Romania at the Olympic Games

Florin Orban, 20.07.2021, 13:01

So far, Romania has taken part in the Olympics in football three times, in 1924, 1952, and 1964. In Paris, in 1924, it played against the Netherlands, and lost 0-6. At the 1952 edition in Finland, the Romanians played only once, against Hungary, in Turku, and lost 1-2. The best performance by the Olympic team was in 1964, when the Olympics were played for the first time in Japan.

At the Olympics in Japan back then, Romania was assigned to Group A, alongside Mexico, Iran, and the so-called unified Germany team, in fact the East German team. On October 11, 1964, the Romanians bested Mexico, 3-1. Two days later, they tied 1-all against Germany. In two days time, Romania defeated Iran 1-0, and proceeded to the quarter finals, as second in the the group, seconding Germany. In the fight for the semi-finals, the Romanians faced Hungary, one of the best teams of the time. The game took place in October 1964, in Yokohama. The best chance to even the score for the national team was a penalty shot granted six minutes before the end of the game. Team captain Gheorghe Constantin missed the shot. In the following leg, the Hungarians were granted a penalty shot too, and it was prosecuted by Tibor Csernay. In the end, the Hungarian team went on to crush Egypt in the semi-finals, 6-0, then went on to win the finals, 2-1, against Czechoslovakia.

Right now, the Romanian footballers are once again in the Olympic games, after the Under 21 team qualified to the European Championships in the semi-finals, hosted by Italy and San Marino. This was the best performance by a youth team in the history of Romanian football. This is the result of an effort that started from Gheorghe Hagi’s Football Academy, which provided 10 of the members of the Romanian side, including Ianis Hagi, the great footballer’s son. This huge training effort came after all major teams were called on to promote young players at the national level. In the premiere league, a rule has been put in place for each team to always have on the pitch a player under 21 years of age, a decision that angered quite a few, but which bore fruit. Let us also not forget the effort by team trainer Mirel Radoi, a professional only 40 years old. He managed to run a solid, offensive game, up to the skills of the players on the team. Following that, Radoi was promoted to the premiere team.

In Japan, Romania is in Group B. On Thursday, they will play Honduras, then, on Sunday, they play South Korea. Following that, they face New Zealand. The winning teams in each group qualify to the quarter finals in the Olympic Games.