The rumors of Mutu’s fate have been greatly exaggerated

It’s four days until the Tricolorii of Romania take on Russia in the second friendly of the year, and one of the stars of Romania’s Euro 2008 qualifying run might be a little healthier than previously indicated. We knew, as of last week, that Adrian Mutu was cleared to play despite being left off of the initial roster due to his knee injury. Today, his play for Fiorentina at home to Lazio certainly indicated that he’s ready for duty. He didn’t manage to score in the 1-0 Viola win, but he had a couple of dangerous-looking headers, and forced an excellent save in extra time with a lovely shot. Obviously, if one of his shots had bulged the net, there would be a bit more confidence, but he still looks ready for action.

In other club action today, Auxerre defender Gabriel Tamaş, who got both of his two career international goals for Romania in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, had a rough day out today, losing 3-1 at home to give Saint-Etienne only their second away win of the season. Striker Daniel Niculae was fairly anonymous on the day for Auxerre as well. Captain Christian Chivu picked up a yellow card and had a number of nice-looking shots, but ultimately his Inter fell to Juve, 2-1. He looked particularly dangerous on a first-half free kick that was headed for the low corner, but Buffon saved it brilliantly and kept Chivu off the scoreline. The “other Niculae”, striker Marius Niculae waited patiently for a cross or ball in to arrive to him, but did so mostly in vain as Inverness Caley Thistle continued their terrible run of form, going down to Kilmarnock 4-1. Ciprian Marica sat on the bench all game as his Stuttgart teammates made easy work of relegation-threatened Hansa Rostock, 4-1. Razvan Cocis played 71 minutes up front for Locomotiv Moscow in their 2-1 win over Shinnik Yaroslav today, but it was fellow striker Peter Odemwingie who scored both of the goals.

Earlier in the week, veteran Romania defender Cosmin Contra played all 90 minutes of Getafe’s 1-1 draw with Racing that sent them on to the finals of the Copa del Ray. Cosmin will be looking to improve on last year’s final, when Getafe went down 1-0 to Sevilla. After that defeat, and losing in extra time to Liverpool in the 2001 UEFA Cup final, let’s hope Cosmin finally gets a cup winner’s medal this time around.

More to come this week as the Tricolorii prepare for the Russians on Wednesday.