FRANCE 98 – Match Summary n°15
Striker Adrian Ilie outshone his mentor Gheorghe Hagi as Romania held out for a 1-0 victory over Colombia in their World Cup opener here on Monday. Ilie capped a superb individual performance with a wonderfully-taken goal on the stroke of half-time.
The 1994 quarter-finalists were well worth the victory and showed enough, albeit in patches, to suggest they will provide a serious challenge to England for the top place in group G. But their failure to capitalise on their early domination ensured there were some nervous moments at the end and they had to thank goalkeeper Bogdan Stelea for ensuring the points after Freddy Rincon split their defence wide open six minutes from time. Second-half substitute Adolfo Valencia sprinted on to Rincon’s through ball and struck a fine shot that Stelea did well to reach diving to his right.
Up to then, Rincon’s 60th minute drive, which flashed just past the outside of the post, was the nearest the Colombians came to scoring as once again star playmaker Carlos Valderrama and striker Faustino Asprilla failed to sparkle. Ilie’s strike came on the stroke of half time and it was a typical piece of inspiration from veteran midfielder Gheorghe Hagi that gave him his chance. Hagi’s backheel on the edge of the box completely wrong-footed the Colombian defence and Ilie, who plays with the Romanian superstar at Turkish club Galatasaray, was able to sweep past one challenge and move into the box. With Colombian defender Evereth Placios closing in he clipped the ball deftly with the outside of his right foot into the far top corner of the net from the narrowest of angles.
Hagi shrugged off the late scares and the Romanians’ failure to take their chances, some of which were followed by him screaming at his errant team-mates. ” The important thing is that we won. Nothing else matters, “ Hagi said. ” We showed that when we need to be we are just as good in defence as in attack. “ Hagi, who showed flashes of his old brilliance before being substituted 15 minutes from the end, said he was determined to take Romania as far as possible in the tournament. ” This is going to be my last World Cup and I want to leave a good impression, “ he said.
By the time he finally opened the scoring, Ilie had already carved out three clear chances-all of them squandered by English club Coventry forward Viorel Moldovan. After failing to connect with Ilie’s 11th minute cross with the Colombian goal gaping, Moldovan should have put the Romanians ahead five minutes later. Colombian keeper Farid Mondragon did well to parry Ilie’s shot and get up again to defy Moldovan’s rebound effort but the Coventry City forward should have scored and was rewarded with a fierce tongue-lashing from Hagi for his miss.
Six minutes before the break, another strong Ilie run finished with the ball breaking to Moldovan but with only Mondragon to beat he managed to head wide. Colombia only went close to scoring once in the opening period and that was when Romanian defender Gheorghe Popescue nearly deflected Harold Lozano’s free kick into his own net.
Colombia coach Hernan Dario Gomes, still haunted by the murder of defender Andres Escobar after his side’s disastrous showing in USA 94, put a brave face on the defeat. ” With a bit of luck things might have been different, “ he said. ” We have lost this game but we have still got to play Tunisia and England and we will do everything we can to win those two games. “