ROMANIA
-------

Current FIFA Ranking: 10
European championship appearances: 2
European championship record: 0-5-1
European championship goals for/against: 3-8
Best performance: 4th place in group round (1984, 1996)

Colors (shirt-shorts-socks): yellow-yellow-yellow (reserve; red)

COACH: Emerich Jenei

KEY PLAYERS: Gheorghe Hagi (Galatasaray), Gheorghe Popescu 
(Galatasaray), Dan Petrescu (Chelsea), Adrian Ilie (Valencia)

OUTLOOK:

The qualifying campaign was nearly flawless as Romania went 
undefeated throughout and gave up just three goals in 10 games 
to win Group 7.

The toughest games were draws against Portugal and Hungary.  
Portugal, interestingly enough, was drawn in the same Group A 
as the Romanians, Germany and England.

Gheorghe Hagi was voted the Romanian player of the century and
again announced his intention to retire from international 
competition after the tournament.

Nicknamed "The King", he has the freedom to patrol the field and
make all decisions of ball movement as the team revolves around
him.

Hagi said he is confident Romania can reach the final, something 
a little far-fetched considering the competition and the 
nation's poor Euro record, going out after the group round in 
both previous appearances.

Gheorghe Popescu, who scored the winning penalty kick to clinch
the UEFA Cup title for Turkey's Galatasaray, is the main
component in the defense.  He is not only Hagi's teammate, but
also brother-in-law (married to sisters).  Popescu is largely 
responsible for the back end of the field.  He gained tremendous
international experience playing for PSV Eindhoven in Holland,
Tottenham Hotspur in England and Barcelona in Spain, before
moving on to Turkey.

Dan Petrescu is a versatile player on the right side and has 
been selected to the national side regularly for the last 10 
years.  He can play defender or midfielder, always playing the
right side and with an offensive mind.  He was well-traveled in 
the Italian and Premier Leagues at Foggia, Genoa, and Sheffield 
Wednesday, before a successful move to Chelsea in 1995. 

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