49': Lobont saves Persie's shot.. amazzzing save.

48': Mutu = faster than affelay.

46': Shot Mutu from 23120301 yards away.. why?

46': game back on.

45': Half Time... dissapointing.

45': Amateurism.

45': How in the world did he miss that?????????

44': Codrea miss.. jesus christ.

39': Shot Cocis, wide again. 

37': How did he misss that??? my god. Robben just missed a perfect opportunity. wow.

35': Titi Henry almost scored for France in the other game... getting there!

34': Dangerous cross Contra, no one got on it!

33': Miss Huntelaar.. close.

30': Mutuuuuu sooo clooooose jessu.

26': I hope the French can score one and tie it up! Benzegoolll come on.

26': Ribery injured, Abidal red card. Penalty Pirlo, goal.

24': Incredible miss Mutu! Skipped off of Bouma's foot.. dammmn

23': Someone teach Nicolita how to cross PLEASEEE

21': we're defending too much! Hand ball Huntelaar.

19': Persie heads it over the goal, not close at all.

17': the atomic gypsie is fast, but can't cross... shame.

16':

15': Robben is gona get injured.

14': Chivu clinical tackle and stop.

13': Lots of possession and counter-attack tries.

9': Chivu shoots it over the goal... damn.

8': Mutu fouled in a dangerous position.

7': Offside Nicolita.

6': Afellay dribbles it out of the pitch, not too threatening.

4': Shot Marius Niculae, Looking good for us.

4': Foul Netherlands.

1': Game on!

Before Kick Off: Stekelburg startinggg yess!

Latest news from De Telegraaf! The leading Dutch news source has found out that it's highly probable that both Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben will be in the starting 11 against Romania.

According to the Dutch newspaper, the most likely starting 11 from the Netherlands will be:

Van der Sar - Melchiot, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler - De Zeeuw, Engelaar - Van Persie, Afellay, Robben - Huntelaar

Van Basten seems to be risking a bit by starting Van Der Sar in my opinion in a game that doesn't matter at all for them. Van Persie and Robben just came back from injuries and playing the glass figurines against our rough line-up might lead to them picking up another injury. If I was him, I wouldn't risk it, but it seems like he will. 

Another Dutch publication, Algemeen Dagblad, gave their 10 reasons why the Netherlands will defeat Romania:

1. Afellay has the chance to get revenge on Mutu after Fiorentina - PSV in the Uefa cup.
2. Van Basten isn't forgetting Huntelaar anymore, and he will score a goal to repay him.
3. Van Nistelrooy wants the top scorer prize.
4. Ovidiu Petre, one of the best midfielders for Romania is injured.
5. Ogăraru, Lobonţ and Chivu don't agree on the Dutch tactics.
6. Romania has won only once against Holland.
7. Mutu will miss another penalty.
8. Sneijder also wants to be top scorer.
9. Robben tries to score from impossible positions, this time he'll try to score from a corner.
10. Stade de Suisse is a temple for the Netherlands. 

I'd say that all of those except for 1,3,8 and 9 are false. 1,3,8 and 9 won't contribute to a win. Ruud and Sneijder are on the bench, Afellay won't do anything important, like the Fiorentina game, and Robben can try to score from a corner, but it won't happen. I was expecting a bit more creativity from the Dutch press to be honest. 

Not much time left before the big games in the group of death. I'm dieing waiting for these games to begin.

My prediction: Romania 2-0 Netherlands. 

"I live in luxury. I have so many choices for the team that sometimes I don't know what to do, that's my problem." That's what Van Basten said, who will take advantage of the chance in the last game of the group to rest most of the players in the starting 11, and to test the rest of the squad. 

"I won't risk a possible injury caused by fatigue or to leave myself without a player because of bookings. Also, who is not 100% fit will not play against Romania," said Marco Van Basten to the Dutch journalists. 

These are the possible 10 players that will be rested:

Van der Sar - he is 37 years old and has played 52 games this season.
Boulahrouz - often injured and he just played 6 games at Sevilla and the fitness level is showing.
Ooijer - has a yellow card from France and could risk suspension.
Van Bronckhorst - the left defender who is 33 years old and played 45 games this season will probably be rested after the tiring sprints against France and Italy.
De Jong - he has a yellow card from the Italy game.
Van der Vaart - he is also fatigued after 54 games this season and he ran 21.16 km at Euro so far.
Sneijder - Sneijder had a long season with Real Madrid and gathered 50 games. He also ran 21 km at this Euro and is the key player for Holland and can't risk injury.
Van Nistelrooy - he came back in april after a month of absence caused by an operation on his ankle. Van Basten doesn't want to risk injury.
Robben - he is not 100% and the doctors don't want him to push it and risk another injury.
Van Persie - after two months of absence, it is unlikely that Van Basten will risk an injury on him this game that doesn't do anything for Holland. 

Taking these into account, the possible lineup could be: 

GK: Stekelenburg
DF: Melchiot, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler
MF: De Zeeuw, Engelaar, Kuyt, Afellay
FW: Huntelaar, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink

Insiders from the Dutch setup said that if Italy and France were eliminated, the Dutch would "rid themselves of two forces of global football, which could come back to form any time. They would avoid the probability of meeting one of them again in semi-finals."

Van Basten suggested the same thing. He was asked about the game tuesday. He said laughing that he is "interested to be first in the group." The reporter shouted back "you already are!" To which Van Basten said: "Oh really? I didn't think of this scenario. I will do that and we will choose the best possible path for ourselves." 

He also said that it's not their ambition to "lose games, but we will reflect seriously on what is best for us, not for other teams."

Chivu said in an interview for the International Herald Tribune that "it won't change much. The other 11 players will be wanting to show off their skills." I think that's just politics though. 

Also the comments of Cosmin Contra in the same article put a smile on my face for once. He said that "we are a good team. We have two draws against the most powerful teams in the world. We need to attack (against the Netherlands). We need to go hard against them."

Before the Italy game, he said he wanted to sit back and defend. I'm happy he's changed his mind after seeing what a bit of attack can do for us against these big teams. They're not used to small teams attacking them, they're always shell shocked. 

Ciprian Marica is supposed to start for Romania as the striker in the Netherlands game. He is over his injuries, and Daniel Niculae will be rested after the hard work against France and Italy. He should add a different dynamic to the game for us, him and Niculae are very different players. 

Well this is looking good for us so far. Of corse, the Dutch substitutes are good players, but we did beat them 1-0 and drew 0-0 in qualifying and they weren't playing backups. People say that the backups will play hard to get a chance in the first team and show what they can do. But they have to think in their minds that the starting 11 Van Basten used against France and Italy beat the world champions and the vice-world champions 3-0 and 4-1, so even a good game against Romania probably won't convince Van Basten to include them in the starting 11. I think the Dutch will see this as a holiday, and prepare for their game against Russia or Sweden. They'll get their chance to play the starting 11 against us after we beat Spain. 

Either way, I truly believe that France and Italy will draw anyways. And if that happens, I really don't think we'll lose 3-0 against the Dutch reserves, so we'd still move on. But we need the win to guarantee that we can move on. 

I'll be back with more as soon as I have more information, until then, ROMANIIIAAA ROMANIIIAA OLE OLE OLEEEEE. 

End Of Match: We had the 3 points twice in our hand. I can't believe it.

90' (+2): yellow rossi... hooligan. COME ON.

90': diving AGAIN. I hate you italy.

87': greasy cheating .... i won't go on. Lucky.

80': i can't believe it.

80': PENALTY???!!???

79': think Nicolita fuck sake. Jesus what a dumbass.

78': Lobont. <3

75': Corner romania.

75': miooooowwwwww

71': we are.. how do you say... pumping them in the ass?

70': HOLY shit nico almost scored. gah soooo close.

65': ANOTHER offside Italy. GO home.

60': the atomic gypsie. I hope he scores.

59': Nicolita in.

58': Jesus christttt. What an attacking play.

58': Yellow chivu.

56': no.

56': That's why he should be up there. Let's keep it up!!!! my god.

55': game changin player., game changing player. Perfect.

55': jesus christ.

54': MUTUUU GOALLLL

54':

Mutu shot, put brusises on buffon's hands. He needs to do that more. 

52': offside.

49': Dica cross, I saw a hold on Nico, but the refs didn't.

46': Game on.

Half Time: Radoi is in the hostpital, he really jacked himself up.

Half Time: Half time. We're alive.

45' (+2): Holy shit i pissed myself. jesussss christ. Offside. omg. I hateee you toniiiiiii lalalalalala i hate you toniiiiii.

45' (+1): Foul del piero, bad attitude.

45': We're a team of mercenaries.

45': Rat is bleeding again :S.

43': You know why mutu fouled? Because he isn't a defender and shouldn't be defending. Just a thought.

40': Can I get a "mioowww"

40': LOBONNNNNNNNNNNT. Cat-like.

39': Codrea saves our life. God bless him.

38': Well italians mess it up too, so it's okay then. I forgive Mutu.

38': Mutu is fucking up again. Lame.

34': What a pussy.. get up and stop diving.

32': We keep giving free kicks. Why oh why? But it's okay, they miss it every time.

31': Toni misses another header. Sun is coming out. I don't like it.

29': offside mutu, he's playing striker now, nico left mid. perfect tactic.

29': so close.

28': Not only did we put on a passing clinic just now, but we almost made love to the net. Fuckkkkk.

27': Toni misses the goal again, same old same old. Keep it going.

25': Del piero misses the ball again, doesnt get to it. We escape.

25': Dica coming in. One Steaua twat for another. Fantastic. Least this one can score.

23': OLeeee ola. ROmania attacking. Here we go boys. Nico got pushed.

22': Why bother playing Italy when we injure ourselves? Rat has a hard head.

21': Radoi killed himself.

21': Damn Panucci. WHy can't he be off the field for this free kick?

19': OMGGGG we hit the bar. Friday the damn 13'th. Fuck sake. It will go in soon. And then Radoi and Rat hit heads :P. Headless chickens.

19': Free kick romania.

18': You can only hear our fans. :D

18': TAMAS free kick, bufffon was nervous.

17': Free kick romania

16': Toni misses a header, keep doing it tall guy.

15': Mutu on the attack, misses it. We can't do that. Buffon can be beaten.

13': Mutu defended beter than the defenders. Jesus chance Italy, missed the ball.

12': Free kick Pirlo.

10': GOIAN holy shit he saved us.

9': What a chance Del Piero. Miss. THANKKK GOD.

8': Foul Goain.

7': My friend's dad (who is very Romanian) just tried to explain football to my american friend who has been playing for 8 years :). "IF i go baseball game, I dono where goal is, they say they have no goal."

4': Corner italy.

3': Mutu offside. Shite really.

1': Mutu header, we already attacked more than the whole of France game.

1': Kick off. Italy.

Before Kick Off: Anthems played, ours is definately more emotional. And the players were really into it, very very much.

It seems like a deja vu for me. It hasn't rained here in any morning except for the mornigns Romania has played. It's Friday the 13'th and I'm having a complete deja vu to the game against France. But I'm not a perticularly superstitious person, and I don't believe in Friday the 13'th (although, Italy has never won on Friday the 13'th).

The stage is set for a good game. Italy have to win, Romania can't lose. The game is played in Zurich and the weather is 11 degrees. There is no rain, and it's not so damn hot like during Romania - France. I saw different scenarios that show that we could qualify with 2 points. I hope we don't do that, but it's possible. 

I don't have much to say for once before the game. I'm just being hopeful and wishing for a Romania victory against the champions of the world. Will it happen? I don't know. Can it happen? Why not.?

I'll be live blogging the game as much as I can in the OleOle match centre. I hope we play a better game and I hope we win and prove something to the world. If that damned man Victor Piturca manages to mastermind a win, I'll hold back any future criticism. If we can do this, we can advance and make a great image for ourselves. I have faith in my country, in our players and what we can do. I hope I'm not wrong. 

We're not expected to win, but I think we will. Enjoy the game, and hopefully it will be a good one this time!

Roberto Calderoli, the minister of reforms in the Italian Government was asked in an interview on La Stampa if the game tomorrow between Italy and Romania has political implications. The hostile and slightly inhumane treatement of romanian "gypsies" being paid back by a Romanian victory. 

Calderoli responded ironically: "if we'll lose against Romania, we'll pas a decree by which their win will be canceled morally."

What an absolute wanker.

Sad times for Romanian fans. It seems that Romania manager Victor Piturca has been slowly planning the execution of Romanian star Adrian Mutu. 

Romanian player from CFR Cluj, Eugen Trica, has come out to say that the tactics used by Victor Piturca will kill Adrian Mutu. Trica said that "Mutu has too many duties in defense in the ultra-defensive setup Romania used in the game against France. Mutu is being forced to run back too much and he's not performing his attacking duties. All this running and time spent in defense will make his bursts of speed more rare, and his goals even more rare. It will kill him!"

Another ex-Romania player, Laurentiu Rosu, added that the tactic we're playing didn't allow Mutu to play his normal game, the game that brought Romania to Euro 2008. He also said that "Daniel Niculae did a fantastic job, but had no one to support him in attack because Mutu and Nicolita were forced to defend too much."

Mircea Lucescu, legendary Romanian manager, has also spoken up on the issues with our tactics used against France. He criticised our anti-football, and said that we have players that are good enough for us to be able to attack and win games. He also added that he doesn't understand why Piturca changed the tactics he used in Euro 2008 qualifying and in the pre-Euro friendlies since they were "working perfectly."

Andrei Vochin, an award winning journalist from Romania said that Victor Piturca wants to show that this isn't Mutu's national team, but that it's Piturca's national team. He added that "the egoes need to be left in the hotel before games, this is not one person's national team, it is one country's national team. We need to use what we have the best we can, and not sacrifice performace for inflated egos. I was disgusted when Piturca didn't shake Mutu's hand after he substituted him, you can't do that with the emblem of our current generation. " 

There are numerous other important Romanian footballers, managers, and pundits that have spoken out on this issue. My favorite quote is from one of my favorite players growing up, Ionut Lupu, who said that "a good manager is not one that doesn't lose, it's one that wins. Piturca needs to play less cards and more chess, to learn how to use the pieces he has available in order to win a game." 

I agree with the above people 100%. I'm glad some people in the media and football have the balls to come out and say: Listen we tied, but we could have won, and we all know it, let Mutu play!

As for Piturca, please don't hang Mutu, because by doing so, you're hanging yourself and our whole country and it's image in global football. 

Also, to those of you reading this post, make sure you check out the OleOle match centre during the Italy - Romania game.

A game that was promising to be full of excitement, speed, show and class turned out to be the worst game of EURO 2008 so far. Romania - France, in the group of death, what a game it could have been! But it wasn't, so I'll try to see where it went wrong. 

From the moment the first touch on the ball was taken, the pace was slow, the players were tentative, and no one really seemed too into it. The way I saw the Romanian players yelling out the national anthem, I though we would have a bit more sting in our game to begin with. Some motivaion. We haven't been in a major competition for 8 years for Christ's sake, you'd think that would motivate the players a bit. 

In all he games I've seen Romania play in the past 8 years, this might be the worst game I've ever seen us play. It was embarassing honestly. We play a dynamic 4-3-3 every game except this one apparently, with an attacking trident that sit up, put pressure on defenders and score a ton. For some reason, Victor Piturca decided to go with a 4-5-1 for this game, leaving Daniel Niculae completely alone around 3 defenders up top. I've never seen Mutu defend so much in my life, he was near our box more than near France's. He's our best player, he's the creative mind, he always had the free role. Now he was sidelined with two players marking him constantly. It's not his position and his role, why the hell change it up when it matters most?

We were inviting the French to attack us all game. There was no pressure on the defenders when they had the ball, everyone just dropped back. It looked lazy. I don't know what Piturca was trying to do, but we didn't beat Holland, Spain, Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic like that in the past two years. We took the games to them, and hit them in attack. I really don't understand it, it's cowardly. 

1017 - that's the amount of passes that were passed during this game. The most passes in a EURO game so far. 

12 - that's the amount of shots towards goal all game

1 - that's the amount of shots on goal all game.

This was a complete mess, just a passing exercise  that was carried out at a jogging pace. But Romania wasn't the only team to blame for this. France did nothing. Benzema had some golden opportunities in front of goals that he completely ruined. Otherwise they did nothing all game either. The teams completely neutralized each other. 

The players that did well for Romania were: Chivu (outstanding), Nicolita (ran 12 km. and worked his ass off), and Goian (made some crucial stops). 

Otherwise it was quite the mess with the other players. Daniel Niculae had some good moments, but it's hard to play between 3 good defenders on your own. Radoi had some good ones as well, but he's not fully fit. 

Romania had about 10 minutes each half when we played our usual atractive football. We got pressure on France and kept them in their own half. We needed that all game, but the instructions were to get back. Also, switching Mutu was a bit stupid. He's our best player, why take him out and put it Marius Niculae to play that winger position. It's not that smart. 

For the game with Italy, we need to start with Codrea in the middle instead of Cocis, and with Marius Niculae up top so he can do some of the same thins Ruud did tonight.  The Netherlands beat Italy with pace and quick play, that's the key. That's how they will beat France as well. We play like that as well usually, if we stop retreating and defending, we can take the Dutch example. The next game is crucial, if we win it, we could qualify, if not, it would be very hard and unpredictable. We can't play for a draw. 

Chivu promised that the second game would be more open, and I hope that it will be. We need it to be. The French have even more work to do i think, because we allowed them to attack, gave them spaces and time, and they did nothing with it. At least I know that we are capable of attacking well and hard, which we chose not to do this game, but France were allowed to do it and couldn't make anything happen.

The first draw of Euro, the first complete bore of Euro and hopefully both teams play better next game. The group looks like this now:

1. Netherlands ..3 pts
2. Romania........1 pt
3. France...........1 pt
4. Italy..............0 pt

 I'm excited for Friday, hopefully a better game from us!

The official Romania starting lineup against France has been announced, and it's the same that was speculated before by the Romanian media:

Lobonţ - Contra, Tamaş, Goian, Raţ - Cociş, Rădoi, Chivu - Nicoliţă, D. Niculae, Mutu

That will be the team that we attack the French with. And I have to say, I'm so damn excited. I haven't slept tonight, too anctious, too nervous, too eager to see the match. Just 5 hours and a half from the game, the biggest game for us this EURO unless we make it out of the group. 

Ribery has been speaking to the press today and says that he "can see a Germany - France final" of EURO 2008. I say he should wipe off his smirk and think about the preditions he's making, he's a bit too cocky. That's a bit of a ballsy prediction before the first kick of a ball for his French side honestly. They're playing 3 teams that all could be in the final in my opinion, and they have to win two of these games, or lose none. 

Hagi is speaking again to the media and says tha tthe pressure is on the French this game. And I totally agree. No one expects us to win...everyone expects France to win.  We have no pressure, 99% of Romanians probably expect us to lose this game. I am part of the 1% who truly believes we can and will win this match.

When the Romanian national anthem will play in a few hours, I'll probably be choked up, almost in tears, and relishing the sight of my country on Europe's biggest stage. We can show that we're not a fluke, or that we don't play like Greece, and that Romanians aren't just homeless gypsies begging for money on the streets of Paris, and that we're damn good at football. This is the opportunity to give Europe a clear message, and set the stage for World Cup 2010 - we can't be underestimated, and we can't be overlooked. 

That's all for me until after the game. I really wanted to live blog this game, but I don't think I'll be able to, I'll be too excited and too glued to the television. But who knows!

Until then, I leave you with this.

Another reason to celebrate for the Romanian national team. It was more of a slight rumour that Henry had an injury problem and MIGHT not play in Monday's game against Romania. But now it seems that more and more French newspapers are reporting a piece of news that is music to my ears - Anelka will start along with Benzema on Monday.

Anelka is a good player, but he's not the type that will be a big threat to our defense. I just hope that Gomis won't start. It's not looking too possible now, and I hope it stays that way. Thank you Raymond!

This is the team he's been using in training for possible starting 11:

Coupet - Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal - Ribery, Toulalan, Makelele, Malouda - Anelka, Benzema

That looks good to me, not an extremely intimidating team to he honest. And for the first time ever in Romanian football history, we have a taller team than France. So we have an advantage at set pieces, especially since Mutu will be taking them!

Daniel Niculae, who will start up top for Romania against France just had an interview with the Romanian newspaper GSP.He talks about what EURO 2008 means for him, how to beat the French, and other interesting things. Here's my translation of the best parts of it:

Q: Daniel, are you ready for France?
A: I believe I am yes. I've been thinking of this game for a long time. It depends on the coach if I will play or not.

Q: Our informations says that you will play!
A: We'll see about it at the game, I don't know if I will or not.

Q: How do you think your teammates feel before this game?
A: We're ready for battle from a physical standpoint, psychological and tactical standpoints. We've seen tens of tapes with the French, we know them well. Now it depends on us!

Q: What is our chance?
A: We can beat anyone. We're the best organized team at Euro, we're ready for this final tournament.

Q: I bet you know everything about Gallas and Thuram, including what they eat for breakfast!
A: We all studied them very well, but let's not forget they're two of the best defenders in the world. And that says a lot. But I'm not afraid and I'm ready to show what I can do.

Q: Have you scored any goals on Coupet at Lyon?
A: No I never have. He is a big goalkeeper, he's a champion and that says a lot, but he can be beaten.

Q: Were these weeks hard while training for EURO?
A: No! It was a special period, but let's not forget that every other team went through a similar process, not only us.

Q: You have the chance to enter in the goalscorer history for Romania in final tournaments, along-side Raducioiu, Dumitrescu, Hagi, Moldovan and others.
A: What you're saying sounds amazing, and so to end the dialogue optimistically I'll say: Let it be that way! Come of Romania!

Giga Hagi has spoken to the Romanian media about his thoughts about this Romanian squad and what we can do. Hagi to me is the best player I have ever seen play with my own two eyes. He's a football genious, he's the East's Maradona, and he's the best player in Romanian history, and in Turkish history as well (since he played at Galatasaray so much, the Turkish populous thinks he's Turkish!). Here are some quotes from this interview:

Q: How are you doing?
A: I feel great, happy and fulfilled. Maybe this is because I played a lot of my career outside Romania, so many years when I was away from home make me want to spend as much time as possible with my family. However, I do see myself around football forever, it's a love that will never disappea.

Q: You were the national team captain for a long period of time. What advice can you give Chivu and his teammates before EURO?
A: The captain has to give courage to the team. Football is a team sport and the spirit of the team matters a lot. You can't do everything alone, you need the support of the team, they need to be close to you, they need to know to form a united and strong group. 

Q: Are Mutu and Chivu the best players of our national team right now?
A: They are two fundamental players, very important, and leaders of the team. Of corse the national team with both of them on the field is a lot better, and with them in good form I hope that they will get as far as possible in this final tournament.

Q: How important is the European Championship for them?
A: It's the first final tournament of their generation and the result will depend on their demeanor aand the responsability that they will show. We have a talented national team, young, and it's their turn to shine! They did what is toughest part and now they have to think that they can have great performances, but it all depends on them. I wish them luck, and I will be with them at this final tournament!

What a legend. I'm shaking in my seat here writing this to be honest. There are 17 hours to go until the kick off of Romania - France. Henry and Vieira are still announced to be missing from the game, but that won't stop my heart from racing. This is big, it's France, and it doesn't get better than that. Damnnn.

I'll write some more updates as I have them! I probably won't sleep tonight, I don't know how the players do it!