Frustration or motivation for disappointed Mutu?

Adrian Mutu has had, by any footballing measure, a very bad week. First, he was again kept at bay by the solid defense of Rangers, and watched as his occasional strike partner Christian Vieri miss a penalty that took them out of the UEFA Cup. Then, in his third-to-last league match with the Viola, he was red-carded, leaving him out of the team’s last two Serie A matches of the season. To add to his woes, the team lost and dropped to fifth, out of the Champions League, as AC Milan passed them in the standings. Now it will be a dogfight to climb back into that spot, and Mutu will have to watch from the stands.

The big question for Romania fans is how Mutu will respond. He is basically done with competitive football now until June 9th, when the Tricolorii take on France in their Euro 2008 opener. Will the time off, and the fact that his club season ended on such a poor note, motivate him to tear up the competition when the group stage starts in Switzerland? Or will the malaise brought on from a sad end to the season cause him more frustration, and affect his play come June?

We’ll have to wait to find out for sure, but the team and its fans are well aware that as Mutu goes, so goes Romania. He has only played in one major tournament in his career, the promising Euro 2000 where Romania made the quarterfinals before losing 2-0 to Italy. He has never scored in a major tournament, but more importantly, when he does score, Romania win. Mutu has scored in 22 international matches, and in those matches, Romania has 19 wins, 2 draws, and only one loss. So, as disappointing as this week must have been, he’ll need to get his head together and concentrate, because with France, Italy and the Netherlands waiting, the Tricolorii are going to need him more than ever.