A football country returns to the big stage: now the Romanians want to win the group against us

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 fmXrkB”>

The photos couldn’t have been more different. While the national team is subdued after Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Basel despite qualifying for the European Championship, the mood in Felcsut, more than 1,000 kilometers to the east, is exuberant. The Romanians are in a festive mood after the 2-1 win over Israel. The players are already letting loose on the field and then hijack the press conference of coach Eduard Iordanescu (45). Later at the hotel we toasted our success.

Iordanescu is a big name in Romanian football. Eduard’s father, Anghel Iordanescu (73), is one of the great coaches of the Federatia Romana de Fotbal. In 1986 he coached Steaua Bucharest to victory in the Masters Cup, and in 2015 he was the last person to lead Romania to a major tournament with the European Championships in France. “This is of course a great moment for our family and makes us all very proud,” Eduard Iordanescu told Blick. “But now the focus is back on our work.”

Romania wants to win the group

Because from the Romanian perspective, the job is not done yet. On Tuesday evening there will be a match for group victory against the national team in the sold-out national stadium in front of more than 50,000 fans. “We want to finish qualifying without defeat,” says Iordanescu. “And we want to defend first place, so that we have a better starting position for the European Championship draw.”

From Iordanescu’s point of view, Switzerland is the favourite. “They are strong individually and have a lot of international experience. They have Champions League winners and players who play for the titles in their clubs year after year.” The Romanian coach has good memories of the first leg in Lucerne, when the Romanians scored a point with a brace shortly before the end. “Switzerland controlled the match and could have scored more goals. But we believed in ourselves and didn’t give up. The point was very important, especially for our morale.”

While Yakin’s team only wins one more match, Romania marches on. An important success for the once proud and great, but recently badly damaged football country. Romania last participated in a World Cup in 1998. The coach at the time: Anghel Iordanescu. Now his son must lead Romania to new spheres. “After all those years of falling through the cracks, we are back among the European elite,” says Eduard Iordanescu happily.

Source : Blick