Costel Pantilimon and the two “tricolors” who can bring silence to Istanbul

• Turkey – Romania will be played on March 26, from 19:00, match broadcast by Prima TV. If we win, we play the World Cup qualification final against Slovakia/Kosovo on March 31, 2026

• Gazeta Sporturilor has 6 experienced reporters in Istanbul, who deliver the most important information, the best reports and a series of multimedia correspondence.

Gazeta Sporturilor had a dialogue with Costel Pantilimon before the play-off match scheduled in Istanbul. He says that Ionuț Radu would have preferred in goal for the national team, thanks to his experience.

Costel Pantilimon: “Mihaila and Man can make a difference”

“If we look at the impact their players have on teams in Europe, we can say they are the favourites. I think this moment when everyone is giving us a second chance can be an advantage for us, we could speculate.

We also demonstrated at the Euros that we can. The pressure of the crowd can be put even on the home team, the Turks are not patient and their patience does not last very long, there are certain factors that we could consider. We're leaving with a second chance, but that doesn't mean we can't take advantage of it.

Our advantage is the team spirit and experience of Mircea Lucescu, he knows Turkey, and we are not a fifth world country. It's just that what happened, the results that the world set, injured footballers and situations at clubs don't put us in the best light, but it doesn't mean that we can't finish it.

A lot of people don't talk about it anymore Mihaila and Man, but they can make a difference individually.

It seems to me to be a mess with Radu, I don't think we know all the discussions and everything that happened exactly and what state of health Radu has. At the moment, the idea is that Radu will play, due to his experience. He plays at a good level, in the last games he was the main man.

At the moment it seems to me that Aioani also has a consistency in the championship. The important thing is that the world perceives the national team as a team that gives everything”, said Costel Pantilimon for Gazeta Sporturilor.

Costel Pantilimon participated in a final tournament with Romania

For the Romanian national team, Costel Pantilimon made 27 appearances, and his debut was in 2008, in a game against Georgia.

He also participated in a final tournament with Romania, specifically EURO 2008, where he did not play in any match.