The coach Mircea Lucescu declared, on Thursday, in the press conference before the game with Kosovo in the League of Nations, the first since his return to the national team after a break of 38 years, that Romania is willing to make every effort to take a step forward .
Mircea Lucescu. PHOTO: Facebook
“Let’s not forget that Romania is a team that qualified for the European Championship and achieved a performance there, leaving the group in first place. The Romanian national team is willing to make every effort to take a step forward for a possible World Cup qualification. We are here to play football in a European competition where each team tries to bring its best to the field. I expect a sporting atmosphere, regardless of what one fan or another will allow themselves to do during this match. The match is played on the field, and I expect there to be no incidents. We are sportsmen and we know how to defend each other, we all have this DNA of fair play in us. So I don’t have any worries. The atmosphere should be in the stands, on the field there are two teams playing football“, stated Lucescu, according to Agerpres.
“All missions are difficult, but I know what I have committed myself to and we try to do what we have to do together. The time available was very short, some of the players did only one training session, the one on Wednesday. So that’s the situation, but we work a lot on the mental level. But I’m glad that I met a good, obedient, disciplined and attentive group. But something more is needed to make a leap. We will see to what extent we will succeed. It depends on them, I am here to help them with my experience. I hope that they will adapt, of course, there is an age difference, but I hope that my spirit has remained quite young. That is, I should come down to their level, not them to rise to my level. For me, it’s as if I was permanently with the national team, no problem. I adapted very quickly“, he added.
Mircea Lucescu explained that he will help Ianis Hagi overcome the problems he has with the club team, as he will do with regard to Horatiu Moldovan.
“All the teams in Romania want Ianis. He’s going through a tough time there, but I’m sure he’ll get through it. We have to help him. As far as Horatiu Moldovan is concerned, it is my decision regarding him. He asked me to leave him because he wants to become the owner there. And I want to become a holder there. He was reproached for not playing because he did not train with the team and that he needs time to train with the team. So he gave me the phone, and I think that rather than keeping him in reserve, it’s better for him to train there, to become a starter at Sassuolo, so that we have a goalkeeper who can play match after match in a strong championship. So this is the reason why I left him with the club team and I don’t regret anything. It was my decision, because if I forced him, he would come to the national team“, mentioned the technician.
A special treatment also goes to Alexandru Mitriţă, a shy player in the opinion of Mircea Lucescu.
“Mitriţă is a very good player, he plays well match by match, he is efficient. He is very shy, he is emotional and we need to talk to him differently than we talk to the other players. I also talked to him in the morning, he told me that he will do everything that is asked of him. I hope that the national team plays there, in Craiova, and he plays in front of his supporters. He deserves to be called up to the national team from all points of view“, said the selector.
The Romanian national team meets Kosovo on September 6 (9:45 p.m., Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Prishtina) and Lithuania on September 9 (9:45 p.m., Steaua Stadium in Bucharest) in its first two parties from the 2024-2025 edition of the League of Nations.
