Romania captain Cristian Chivu is confident his side can clinch their place in the Euro 2008 finals and send Italy and France home with a victory over the Netherlands in Berne today.
The Romanians have their destiny in their own hands after following up a goalless draw with France in their opening match by holding world champions Italy to a 1-1 draw in Zurich on Saturday.
With the two teams that contested the 2006 World Cup final reeling from their thrashings at the hands of the rampant Dutch, the Romanians know a win over what is likely to be a second-string Netherlands side will put them in the quarter-finals.
PHOTO: AFP
Marco van Basten’s side have appeared irresistible but Romania go into their final group match bolstered by the knowledge that they took four points out of six from their opponents during qualifying for the tournament.
Chivu, who made his name at Ajax before moving to AS Roma and then Inter Milan, does not read too much into that particular statistic but does believe the Romanians have displayed sufficient quality to believe they can get the result they need.
“We beat them 1-0 in our qualifier at home, in Constanza,” he said. “But that was a special match with lots of rain and wind. We had a lot of luck that day.”
“But this is a special moment for us now. We have the chance to reach the quarter finals and we’re going to give everything for 90 minutes to do that,” he said.
Chivu gives no credence to suggestions that the already-qualified Dutch might prefer to take their foot off the accelerator pedal and allow the Romanians a win that would eliminate two of the pre-tournament favorites.
“I know the Dutch mentality very well, there is no way they will go into a match not trying to win.
“Maybe they will rest Ruud van Nistelrooy, but who do you get instead — Robin van Persie? It will hardly be a weak side we are playing against and the players who have not played yet will be trying to impress [Marco] van Basten.”
Romania’s cause has been hit by the loss of two key players, the holding midfielder Miral Radoi, whose tournament has been ended by an eye injury, and the centrer-back Dorin Goian, who is suspended after collecting a needless second yellow card for time-wasting during the Italy match.
Romania will not necessarily need a win to get through. If the France and Italy match ends in a draw, a point will be sufficient for Victor Piturca’s side.
Van Basten is expected to rotate his players but has insisted the Dutch will be looking to win the match and sustain the momentum they have built up in their first two matches as they look ahead to a quarter-final clash against Sweden or Russia.
Arjen Robben, who terrorised the French after coming on as a substitute in the last match, could be in line to start today with Wesley Sneijder possibly given the chance to get this breath back after man-of-the-match displays in his first two matches.
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