Article by Justin Gafiuc – Published on Thursday, 20 November 2025 22:16 / Updated on Thursday, 20 November 2025 22:17
Sabin Ilie believes that we can pass the barrier with Turkey only if the national team plays at least at the level of victory against Ukraine at Euro 2024. He points the finger at the group of consistent players in Zenica, with Bosnia, and predicts a nightmare atmosphere for the “tricolors” outside the stadium as well
Sabin Ilie had a short career experience in Turkey, at Fener (1997) and Kocaeli (1998). And the former goalscorer of League 1 is now convinced that Romania will leave with a second chance against Montella's menwho “have a higher level than ours. For this reason, I would have liked to avoid Turkey and Italy.”
“With Bosnia, only a few players ate embers, even in the first half”
The “Tricolori” left the field in Bosnia with their heads bowed, after the hard failure in Zenica / photo Ionuț Iordache (GSP)
The former Stella striker believes that “we should approach the game against Turkey as we did against Ukraine at the Euros. That is, maximum sacrifice and all the energy spent on the pitch!”.
Plus one more detail: “Let's eliminate the mistakes we've made lately, and here I'm also referring to the attitude, which left a lot to be desired. This generally starts from the clubs, where the players come with the mentality of being satisfied with a little. As Mr. Lucescu also said: if you don't play at the club and you're not focused on progress, it's hard to cope with the national team.”
He continues: “The players have brought the team to the present moment, they also have to bring it to port. We, the national team, cannot change anything essentially. If we want to be fair to ourselves, we notice that even in the first half in Bosnia, only a few of the players really showed that they were eating embers. The rest showed a twitch, either out of fear, or because the hat was too big for their heads.”
Mihăilă had a terrible evening in Bosnia – Romania/ PHOTO Ionuț Iordache (GSP)
Romanian football is going through a very difficult period. Let's hope that all this negative atmosphere around the national team can be fixed in the four months until the showdown with Turkey
– Sabin Ilie, former Steaua striker
“Răzvan Marin cannot be missing from the headlines”
Who disappointed him at the game in Zenica? “The players we expected to do a lot of things were mediocre. Let's face the truth, yes? Have you seen Denis Man? Or Hagi?! What are we talking about? They dribbled nobody. And Mihăilă – two sprints and done? I'm not talking from the middle down anymore, because we're from another planet. I don't want to give names anymore, but I noticed players who didn't know their position on the field, that is, the notions of beginners”.
And he raises a direct topic for the meeting in Turkey: “I see football differently, which is why I say that Răzvan Marin should not be missing from the starters. Even if he is not going through a great period, you don't really have a man at his level in the sense that he is not afraid of the game, he knows what a high-level match means, he has the experience of important moments. If you come up with something new, you do it possibly with a number 10, a playmaker or someone who can decide for you the match, but here, in Marin's area, it's not very inspiring to walk”.
Răzvan Marin was shot dead by Lucescu in the last matches of the national team / photo: Cristi Preda (GSP)
“We can only win this match if we are gladiators on the field”
The match in Turkey is expected to be “staged” by the hosts at all levels: “It will be very difficult not only because the opponent is superior to us. You will see that, in addition, we will have big surprises from the fans as well, that they are crazy there! Don't be surprised if we hear that a brass band will start playing at the hotel of the national team or make a firework show so as not to let the Romanian players rest, to concentrate. I can't imagine what the atmosphere will be like in the stadium.”
And he concludes: “This is a match in which we must be gladiators one hundred percent! If a single player goes out of rhythm and plan, the difference will be seen immediately and we will not be able to succeed. There will be only one recipe: at maximum physical and mental capacity! There is no other way to the World Cup!”.
