The temperature is rising in Istanbul! Gazeta attended this afternoon the official training of the national team, the last one before that the “dam” with Turkeyand extract the main ideas after the session open to journalists for 15 minutes.
- Turkey – Romania will be played on Thursday, March 26, from 19:00, match broadcast by Prima TV. If we win, we play the qualification final against Slovakia/Kosovo on March 31, 2026.
- Gazeta Sporturilor has 6 experienced reporters in Istanbul who will send the most important information, reports and a series of multimedia correspondence.
Immediately after the conferences held by Mircea Lucescu and Radu Drăgușin, Romanian footballers made contact for the first time with the lawn of Beşiktaş's stadiumthe place where, in 24 hours, we will try to take a first step towards qualifying for the World Championship.
All sails up! What happened at the official training of the “tricolors”
On a sharp and sharp wind in some places, which amplified the feeling of discomfort – even if it had been a bit warmer in Istanbul today – the national team started the training session at 18:00 local time, while on the sidelines there were more than 60-70 journalists, operators and photojournalists from Turkey and Romania.
Lucescu's footballers started the session with a light game with the ball, one aimed at easy circulation of the ball, carried out in groups of three, four or five players, in order to later get “banned” from the ball.
After the rigorous laps, Radu Drăgușin and the company were asked to focus on specific physical exercises, stretching movements and the usual sprints among the “fences”.
All this time, the federals present with the national team in Istanbul, led by Răzvan Burleanu, were following the movements of the tricolors in the Tribune I area. The president of the FRF, recently re-elected at the head of the forum, watched the passing game of Lucescu's footballers next to the secretary Gabriel Bodescu.
In addition to the representatives of the Federation and journalists, approximately 20-30 Turks, local fans, took their seats in the stands during the training. The silence was disturbed at one point by a shout from a supporter of our national team: “Let's go Romania!”.
And Ilie Dumitrescu, recently co-opted in the Federation, watched the last training session before the game from the front rows of the stands. He was joined by Miodrag Belodedici.
Radu, side by side with colleagues. Lucescu had been mysterious in the conference
Mircea Lucescu supervised the warm-up movements of his students from the middle of the field, from where he tactically scrutinized, together with his “seconds”, every movement of his own players.
Important to mention, Ionuț Radu trained with the rest of the group, even if he was not initially part of the group of three goalkeepers who performed warm-up moves with the goalkeeping coach.
Afterwards, the footballer from Celta Vigo took part in the half-court laps that the players gave led by “seconds” Gane and Constantinovic.
In the minutes that followed the rounds, the starter from the last matches of the national team “pulled” side by side with the other three goalkeepers, Aioani, Căbuz and Laurentiu Popescu.
“We're training now, we'll see,” Lucescu had answered previously, when he was asked about Radu's situation and the possibility that he could perform on Thursday.
Attendance at the training session was only allowed to journalists for a quarter of an hour, then it continued behind closed doors. Tomorrow evening, Romania will be back here for a confrontation of capital importance!
