Raymond Domenech watched France give away a sloppy 5th minute opener away at Romania, a wayward pass deceived William Gallas and Florentin Petre stole in on the blindside to fire past Mandanda. And the French nightmare intensified 12 minutes later, Dorin Goian lost Alain Boumsong to head home a corner. Franck Ribery gave Les Bleus hope in the 36th minute, slotting home after a slick one-touch pass from Yoann Gourcuff in the build up. At the end of the first half, Boumsong delivered a kung-fu kick on Mutu, but he fortunately only got a booking. With half an hour to go Yoann Gourcuff grabbed a wonderful equaliser, collecting a pass from Ribery 35-yards from goal before letting rip with a thunderbolt that raced in via the underside of the bar. France went for the win, but Lobont made two fabulous saves from Henry and a follow-up to deny any hopes of a turnaround.
Comincia malissimo la serata per i Bleus: Vieira nel riscaldamento si fa male e deve dare forfait. Mourinho, in tribuna per osservarlo, non crediamo l’abbia presa bene. Se possibile, in campo va anche peggio, perché dopo 17 minuti la Romania è avanti 2-0. Due disattenzioni della difesa favoriscono rispettivamente Petre e Goian. Sull’orlo del burrone, Domenech trova i suoi salvatori in Ribery e Gourcuff. Il fantasista del Bayern riceve palla dal milanista e accorcia le distanze; le parti si invertono nella ripresa, ed è l’incredibile pari. Da antologia il gol di Gourcuff, che si inventa una saetta da 30 metri sotto la traversa. E, forse, tiene a galla il suo allenatore.
An under-strengeth Romania suffered a shock defeat to minnows Lithuania. Marius Stankevicius opened the scoring for the visitors with a powerful 25-yard shot in the 31st minute. Saulius Mikoliunas added a second midway through the second half, before Mindaugas Kalonas scored the third after a swift counter-attack four minutes from time.
Romania’s Euro 2008 quarter-final dream died as they lost 2-0 to the Netherlands with goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie. A win for Victor Piturca’s side would have guaranteed progression, while a draw would have been enough if the match in Zurich between World Cup finalists Italy and France also ended in stalemate. However optimism turned to trepidation then despair as first Ajax man Huntelaar then Arsenal’s Van Persie finished clinically either side of half-time.
Il terzo successo consecutivo degli Oranje condanna Mutu e Chivu, troppo tesi e poco concreti. I gol nella ripresa: apre Huntelaar, chiude Van Persie. L’Italia ringrazia.
Gianluigi Buffon’s late penalty save earned Italy a 1-1 draw with Romania at the Pro Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich that keeps their hopes of progressing to the Euro 2008 knockout phase alive. Adrian Mutu gave Romania a second-half lead when he punished an error from Italy defender Gianluca Zambrotta, but Christian Panucci equalised seconds later. Mutu was then handed a chance to score the goal that would have knocked Italy out of the tournament when Panucci was penalised for holding him inside the Italy area, but the Romanian hitman saw his spotkick brilliantly kept out by Buffon.
Decisiva Italia-Francia. Finisce 1-1 la seconda partita della squadra di Donadoni. Grande spettacolo: gol di Mutu e Panucci, Buffon para un rigore all’attaccante della Fiorentina, prodezze dei due portieri, annullato un gol regolare a Toni. Decisiva Italia-Francia.
France were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Romania in their opening Euro 2008 Group C match at the Pro Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich. Les Bleus dominated possession throughout, but failed to seriously test Romania goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont, with Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema spurning the best of the few opportunities they managed to create.
Gli avversari dell’Italia del girone C non impressionano all’esordio dell’Europeo. I Bleus provano a fare la partita ma sono lenti e prevedibili e non pungono in zona gol. Male Anelka e Benzema. La Romania si limita a contenere e porta a casa il pari che voleva.
