ROMANIA VS ITALY, WORLD CUP QUARTER SEMI FINALS
Andone is back! I start Balasa for a tired Screciu. This is the first powerhouse we’ve played, only Portugal was the big team of quality. We won a group with Mexico, Australia and Chile. Then we beat Croatia and Portugal, who aren’t slouches, but they aren’t a heavy like Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, etc. Now we have Italy. And it stands between us and the World Cup finals. Make it past here, and we have Denmark or Senegal to face.
FOR THE FANS!!!
Anytime we get the ball for a shot to move at goal, they are fast, disciplined, and strong and shut us down. Until the 12th minute:
Good job Ivan! Radu stops a couple of nasty shots. Pretty quiet though. Half, we are up 1-0. Don’t get complacent!
We score on a long FK in a few minutes.
And then some more pressure!
But then it happens….
They injure Radu, and I have to pull him. I send in my main backup, Pantillimon. They injure Ivan as well and Raul Cobarzan heads in. In the 69th, Italy scores. Dima out. Tired. In the 81st, they score again. 86th minute they score again
And now it’s tied! Even with an injured GK, Italy have come from three quickly. Can my offense grab another goal here? Just like they have so often? Lupu? It’s time to take this team on your shoulders and become the man of destiny. Become the Romanian Messi. Find that 4th goal. Get us to the Finals. SIX minutes of added time. Lupu, you have a shot! And there it is!
Just for Italy, not us…
We lose 3-4. MOM is Ivan.
Today the destiny is Italy’s, not ours.
This game is going to go down as one of the greatest comebacks in WC History, 3-0 with 65 minutes to go and your enemy GK goes down, you still expect to win.
Radu is out for a few days.
Denmark over Senegal 5-3.
We have a third place match with Senegal and Denmark are fighting Italy for the Cup.