World Cup qualifier against Lithuania

Victor Piţurcă named Romania’s squad the starts World Cup qualifying this Saturday in Cluj against Lithuania. Injuries have hit the Tricolorii hard as they will be without Cristian Chivu, Adrian Mutu, Razvan Rat, Florentin Petre, who has been playing brilliantly for Terek Grozny in the Russian Premier League and Steaua Bucureşti’s George Ogararu.

Leading up the match I will be previewing the opposition and considerations for Victor Piţurcă. The squad he called is noted below:

Goalkeepers: Bogdan Lobont (Dinamo Bucharest), Eduard Stăncioiu (CFR Cluj)

Defenders: Cosmin Contra (Getafe/ESP), Cristian Săpunaru (FC Porto/POR), Gabriel Tamaş and Cosmin Moti (Dinamo Bucharest), Dorin Goian and Sorin Ghionea (Steaua Bucharest), Ştefan Radu (Lazio/ITA), Mihai Nesu (FC Utrecht/NED)

Midfielders: Bănel Nicoliţă and Pihai Radoi (Steaua Bucharest), Răzvan Cociş (Locomotiv Moscow/RUS), Paul Codrea (Siena/ITA), Costin Lazăr (Rapid Bucharest), Marian Aliuţă (FC Vaslui), Nicolae Dică (Catania/ITA)

Strikers: Florin Bratu and Marius Nicolae (Dinamo Bucharest), Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart/GER), Daniel Niculae (Auxerre/FRA), Florin Costea (Univ. Craiova)