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Romania rejoices Upset of England moves squad into quarterfinals
Posted: Tuesday June 20, 2000 06:10 PM
CHARLEROI, Belgium (AP) -- Substitute Ioan Ganea scored an 88th minute penalty as Romania dramatically came from behind to beat England 3-2 on Tuesday, knocking the English out of Euro 2000 and setting up a quarterfinal against Italy. Manchester United defender Phil Neville hauled down Viorel Moldovan wide on the right and Swiss referee Urs Meier pointed to the spot. Ganea sent goalkeeper Nigel Martyn the wrong way and the Romanians arched into the last eight along with Group A winner Portugal. "Of course I am devastated," England coach Kevin Keegan said. "We did not play well enough but with five minutes to go I thought we could hang on to something. But it was not to be." "We've spent three matches chasing the football. We got into a position of being 2-1 up but we never played as well as we can. We have to ask if we can pass it better and control a game. The answer in this tournament is sadly we couldn't." Romania, looking by far the better side in the opening stages, had taken a 22nd minute lead through Cristian Chivu. But two goals in the space of five minutes at the end of the first half from Alan Shearer and Michael Owen gave England the initiative. But a rasping volley from Dorinel Munteanu after a blunder by goalkeeper Nigel Martyn leveled the scores just after halftime. And the late penalty sealed it. England, back in action for the first time since being threatened with expulsion from Euro 2000 due to fan violence, made one change, with Martyn a late replacement for David Seaman who injured his left leg minutes before kickoff. The Leeds goalkeeper was soon in action when Martin Keown conceded a free kick on the edge of the area in the opening minute. Valencia's Adrian Ilie struck the free kick firmly past the wall but Martyn dived to his left to palm the shot away expertly. But Martyn was beaten in the 22nd minute when England failed to clear a right wing corner and Chivu collected the ball on the left, floated in a cross to the far post. Moldovan was well placed and unmarked for a free header but he wasn't needed because the ball struck the inside of the post and bounced in. The threat of expulsion seemed irrelevant for the first 30 minutes as, England, needing only a draw to progress, was comprehensively outplayed, its midfield and defense struggling to cope with Romania's incisive passing and movement off the ball. Romania made light of the absence of its most influential player, captain Georghe Hagi, who was suspended. Romanian coach Emerich Jenei said Hagi's absence -- he is retiring from international soccer after Euro 2000 -- had inspired his players. "I thank my team because they were very confident and able to qualify. Because Hagi was absent, they tried to make up for it. We showed today we are a good team. The penalty was not a penalty -- it was a present." While victory meant Hagi will prolong his career by at least one more game, England's defeat brought the curtain down on Shearer's international career. As the final whistle went, the Newcastle United striker, whose penalty was his 30th goal for his country in 63 appearances, held his head in his hands. Midfielder Paul Ince said he hoped Shearer would reconsider: "You never know about that," he said. "He was one of he better players of the tournament." Ince also said he hoped Keegan would continue as England coach. "He wants us to win and we want to play for him." Munteanu said the team thoroughly deserved the victory because of the number of scoring opportunities it created. "We played well," he said. "We played to win and we got a lot of chances to do that." Keegan had demanded that his players' improve their possession. But they were again left chasing the game. England's two 33-year-old midfielders, Paul Ince and Dennis Wise, were shown up for a lack of creativity, and failed to stamp themselves on the game. Romania constantly posed England problems, with its two fullbacks pushing up into midfield to support quick attacks. England's only invention came through Manchester United pair David Beckham and Paul Scholes. But the game swung in England's favor when Romanian center back and stand-in captain Gheorghe Popescu went off injured after 31 minutes with a ruptured calf muscle. A Shearer penalty, after a foul by Chivu on Paul Ince, leveled the game five minutes before half time. Only seconds remained of first half injury time when Owen edged England in front. Scholes nudged the ball forward and Owen was left to race clear with the Romanian defense claiming offside. Goalkeeper Bogdan Stelea raced off his line but Owen pushed the ball past him and rolled it into an empty net. But Munteanu then made it 2-2 with a 20-meter (yard) strike in the 48th after Martyn had needlessly punched the ball straight to him. There appeared no real danger when the 'keeper left his line and decided to punch the ball away above one of his own defenders. It went straight to Munteanu just outside the England area and the midfielder wasted no time in chesting the ball down and volleying powerfully past the stranded Martyn into an empty net. During a flurry of substitutions, England sent on the burly Emile Heskey for the smaller Owen to try and unsettle the Romanian defense. With 15 minutes left, another attacking midfielder, Nick Barmby came on for Wise on the left. To shore up the middle, defender Gareth Southgte came on as England desperately held on for a point. The late defeat was a cruel blow for Keegan's camp, capping a disastrous three days when events on the field were overtaken by violence off it. Keegan, saying his players would be devastated if thrown out of the competition, had urged the fans to behave -- and his message seemed to have been heeded. Fans spent the afternoon drinking in Charleroi's main square, mingling peacefully with small groups of Romanian fans, drinking beer and dancing in fountains. Thousands of English fans had tickets for the Romania end, and although separated by a thin line of stewards, both sets of fans caused no trouble. The fans behaved impeccably before the game and inside the stadium during the game, while the president of the English Football Association, the Duke of Kent, was sitting in the VIP area.
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