From the start Romania went on the attack as Tiberiu Ghioane of Ukraine champions Dynamo Kyiv narrowly missed connecting with Ciprian Marica only three minutes in. The VfB Stuttgart striker, Marica, was a whirlwind of activity and after a number of failed efforts he found the mark with six minutes remaining as he sent the ball in from twenty metres. The Lithuanian side continued to have difficulty marking Ciprian Marica but with Romania displaying textbook defending, their was no breaking through and the match concluded without further mark.

Along with “tricolori” debuts for Iulian Apostol (Unirea Urziceni) and Mihai Roman (FC Braşov), the match will be remembered as a exciting first step to recovery with Răzvan Lucescu in charge.

After considerable thought this will serve as my final post. If you care to apply for this blog please contact Daryl with The Offside (click here) after reviewing the guidelines at www.theoffside.com/bloggers.

In putting together his lineup the new manager has the luxury of captain Cristian Chivu returning to the lineup but once again Adrian Mutu will miss out. Romania will welcome six to the honour of international competition with Iulian Apostol, Mircea Bornescu, Ovidiu Dănănae, George Galamaz, Răzvan Pădureţu and Mihai Roman each earning their first cap. New faces aside will feature Timişoara’s Gigi Bucur who has been virtually unstoppable this year and Florin Costea, who has his side on the verge of a Europa League bid.

With it impossible to temper my confidence in Răzvan Lucescu, expect a very strong performance and for Romania to big its move back upon FIFA World rankings of 28.

Goalkeepers
Dănuţ Coman (FC Braşov) Costel Pantilimon (FC Timişoara), Mircea Bornescu (Universitatea Craiova), George Galamaz (Unirea Urziceni)

Defenders
Cristian Chivu (Inter Milan), Ovidiu Dănănae (Universitatea Craiova), George Galamaz (Unirea Urziceni), Dorin Goian (Steaua Bucureşti), Mihai Neşu (FC Utrecht), Mirel Rădoi (Al-Hilal), Răzvan Raţ (Shakhtar Donetsk), Cristian Săpunaru (FC Porto)

Midfielders
Iulian Apostol (Unirea Urziceni), Florin Costea (Universitatea Craiova),Tiberiu Ghioane (Dynamo Kyiv), Costin Lazăr (Rapid Bucureşti), Bogdan Mara (CFR Cluj), Răzvan Pădureţu (Unirea Urziceni), Mihai Roman (FC Braşov), Cristian Tănase (Argeş Piteşti),

Strikers
Gigi Bucur (FC Timişoara), Ionel Dănciulescu (Dinamo Bucureşti, Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart), Marius Niculae (Dinamo Bucureşti)

For Romania fans his appointment also marks an interesting return of the family name as his father Mircea Lucescu, presently Shakhtar Donetsk manager, led Romania in the early 1980’s including their 1984 World Cup appearance.

There has yet to be any announcements on a replacement as Romania returns to play in the first week of June against Lithania.

Romania was troubled from the get-go as they were without the services of Fiorentina’s Adrian Mutu and Universitatea Craiova’s Florin Costea. Austria, who were without talisman goal scorer Marc Janko, captain Andreas Ivanschitz, Alexander Manninger and György Garics, were quickly on their heels as Romania looked for an opening. After a early miss, Romania took the lead twenty four minutes in as Argeş Piteşti young midfielder Cristian Tănase chipped the ball over Austrian ‘keeper Michael Gspurning from thirty metres. Disaster struck for Romania the briefest of moments later as Răzvan Raţ and Gabriel Tamaş contributed to providing the ball to Rapid Wien’s promising striker “Jimmy” Hoffer, with the Austrian making no mistake. The Rapid Wien man completed his double a minute before the break with an extraordinary one-man effort before sending the ball past Bogdan Lobonţ. In the second forty-five Dorel Stoica, Marius Niculae and Maximilian Nicu were all introduced with an eye towards the goal and although Romania came within a whisper of scoring, it was not to be in a 2-1 loss. As the match concluded, Victor Piţurcă walked off in what is very possibly his final match for Romania as hopes for the World Cup fade to black.

Last weeks 3-2 to Serbia in Constanţa was the tale of two halves. A strong performance in the final forty-five minutes, off-set by a pithy first half. Propelled by Fiorentina’s Adrian Mutu the Tricolorii came storming back to come close to leveling but “close” was as good as it would get and another opportunity was lost. The troubled Austrians have went through a managerial chance with Karel Brückner resigning and Didi Constantini taking over but have one of most underrated striking duo’s in the sport with Red Bull Salzburg’s Marc Janko and Marko Arnautović of FC Twente.

Unfortunately for Victor Piţurcă he will be without the Adrian Mutu who has returned to Fiorentina to undergo knee surgery due to a injury suffered against Serbia. FC Universitatea Craiova’s Florin Costea is additionally out due to suspension, which will likely cause a striking pairing of VfB Stuttgart’s Ciprian Marica and Marius Niculae of Dinamo Bucureşti.

Asleep at the wheel, Romania showed little confidence before the break with the exception of a few intriguing efforts by Fiorentina’s Adrian Mutu. The lightening quick counter attack of CSKA Moskova’s Miloš Krasić and Milan Jovanović resulted in the Standard Liège striker pouncing on a close range rebound off the crossbar to give the White Eagles the 1-0 lead after seventeen minutes. Serbia came within a whisper of doubling the margin thirty minutes in but Dinamo Bucureşti ‘keeper Bogdan Lobonţ made a crucial save. Disaster struck for Romania moments before the half as Serbia’s in-swinging corner was headed in by Dorel Stoica, sending Romania to the break down 2-0. Between the break Victor Piţurcă seemed to work a bit of magic as Romania came out breathing fire and after a number of close range efforts Adrian Mutu provided Ciprian Marica the ball with the VfB Stuttgart man making no mistake. However Romanian supporters were silenced just before the hour mark as poor clearance off a corner allowed Branislav Ivanović to volley the ball in from close range, returning the two goal margin. Needing attacking spark, FC Timişoara’s Gheorghe Bucur was called upon just past the hour mark and after an extended period of feverish play Universitatea Craiova’s Dorel Stoica made up for the own-goal scoring with seventeen minutes remaining from the work of Adrian Mutu. Down by one Victor Piţurcă called up Marius Niculae of Dinamo Bucureşti for an extra striker and whilst they continued to launch aggressively forward, the leveling goal was not to be found as they lost 3-2.

The bitter pill for all Romanian supporters now is that despite an extraordinary pool of domestic talent qualifying for World Cup seems to be the most unlikely of scenarios. Behind second place Lithuania by five points a victory is an absolute must against Austria next Wednesday.

In a surprise move Maximilian Nicu of Bundesliga side Hertha BSC, only recently granted Romanian citizenship, makes his debut for the Tricolorii.

With the upcoming matches Victor Piţurcă will go forward with the following squad list:

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

Defender
Cosmin Contra (Getafe CF), Cristian Săpunaru (FC Porto), Dorel Stoica (Universitatea Craiova), Gabriel Tamaş (Dinamo Bucureşti), Dorin Goian (Steaua Bucureşti), Mirel Rădoi (Al-Hilal), Răzvan Raţ (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mihai Neşu (FC Utrecht)

Midfielder
Bănel Nicoliţă (Steaua Bucureşti), Ovidiu Petre (Steaua Bucureşti), Alexandru Bourceanu (Oţelul Galaţi), Răzvan Cociş (Lokomotiv Moscova), Paul Codrea (AC Siena), Cristian Tănase (Argeş), Maximilian Nicu (Hertha BSC)

Striker
Gheorghe Bucur (Timişoara), Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina), Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart), Florin Costea (Universitatea Craiova) şi Marius Niculae (Dinamo Bucureşti)

Defensive marking was extremely sound early as Croatia could not break through the disciplined România side. At the twenty-second minute România took the lead as Răzvan Cociş (Lokomotiv Moscow) played Ciprian Marica through with the VfB Stuttgart striker pounding the ball behind Croatia ‘keeper Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow). However the lead was short-lived as Ivan Rakitić (Schalke 04) struck a swerving free kick from over thirty-five meters that fooled România ‘keeper Bogdan Lobonţ (Dinamo Bucureşti)

At the break Mihai Neşu (FC Utrecht), George Ogăraru (Steaua Bucureşti) and Bănel Nicoliţă (Steaua Bucureşti) entered the match for the Tricolorii along with Gheorghe Bucur (FC Timişoara) for Florin Costea (FC U Craiova) on the hour and Alexandru Bourceanu (Oţelul Galaţi) for Paul Codrea twelve minutes later. After a tightly played half with few notable scoring opportunities Heerenveen’s Danijel Pranjić corner wasn’t cleared properly and Niko Kranjčar (Portsmouth) sent the loose ball in. In the later stages of the match both Costel Pantilimon (FC Timişoara) and Dacian Varga entered and gained valuable experience with the match concluding with a 2-1 defeat.

România returns to action in a crucial match against Serbia next month.

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)