Gică Hagi achieved the first victory in the new mandate of Romania’s selector! At the “Steaua” stadium, the tricolors defeated Wales with a score of 2-1, after a match that can give hope.
True to the principle announced three weeks ago, the “King” used this match to see as many players as possible at work, so he changed the team strongly compared to four days ago, in the draw with Georgia, from Tbilisi (score 1-1). He introduced as headliners either players who played only in the second half of Tuesday’s match, or footballers who did not play there at all. The starting team was as follows: Hindrich – Sorescu, Burcă, M. Ilie, Eissat – Stanciu, T. Băluță, Dragomir – Olaru, L. Munteanu, Baiaram.
The first half was dominated by our team, which “opened” the score in the 25th minute, but the joy lasted for two seconds, as the assistant showed Louis Munteanu offside, although there was no such thing. As there is no VAR system in the friendlies, the absolutely superb goal scored by the forward from DC United (USA) – a shot from the run, directly to the crossbar, from 18 meters – remained in the memory of the microbists only as a beautiful, but useless success.
The goals were scored in the second half
When leaving the booths, the Romanians kept the same momentum, and in the 52nd minute Florinel Coman opened the scoring with a shot from inside the box. About 2-0 minutes of Welsh dominance followed, concretized by a goal scored in the 63rd minute by Brooks, a disallowed free on the left side of our defence.
Two exceptional interventions by Târnovanu followed and, when we feared for the fate of the match, came a superb cross from youngster David Matei to his Universitatea Craiova team-mate Adrian Rus, who scored with an excellent header. It was the 80th minute and most of the 23,276 spectators present in the stands (about 200 were Welsh).
As we headed for victory, a Welsh attack was to spoil our evening. Fortunately, Adrian Rus saved from the goal line, and in the next phase Târnovanu intervened again as a rescuer, even if he gave us emotions, falling inert after an opponent shot the ball in his face. Fortunately, he recovered quickly and will be able to take part in the wedding that he has been planning for a long time.
A deserved victory obtained by Romania, the first in the new mandate of Gică Hagi, and the performance of the tricolors gives us hope that we could have joy in the League of Nations, a competition that starts in September.
