Croatia set to take on Romania

February 8, 2009

Wednesday, February 11th, Croatia and Romania will meet in Bucharest for a national friendly match. Romania currently sit 5th in their World Cup qualifying group with three games played. Out of the three games they have one win, one loss, and one draw, scoring three goals and having conceded five. The Romanian national team has succeeded in their past FIFA World Cup campaigns, as they have reached the final stages no less than seven times. They made the quarterfinals in World Cup USA 1994, where they were victorious over two-time world champions, Argentina; unfortunately, they fell to Sweden in the next stage.

During World Cup France 1998, in the early round they made their exit and in the two following World Cups, they failed to qualify. This time around, they seem to be highly motivated to reach South Africa. With the likes of Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu, who both got Romania through qualifying to the Euro 2008, in their squad, they have a fair chance. But first, it will take some hard work to get there, considering their current position on their group table. Next in their qualifying campaign they will play Serbia on March 28, 2009, and surely they will be looking for a win.

On the other hand, Croatia hold 2nd in their group table just behind England. With four games played, they have two wins, one loss, and one draw; with eight goals to their name, they have only conceded four (all to England). Despite only being an independent nation since 1991, they have an excellent record on the world stage. They missed the World Cup of 1994, due to war for independence. However, in 1998, they re-made their world debut as their own nation and they finished 3rd in the world earning their highest ever ranking on the FIFA world ranking list.

In the next two World Cups they went out in the early stages and the fans were rather disappointed. After World Cup Germany 2006, Slaven Bilic, a former player and U-21 coach, took over fully for Zlatko Kranjcar as first team coach. After a wonderful Euro Cup 2008 tournament, much is expected from Bilic’s squad. They are looking to secure a spot in South Africa, but they will have to bypass England to guarantee themselves a position. On April 1st, 2009, they will again play Andorra, who they beat 4-0 in their last meeting.

Jill Guthrie

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