World Dam. Today, at 14:00, Romania finds out the opponents it has to overcome to play in the final tournament

The Romanian national football team is today, from 14:00, in Zurich, the opponents in the qualifying round for the World Cups in the USA, Canada and Mexico, next year. In the first match, in the path of the tricolors, who are in the fourth most valuable urn, a team from the first urn will emerge with certainty: Italy, Denmark, Turkey or Ukraine. The match will be played away by the national team led by Mircea Lucescu (80 years old). The semi-finals take place on March 26, and the finals – on March 31. Romania has been absent from the football World Cup since 1998, when it was led by Anghel Iordănescu (75 years old).

Hagi and Ghiță, two players trained at Viitorul

The Romanian delegation left for Switzerland yesterday. It contains the selector Mircea Lucescu and the officials Răzvan Burleanu, the president of the FRF, and Mihai Stoichiță, the technical director of the FRF.

“With all the might in March”

Ianis Hagi (27 years old) scored on Tuesday night in the 7-1 win over San Marino, but started the match on the bench, so the armband rested on the arm of Dennis Man (27 years old). In the end, the attacking midfielder regretted that the national team did not qualify through the preliminaries, but he is convinced that Romania can reach the final tournament next summer. “We are sorry that we did not manage to qualify for the World Cup in the USA through these qualifications. We won the right to go to the dam. As I said before, we are going with all our strength in March and see you in the USA. It doesn't matter. We are going there in March and we know that we qualify for the World Cup in the USA because that is what we want and we want to make a whole country happy“said Hagi junior.

Line failures at the dam

Over time, Romania did not do very well in the play-off matches, the tricolors showing that they cannot withstand the pressure in such moments of maximum tension and do not pass the value test. The first check took place in 2001, when Gică Hagi (60 years old), who was making his coaching debut, played against Slovenia, which went to the 2002 World Championship, organized by South Korea and Japan. The play-off was played over two legs. More recently, in October 2020, the national team, with Mirel Rădoi (44 years old) on the bench, lost the tie with Iceland for Euro 2020. It was played in Reykjavik. Iceland defeated Romania, score 2-1, in the semifinals of the pool. The team included names such as Manea, Burcă, Stanciu, Alibec, Pușcaș, Mitriță, Hagi, Bancu and Răzvan Marin, among those used by Mircea Lucescu in the last two campaigns, the League of Nations and the World Cup qualifiers.

Supporters demand Ukraine

Being in the first value urn, Italy, Turkey, Denmark and Ukraine are possible opponents in the semi-finals. “Here it doesn't depend on my preference, you have to do everything possible to win. We won with Italy, when they were world champions. That '84 was one of the biggest teams in the world. Unfortunately, we didn't qualify further because we lost three essential players, as we have now lost the central defenders. I'm not the Messiah and I can't do miracles, I do my best because I'm human. And I know very well what I have to do to become a team like everyone wants“, declared Lucescu. Former international Gică Popescu (58 years old) wants Turkey. “I hope we fall with Ukraine, and so are debts sold to us“, a supporter joked on the official Facebook account of the national team. On December 5, the groups from the World Championship will be determined. The name of Romania will still be drawn, as the qualifiers from the pool will not be known on that date. The winners of the groups from the European area will go to the WC: Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Austria, Norway, Belgium, England and Croatia. 42 of the 48 participants in the tournament are known final.

Craioveanu does not believe in “Il Luce”

Former footballer Gheorghe Craioveanu (57 years old), champion with the University of Craiova in 1991, is asking for a change in the national team. When asked about Romania's chances in the playoffs in March, the former international (25 caps and four goals), participating with the national team in the final world tournament in 1998, said that he does not believe in the current coach. “I would like (no – to qualify), but unfortunately it is very difficult. The way we play and the dynamic we have, the chances are slim. I saw the match with Bosnia-Herzegovina. I don't want to be disrespectful, but I think that if Mr. Mircea Lucescu stays, we have even less chances. We need a new breath, a different tone, so that at least for 2030 we have a chance to reach a World Championship again. We urgently need a change of mentality,” said “Grande” to flashscore. Currently, Gică Craioveanu is president of the CSM Slatina club.

Dismissed from the Turkish national team

Turkey can get in the way of the tricolors. The match will be supported by Romania on the road (due to the war, Ukraine plays its home matches in Germany, but it would not be excluded that the match be moved to Poland). Turkey is a country where Lucescu coached and won the title with two teams, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş, but where he also coached the national team. When he was 73 years old, the Romanian was appointed a selector. It happened in the summer of 2017 and he had a contract until June 2019. He was landed in February 2019. His record, 4 wins, 6 draws and 7 defeats, led the officials to dismiss him, after the failure of the League of Nations, where the team was relegated to Division C. Lucescu also coached, at the level of club formations, in Italy and Ukraine.

URN 1: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine.

URN 2: Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, Slovakia.

URN 3: Ireland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo.

URN 4: RomaniaSweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland.