Romania vs. Holland 6/17/08

[Amsteldam]

Any team could knock us out, we're not invincable. But yes, that is exactly what I'm saying.
Sorry, but I disagree
And Gullit doesnt think it was sucha great idea either:

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=742211

Sometimes you have to be cruel and show no mercy if you wanna be champions

[Reazzurro90]

In a perfect world, you're right. The Dutch have been the most entertaining of any team and I hope you win it all. Italy on the other had has a habit of "diving' their way into PKs. Let's hope the Dutch don't live to regret letting them advance when they had the chance to block it. Italy would not think twice about doing ANYTHING to get a win

In a perfect world, idiots would not exist, thus neither would your post.

@Dutch
I would have been pissed if you guys threw the game, but I would have understood it. Besides, I would have been too joyous about the victory over France to be that dissatisfied over it, to be perfectly honest.

Anyways, I think it was good for you guys to nail the Romanians. I don't think you guys really need to depend on throwing your game away in the first place, you have certainly proved to be good enough to thrash both the World Champions Italy and the Runners Up France. Why some of you are having the fear of meeting Italy in the semifinal, I don't know. I would expect a much more efficient Italy at that point (Heaven willing it happens), but I would be deathly afraid as well of another Dutch invasion.

But yeah, never a good idea to skip ahead to a game you're not already confirmed in going. You guys would be foolish to not take into consideration the quarterfinal you have with Russia before moving your mind directly to the semifinal possibilities. I'm not saying that you guys won't make it, but this tournament I think has shown that plenty of surprises are possible, and I wouldn't just count out a Russia that has just been buoyed by a very solid showing against Sweden.

Similarly, I don't think Italy should get cocky over the upcoming match against Spain. Yes, we have a fantastic record against them and the Spaniards are known to choke regularly in large tournaments, but I would never take the past into consideration. You Dutch already broke the taboo of not defeating Italy for some thirty years by crushing us 3-0, and Italy dispelled the taboo of not beating France for the same amount by winning 2-0 against them yesterday. In effect, past performances offer no glimpses to the future, period.

That being said, I would be thrilled to meet you guys again in the semifinal. Usually, I would be totally pissed against a team that defeated Italy, but I've fallen in love with the Dutch team after witnessing our defeat and the slaughter against the French side. I am not ashamed of having lost to such a strong Dutch side. If you guys do win, I'd be the first to congratulate you guys.


Finally: I really hope Italy will be the one that wins it all... LOL I wouldn't count us totally out either despite our first two showings... I have a feeling we'll be seeing a totally changed Italy in the upcoming matches... We are still in contention for this....

[Tetsuo]

Dude, you're going to have to chill out with the Piturca is an idiot crap. Of course we're all disappointed with how things went yesterday but I agree with his tactics up until later when it was clear we needed a goal and didn't have anyone pushing forward. I'm sure if Marica was fit he would have come in. If we held Holland to 0 and were able to get a scrappy goal like we did against them in Constanta we would have been through. Our only chance was to keep it tight and hope for that to happen. A lot of you guys are delusional thinking Romania could have just played open, free flowing football and beat the Dutch. Look how that worked out of the French and Italians.

i never disagreed with Piturca's tactic in the first 2 matches, and i explained that on another thread. but in this match we played against the dutch reserves (between the two of us in the first half, the dutch didn't played intensly) and we had to win. Piturca's limits were obvious in this match. i would have prefered to play as the russians even if it would have resulted in a 1-5 defeat! at least we would have played FOOTBALL. Piturca's tactic was to sit with our ass in the goal and wait....wait for what? i don't know. he played for a 0-0 and we became the laughing stock of the whole Europe.

at least admit that in this match Piturca failed miserably...

[Reazzurro90]

i never disagreed with Piturca's tactic in the first 2 matches, and i explained that on another thread. but in this match we played against the dutch reserves (between the two of us in the first half, the dutch didn't played intensly) and we had to win. Piturca's limits were obvious in this match. i would have prefered to play as the russians even if it would have resulted in a 1-5 defeat! at least we would have played FOOTBALL. Piturca's tactic was to sit with our ass in the goal and wait....wait for what? i don't know. he played for a 0-0 and we became the laughing stock of the whole Europe.

at least admit that in this match Piturca failed miserably...

I would say that Piturca was hoping that he could draw a Dutch reserve team, and expected Italy and France to tie.
An understandable guess, but a ridiculously stupid strategy, as you have said. You don't aim on depending on such results for your team.
Romania has all that it needed to end up knocking both Italy and France out of the group.
And although the Dutch played well, it doesn't really seem like Romania put up much effort, except in the very beginning of the match. Perhaps Piturca only watched the first 20 minutes of the Italy-France match and thought that it would droll out to a draw, and that if he could do the same thing, Romania could squeak out to the quarter final.

Wrong..................... Both premonitions failed miserably.

I agree with you - Romania should have attacked heart and soul, and would have come much better than it did. A victory was definitely not out of the question, you proved that in qualifying. I do not think that you guys had the confidence to do so, however, and I think Adrian Mutu himself didn't really recover from his missed penalty against Italy.

[ToonUSA]

I would say that Piturca was hoping that he could draw a Dutch reserve team, and expected Italy and France to tie.
An understandable guess, but a ridiculously stupid strategy, as you have said. You don't aim on depending on such results for your team.
Romania has all that it needed to end up knocking both Italy and France out of the group.
And although the Dutch played well, it doesn't really seem like Romania put up much effort, except in the very beginning of the match. Perhaps Piturca only watched the first 20 minutes of the Italy-France match and thought that it would droll out to a draw, and that if he could do the same thing, Romania could squeak out to the quarter final.

Wrong..................... Both premonitions failed miserably.

I agree with you - Romania should have attacked heart and soul, and would have come much better than it did. A victory was definitely not out of the question, you proved that in qualifying. I do not think that you guys had the confidence to do so, however, and I think Adrian Mutu himself didn't really recover from his missed penalty against Italy.
Wrong. He played for a 1-0 win, people that say he played for a 0-0 are idiots. That would be the dumbest thing ever and Piturca is not some dumbass inexperienced coach. Did you happen to watch us in qualifying? How were we able to beat the Dutch?

[Amsteldam]

Mourinho agrees with me also: http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=739955

The already-qualified Group C winners have the chance to eliminate the two World Cup finalists by losing to Romania tonight.

As a result there has been much conspiracy talk, and Mourinho was asked for his opinion on the matter.

"I understand the question. Truly I think that if the Netherlands were to meet Italy or France in the semi final, the story could be quite different from that of the first phase,” The Special One told Tuttosport.

"Holland have no blame if the Italians and the French are begging them to help them.

"Concentration and emotions will be different for the Dutch, they are already qualified, while it is the Romanians who are striving to get to the quarters.

“The Netherlands are like a fish in water when they go ahead, I refer to the exploration of space, but I want to just see what happens if the opposition scores against them first.”

Mourinho added that he believes in the honest nature of football, but at the same time he thinks that Holland have more chance of winning Euro 2008 with Italy and France both out of the competition.

“For Holland it is better if Romania win,” he stated.

[Tetsuo]

I agree with you - Romania should have attacked heart and soul, and would have come much better than it did. A victory was definitely not out of the question, you proved that in qualifying. I do not think that you guys had the confidence to do so, however, and I think Adrian Mutu himself didn't really recover from his missed penalty against Italy.

Mutu did very well yesterday! he had some good actions. he was in defense as well as in offense. he had the only 2 shots on goal for Romania. he did some driblings but he was always sorounded by 2-3 dutch players. what more could he have done? (he is not Maradona, so he can't dribble the whole dutch team). he constantly argued with Piturca to change the cursed tactic he yelled at his teammates to come forward...NOTHING! 8 players almost never crossed the midfield and M .niculae, our forward man was inexistent. after 0-1 what did Piturca did. nothing of course. we played defensively in order to conserve this prestigious defeat at only 1 goal with the dutch reserves. :rolleyes: Piturca! what a looser mentality...:(

[Reazzurro90]

Mutu did very well yesterday! he had some good actions. he was in defense as well as in offense. he had the only 2 shots on goal for Romania. he did some driblings but he was always sorounded by 2-3 dutch players. what more could he have done? (he is not Maradona, so he can't dribble the whole dutch team). he constantly argued with Piturca to change the cursed tactic he yelled at his teammates to come forward...NOTHING! 8 players almost never crossed the midfield and M .niculae, our forward man was inexistent. after 0-1 what did Piturca did. nothing of course. we played defensively in order to conserve this prestigious defeat at only 1 goal with the dutch reserves. :rolleyes: Piturca! what a looser mentality...:(

And that's a critical problem.... When you come in a loser... you exit a loser. It's quite simple, truly. Italy managed to defeat the French because they believed themselves and were united... while the French, in contrast....

Heart and determination makes all the difference... and from what you've been saying... it looks like your team had neither against the Dutch.

Did you happen to watch us in qualifying? How were we able to beat the Dutch?

I'm not saying Piturca is a crappy coach - even good coaches make mistakes, and I'd still say that Romania's result in this competition has not been altogether negative, considering the circumstances.

However, I do think he made a mistake against the Dutch yesterday. It may have been low self-belief, I don't know, but if that's the case, that's a major reason why you guys crashed out of the tournament.

[Tetsuo]

Wrong. He played for a 1-0 win, people that say he played for a 0-0 are idiots. That would be the dumbest thing ever and Piturca is not some dumbass inexperienced coach. Did you happen to watch us in qualifying? How were we able to beat the Dutch?

so you say Chivu is an idiot and lies. :rolleyes: Contra also said our main objective was to defend and avoid receiving a goal. this was Piturca's tactic 8-1-1! he was a coward in this crucial game. did you know that our fantastic suporters (in fewer numbers but clearly superior to the french, italians and dutch) started singing our anthem Desteapta-te romane in the 60th minute ( it means Awake romanian from your sleep for those who don't no it) did Piturca wake up? he didn't care for the suporters. all he cared is that he has on his Cv a defeat by ONLY :rolleyes: 2 goals from the dutch. Piturca was a coward in this game and that thing is obvious.

[Reazzurro90]

so you say Chivu is an idiot and lies. :rolleyes: Contra also said our main objective was to defend and avoid receiving a goal. this was Piturca's tactic 8-1-1! he was a coward in this crucial game. did you know that our fantastic suporters (in fewer numbers but clearly superior to the french, italians and dutch) started singing our anthem Desteapta-te romane in the 60th minute ( it means Awake romanian from your sleep for those who don't no it) did Piturca wake up? he didn't care for the suporters. all he cared is that he has on his Cv a defeat by ONLY :rolleyes: 2 goals from the dutch. Piturca was a coward in this game and that thing is obvious.

Haha, I loved that bit of the national anthem. Good one.

tell your Romanian friends in Italy to support Italy for the rest of the tournament, please.

PS - cheer up, you guys have a really good shot at getting to the World Cup in 2010. It doesn't look as if your qualifying group for that is very difficult (your hardest opponent in France - get a couple of draws and it'll have no effect).

[Tetsuo]

Haha, I loved that bit of the national anthem. Good one.

tell your Romanian friends in Italy to support Italy for the rest of the tournament, please.

PS - cheer up, you guys have a really good shot at getting to the World Cup in 2010. It doesn't look as if your qualifying group for that is very difficult (your hardest opponent in France - get a couple of draws and it'll have no effect).

thanks man :D it's not a tragedy (after all it's sport not a natural disaster) and i also hope for a good campaign for 2010 and for some changes in the first 11... well i'll actually root for Turkey and Holland, but as i said in another post i think Italy will reach the final and meet Germany or Croatia.:). i actually also have some italian friends as i've been to italy 2 times until now. and i must say it's a beautiful country :)

[1shot1kill]

Sorry, but I disagree
And Gullit doesnt think it was sucha great idea either:

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=742211

Sometimes you have to be cruel and show no mercy if you wanna be champions

Gullit... lol, he has lost all his status here in Holland being a horrible coach so he packed his bags and moved to the US.

[Strummerman]

Good luck to the Dutch against Russia- the russians will outrun you

[ToonUSA]

so you say Chivu is an idiot and lies. :rolleyes: Contra also said our main objective was to defend and avoid receiving a goal. this was Piturca's tactic 8-1-1! he was a coward in this crucial game. did you know that our fantastic suporters (in fewer numbers but clearly superior to the french, italians and dutch) started singing our anthem Desteapta-te romane in the 60th minute ( it means Awake romanian from your sleep for those who don't no it) did Piturca wake up? he didn't care for the suporters. all he cared is that he has on his Cv a defeat by ONLY :rolleyes: 2 goals from the dutch. Piturca was a coward in this game and that thing is obvious.

Yea, avoid getting scored on... the way we did when we played Holland in qualifying when we took 4 points. I understand you're upset that we didn't attack more and to be honest I am too, but there's a difference between disagreeing and misunderstanding and you're flirting with it.

[Tetsuo]

Yea, avoid getting scored on... the way we did when we played Holland in qualifying when we took 4 points. I understand you're upset that we didn't attack more and to be honest I am too, but there's a difference between disagreeing and misunderstanding and you're flirting with it.

you just don't get it...he kept defending even after 0-1!!! milions of suporters were disapointed by this last abysmal performance. the dutch practicly invited us to attack in the first half and we couldn't do it. the players should be ashamed of themselves and especially Piturca. anyway let's hope we don't play a 10-0-0 in the 2010 QF....Hai Romania!

[SoDamnSmooth]

Tournaments are a bit of a Chess game and sometimes you have to give up a pawn to win the game. I think the Dutch would have had a better chance at winning it all had they somehow lost yesterday

Either way you still have to play to win. I just don't like the Italian side so like I said I would have done it to spite them, not for fear of loss or anything like that.

Good analogy though

[Cannons]

Either way you still have to play to win. I just don't like the Italian side so like I said I would have done it to spite them, not for fear of loss or anything like that.

Good analogy though

I also don't like them and don't like the way they:

Dive to draw calls
Fake injuries
Bunker when they get ahead

The Dutch had the chance to get them eliminated. By not taking advantage of that, they may have to face them again and who knows what might happen.

Lets hope Italy gets eliminated in the knockout round before they have to face the Dutch again and this whole thing becomes moot