After the Netherlands were already going through, a draw would have guaranteed them first place, and there were rumors that they might let Romania win intentionally so that France and Italy were both out for the knock out stages. Romania had been playing well, after drawing with both World Cup finalists they needed either a draw in this game and the France v Italy game, or to beat the Netherlands to go through.
Neither team started particularly well, the Dutch team that had nine (yes nine!) changes looked very nervous, which was surprising due to them already being through. The closest the first half came to producing a Romanian goal was a couple of self made opportunities by former Chelsea star Adrian Mutu, where as Holland’s best opportunity fell to Arjen Robben who looked hasty and poked the ball past the post.
The second half is when a much needed goal came, and it went for the Dutch. A low cross from Afellay was calmly converted by star striker Huntelaar, and the Romanians were punished for not taking the game to Holland.
The next goal came very late in the second half, and once again fell for the Dutch. Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie skilled out the Romanian defender, leaving him literally in tangles on the floor, before smashing the ball in to the near top corner to ensure the Netherlands one hundred per cent win rate was kept intact.
Overall, not a brilliant game, with the Romanians being too conservative when they really should have pushed on the Dutch defense. Tonight’s results mean that the Netherlands top the group with nine points, the Italians come second with four points, Romania come third with two points, and France lose the group with just one point.
After the two teams first games were on the complete opposite on the spectrum, both teams were eager to impress. Italy especially wanted to win this game, as anything other than three points would slash their chances of qualifying dramatically.
The game kicked off, and it was extremely intense, Italy looking like they could score any minute for the whole first half, having chance after chance and finding Romania’s weakness which the French couldn’t find: the air. Romania failed on multiple occasions to clear Italy’s crosses, resulting in Luca Toni and his attacking companions missing a couple of good chances. Italy also had other good opportunities including hitting the post and having a header disallowed for offside, although it was a bad decision, and it looked like Friday the 13th was going to be unlucky for Italy.
That isn’t to say Romania didn’t have any chances though, hitting the post, having a one on one and hitting a scorching free kick from a long distance, although their poor attacking record means it was no surprise they didn’t score in the first half.
Out for the second half, and in similar fashion to the first half, the game is end to end football, it is clear fairly soon after the kick off that Romania want to win this game just as much as Italy.
Then, on the fifty fifth minute, a poor header from Zambrotta back to Buffon meant that former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu could run on and take full advantage of the Italian mistake, slotting the ball above a helpless Buffon and in to the roof of the net.
And, before we could even watch the replay of the goal, Italy were pressing and got a corner at the other end, and after a superb cross and a nifty header toward goal, Christian Panucci poked the ball passed the line.
Italy kept pressing, desperate to get a second, although just before the eighty minute mark, a tug in the Italian penalty area resulted in a rather harsh Romanian penalty. After countless Italian protests, Romanian goal scorer Mutu stepped up to take the penalty, knowing a win would knock Italy out the competition. He drove it hard to Buffon’s left, but Buffon re-adjusted his jump and knocked it onto his leg with his right hand, and the ball went out for a corner.
Overall a good game with plenty of action, and Italy were extremely unfortunate not to get the win, but now there is a lot of pressure on both sides, especially Italy, to get through to the next round.
After the two teams first games were on the complete opposite on the spectrum, both teams were eager to impress. Italy especially wanted to win this game, as anything other than three points would slash their chances of qualifying dramatically.
