be unlucky for Romania or Italy? The notion of 13 being an unlucky number would appear to be more of a tradition in Western Europe, whereas in Eastern countries like Romania people tend to be less superstitious about that particular number.
No superstitions
For Romanians, the only relevance to that particular number ahead of this evening’s Group C encounter against Italy is that it’s the 13th time they have played the Azzurri and, so far, their record is not that great. In fact, you have to go back as far as 1989 for the last Tricolorii victory — a 1-0 friendly victory in Sibiu. Italy knocked Romania out of UEFA EURO 2000™ at the quarter-finals stage, courtesy of goals from Francesco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi. And, indeed, Romania’s only competitive victory over the Azzurri came in a UEFA European Championships qualifier in 1984 when Lazlo Bölöni’s goal helped them qualify for the finals in France later the same year.
Lucky ‘13′
Therefore, Romania are long overdue a win over Italy, so could 13 turn out to be lucky for them and unlucky for the Azzurri. What do you reckon?
Piturca to keep Italians pondering
June 12, 2008 at 4:43 pm | In Romania | Leave a CommentTags: piturca, Romania
Unlike his Croatian counterpart Slaven Bilić, who has an endearing habit of naming his team the day before a match, Victor Piţurcă prefers to keep his opponents guessing, and true to form the Romania coach was not giving Robert Donadoni too many clues ahead of tomorrow’s second Group C match in Zurich.
Changes hinted
However, Piţurcă did drop a hint at today’s press conference that he might be tempted to make a few changes from the team that earned a point in their opening fixture against France on Monday. Presumably, Ciprian Marica will not be one of them with the coach admitting the VfB Stutggart striker “almost certainly” has no chance of playing against the Azzurri. Piţurcă also seemed pleased with the contribution of Daniel Niculae against France, so where else can we expect to see different personnel?
Toni predicts Italian renaissance
June 12, 2008 at 4:25 pm | In Italy | Leave a CommentTags: Italy, Netherlands, Romania
Italy’s Luca Toni is confident the Azzurri will bounce back from their opening humbling by the Netherlands when they face Romania in their second Group C fixture on Friday. “We usually play our best in do-or-die games – now we’ll have to do it again,” said the FC Bayern München striker.
‘Very disappointed’
It was 30 years since Italy had lost to the Dutch, and never by a 3-0 scoreline. Toni headed a 12th-minute chance wide, after which the Oranje took control and triumphed thanks to goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder and Giovanni van Bronckhorst. “We were very disappointed after the game but we looked into each others’ eyes and all of us know perfectly what there is at stake in our next game against Romania,” said the 31-year-old.
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
