Romania rejuvenated by Bucur
Wednesday, 8 June 2005
Gheorghe Bucur scored twice to help Romania defeat
FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 1 rivals Armenia in
Constanta.
Romania goalscorer Gheorghe Bucur with Aleksandr
Tadevosyan of Armenia
Petre opener
The FC Sportul Studentesc forward scored a goal in the
latter stages of each half to add to Ovidiu Petre’s
29th-minute opener, but Romania are still five points
off a play-off place having played a game more than
runaway duo the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
Five retained
Romania’s 2-0 defeat against the Dutch at the weekend
caused coach Victor Piturca to shuffle his pack,
retaining only five players from that game in his
starting lineup.
Defensive strategy
The visitors’ defensive strategy was clear from the
outset, with Edgar Manchurian providing their only
real presence up front. Unsurprisingly therefore,
Romania were soon dominating possession and went ahead
just before the half-hour mark. Gigel Coman was the
architect, creating space down the left flank before
delivering a superb cross that Petre headed in from
five metres.
Berezovsky beaten
The game was effectively over eleven minutes later
when Mihaita Plesan lofted a long ball to Dorinel
Munteanu, who in turn nodded into the path of Bucur.
The striker, starting in place of Adrian Mutu, made no
mistake as he fired past Roman Berezovsky.
Clean sheet
Bucur added his second ten minutes from time in a poor
second period to add a touch of gloss to the
scoreline, although Piturca will have been pleased to
see his team keep a clean sheet for the frst time in
18 months.
Must-win matches
If Romania are to keep alive their slender hopes of
qualification, they must win their next fixture at
home against Andorra next month before tackling the
Czechs at home on 3 September. Sixth-placed Armenia
face the Netherlands on the same