a preview of the return football match pitching Romania against Greece.
Romania plays its last chance to qualify to the 2014 World Cup
Florin Orban, 19.11.2013, 13:03
Romania’s national team tonight will be facing a daunting task as they’re only a whisk away from succeeding a most notable performance. If they win the return playoff match against Greece by 2-nil, Romania’s national squad will secure their ticket to the World Cup next year, for the first time since 1998. Bucharest’s National Arena awaits more than 50,000 fans to support their favorite team.
A quick look back now at what happened this past Friday, in the first leg of the tie. In Piraeus, Greece sealed a 3-1 win. Scoring for them were Kostas Mitroglou in 14 and 66 minutes, and Dimitris Salpingidis on 21 minutes. Bogdan Stancu scored for the Romanians in minute 19.
Ahead of tonight’s game, manager Victor Piturca’s problems with his lineup are indeed very serious. Not being able to make it to the pitch tonight are midfielders Alexandru Bourceanu and Costin Lazar, both footballers being suspended. Another player in the midfield, Mihai Pintilli has sustained an injury. However, fullback Vlad Chiriches will be included in tonight’s lineup. Last week Chiriches sustained a nasal pyramid fracture and will be wearing a special plastic mask for tonight’s game. Also, keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu recovered after having missed out on the game in Piraeus because of some health problems. According to Agerpress, Piturca might also summon Banel Nicolita, who apparently will be in for Gabriel Torje, a footballer who sadly managed to put on a totally lackluster performance in the first leg in Piraeus.
There’s another footballer who’s highly likely to step onto the pitch from the very first minute, namely Alexandru Maxim who is in top shape playing for his German club Stuttgart. Maxim is by all means a must for the national squad, if an offensive game could turn the tables for Romania.
Greece has only one lineup problem, since their captain Kostas Katsouranis was suspended for receiving a yellow booking in the first leg.
A team of referees from Serbia was selected for tonight’s game, scheduled to kick-start at 21 hours. The team leader is Milorad Mazic, who has been an international referee since 2009. The return game pitting Romania against Greece will enjoy a live transmission on Radio Romania International’ s Romanian language frequencies.
