Victor Piţurcă’s difficult test

Through the first three World Cup qualifying matches Romania has been challenged in hitting is stride. Sitting in Group 7 with only one victory after three matches, the Tricolorii have fallen ten spots in world ranking since August and now stand at twenty-first. Manger Victor Piţurcă, since returning to the national team in December 2004 from Steaua Bucureşti, has led the steady rebuilding that was needed after Gheorghe Hagi’s playing days ended four years prior but he will need to be at his best for the team to get back into contention.

Plagued with a series of absences from his side, the manager is grappling to get his side running on all cylinders as they gear up for a crucial qualifying match against Serbia in March, yet with that said, they are more than capable of running through the balance of their matches victorious. For tomorrow’s friendly against Croatia, Romania is once again without Cristian Chivu and Adrian Mutu but they will have Cosmin Contra, Florentin Petre and Steaua Bucureşti midfielder Ovidiu Petre available.

For the match Victor Piţurcă has called up the following players. Please note there has been no announcement on replacement players:

Goalkeeper
Bogdan Lobonţ (FC Dinamo Bucureşti), Costel Pantilimon (FC Timişoara)

Defender
Cosmin Contra (Getafe CF), George Ogăraru (Steaua Bucureşti), Dorin Goian (Steaua Bucureşti), Gabriel Tamaş (FC Dinamo), Mirel Rădoi (Al Hilal), Cristian Chivu (Inter Milan), Răzvan Raţ (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mihai Neşu (FC Utrecht)

Midfielder:
Florentin Petre (Terek Grozny), Bănel Nicoliţă (Steaua Bucureşti), Ovidiu Petre (Steaua Bucureşti), Paul Codrea (AC Siena), Alexandru Bourceanu (FC Oţelul Galaţi), Iulian Tameş (FC Argeş), Răzvan Cociş (FC Lokomotiv Moscow)

Striker:
Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart), Gheorghe Bucur (FC Timişoara), Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina) şi Florin Costea (FC U Craiova)