Romania - France ( Romania - Franta ) Euro 2008
Group C, the “Group of Death”, begins in Zurich on Tuesday afternoon when Romania meet France. With both sides looking to start the tournament in a positive fashion particularly as Italy and the Netherlands lie in wait.Romania Aim To Avoid Horror ShowEven the country that brought the legend of Dracula to the world could not have envisaged such a nightmarish draw at the European Championships.
If Group C is considered the “Group of Death” then many believe
d rigor mortis had set in on Romania’s challenge when the draw was made last December.Captain Christian Chivu thinks that this attitude may play into the Romanian’s hands explaining that, “Our opponents respect us, but probably think we have no chance of qualifying. It will be an advantage for us to start out in the shadows, as we can count on the element of surprise.”
The Inter Milan defender is not the only member of the Romanian party to be upbeat over their chances of making progress. Head coach Victor Piţurcă has also been remarkably bullish over his side’s chances stating that, “If the players are healthy and at a high physical and psychological level, they can achieve a lot.”“We can reach the final, even win it, but we could also lose all our matches. At this level everything can happen.”Romania out-qualified Group C opponents the Netherlands, beating them in Constanta less than twelve months ago. Unlike the French, Romania have kept their pre-tournament warm-up matches to a minimal, playing only one friendly match. Montenegro were hammered 4-0 last week by a powerful Romanian side.One of the goal scorers from that match, Adrian Mutu has dubbed Group C as “the hardest group ever” and will recognise that there will be a massive step up in class from Romania’s sole friendly.An experienced Romanian squad should not be dismissed lightly.
There is a great deal of international know-how in the team and, with Mutu leading the line, they possess a striker with a fine pedigree at this level. If Chivu, Contra and co. can adequately organise their defence then French could be shocked.
Romania suffered a duo of pre-tournament blows with the news that reserve goalkeeper Danut Conman and squad midfielder Ovidiou Petre would miss the entire competition through injury. Since arriving in Switzerland the fortunes of Piţurcă’s side have improved. Dorin Goian remains a slight doubt but should feature in the centre of defence after the initial prognosis was that he would miss the Romanian’s opening fixture. Meanwhile Stefan Radu may well drop to the bench after a bout of flu. In attack Stuttgart’s Ciprian Marica is likely to be favoured over Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s Marius Niculae.
Predicted line-up: Labont; Contra, Rat, Goian, Tamas Chivu; Radoi, Dica, Petra; Mutu, Marica
If Group C is considered the “Group of Death” then many believe
d rigor mortis had set in on Romania’s challenge when the draw was made last December.Captain Christian Chivu thinks that this attitude may play into the Romanian’s hands explaining that, “Our opponents respect us, but probably think we have no chance of qualifying. It will be an advantage for us to start out in the shadows, as we can count on the element of surprise.”The Inter Milan defender is not the only member of the Romanian party to be upbeat over their chances of making progress. Head coach Victor Piţurcă has also been remarkably bullish over his side’s chances stating that, “If the players are healthy and at a high physical and psychological level, they can achieve a lot.”“We can reach the final, even win it, but we could also lose all our matches. At this level everything can happen.”Romania out-qualified Group C opponents the Netherlands, beating them in Constanta less than twelve months ago. Unlike the French, Romania have kept their pre-tournament warm-up matches to a minimal, playing only one friendly match. Montenegro were hammered 4-0 last week by a powerful Romanian side.One of the goal scorers from that match, Adrian Mutu has dubbed Group C as “the hardest group ever” and will recognise that there will be a massive step up in class from Romania’s sole friendly.An experienced Romanian squad should not be dismissed lightly.
There is a great deal of international know-how in the team and, with Mutu leading the line, they possess a striker with a fine pedigree at this level. If Chivu, Contra and co. can adequately organise their defence then French could be shocked.
Romania suffered a duo of pre-tournament blows with the news that reserve goalkeeper Danut Conman and squad midfielder Ovidiou Petre would miss the entire competition through injury. Since arriving in Switzerland the fortunes of Piţurcă’s side have improved. Dorin Goian remains a slight doubt but should feature in the centre of defence after the initial prognosis was that he would miss the Romanian’s opening fixture. Meanwhile Stefan Radu may well drop to the bench after a bout of flu. In attack Stuttgart’s Ciprian Marica is likely to be favoured over Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s Marius Niculae.
Predicted line-up: Labont; Contra, Rat, Goian, Tamas Chivu; Radoi, Dica, Petra; Mutu, Marica
Last Tuesday’s friendly may prove to have been a draining experience for the French despite Domenech’s original assertions that his squad had picked up no injury concerns. Key attacking players Thierry Henry and Franck Ribéry both acquired bumps in that fixture that have caused them to miss training; however it is the fitness of the former that remains in greatest doubt. Henry has been the only member of les Bleus’ squad to miss every session in Switzerland to date and is a very significant doubt. With the attacking talent at Domenech’s disposal the Barcelona forward may be rested on the bench allowing Anelka to start alongside Benzema. Alternatively Benzema could start alone at the head of a 4-2-3-1 system. Patrick Vieira has been ruled out of France’s opener despite training with increasing confidence while Samir Nasri has struggled with illness but should be able to play a part.
Predicted line-up: Coupet; Sagnol, Abidal, Gallas, Thuram; Toulalan, Makélélé, Ribéry, Malouda; Anelka, Benzema
The most certain bet is Under 2.5...but a 1x for Romania is likely too
posted by Midnight Sun @ 17:46,
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