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Romania and Tunisia in low-stakes match
PARIS (AP) -- It may look more like a warmup than a World Cup game when Romania meets Tunisia today (5 p.m. EDT, TSN tape delayed).The North Africans have already been eliminated and will be playing for pride. Romania needs to play just well enough to protect its Group G lead.
After edging England 2-1 and and Colombia 1-0, Romania tops the group standings with six points, earning a place in the knockout second stage.
The underdog Tunisians, who lost to 2-0 to England and 1-0 to Colombia, have no chance of advancing to the second round even if they pull off an upset. Tunisian soccer officials were so upset by the failure of defensive tactics that they fired coach Henry Kasperczak and replaced him with Ali el-Selmi, his former assistant.
The Romanians don't figure to face much trouble from Tunisia. Still, they can't afford a letdown that could cost them top spot in the group. England and Colombia, with three points each, meet in the group's other game Friday to decide the second qualifying team.
"We want to get first place at all costs. It proves that we deserved to be picked as the seeded team," coach Anghel Iordanescu said.
"We didn't expect to make the second stage after only two games, but we must win again," said defender Dan Petrescu.
Actually, a draw against Tunisia would be good enough. The additional point would give Romania seven, an insurmountable margin in Group G.
Romania's two victories cost a toll in injuries.
Ovidiu Stanga, an attacking midfielder who plays for PSV Eindhoven, was sent to the Netherlands for treatment after he tore ligaments in his left knee in the game against England. He'll be out for several months.
Other players with physical complaints are Gabriel Popescu of Salamanca, who has a nose injury, Valencia's striker Adrian Ilie, who suffered a head injury, and sweeper Gheorghe Popescu of Galatasaray, with a bruised leg.
"We hope that all of them will be fit to play against Tunisia," said Costica Stefanescu, a Romanian assistant coach.
Sitting out a one-game suspension after getting two yellow cards is midfielder Iulian Filipescu.
Iordanescu is likely to try several second-string players and rest some of his stars who bore the brunt of Romania's battles against England and Colombia.
Among them are 25-year-old midfielder Lucian Marinescu, forward Radu Niculescu, 23, and veteran striker Marius Lacatus, 34, who all play in Romania's first division.
The Romanians probably want to save some of their standout players like Petrescu and midfielder Gheorghe Hagi, who have already been booked.
These players are badly needed in the round-of-16 game on June 30 in which Romania would meet either Croatia or Argentina, depending on how these Group H teams place.
While Tunisia has been demoralized by two losses after coming to France with higher expectations, Romania isn't taking the North Africans lightly.
"I don't think the Tunisians have a match-winning player, but they are a well organized team," said Ilie, who scored Romania's winner against Colombia.
Tunisia was the first African team to win a match in the World Cup finals when it beat Mexico in the tournament in Argentina in 1978.
But Tunisia's hopes of reaping more benefits in France went by the board in the tough group it was drawn into.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan