Another reason to celebrate for the Romanian national team. It was more of a slight rumour that Henry had an injury problem and MIGHT not play in Monday's game against Romania. But now it seems that more and more French newspapers are reporting a piece of news that is music to my ears - Anelka will start along with Benzema on Monday.

Anelka is a good player, but he's not the type that will be a big threat to our defense. I just hope that Gomis won't start. It's not looking too possible now, and I hope it stays that way. Thank you Raymond!

This is the team he's been using in training for possible starting 11:

Coupet - Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal - Ribery, Toulalan, Makelele, Malouda - Anelka, Benzema

That looks good to me, not an extremely intimidating team to he honest. And for the first time ever in Romanian football history, we have a taller team than France. So we have an advantage at set pieces, especially since Mutu will be taking them!

Daniel Niculae, who will start up top for Romania against France just had an interview with the Romanian newspaper GSP.He talks about what EURO 2008 means for him, how to beat the French, and other interesting things. Here's my translation of the best parts of it:

Q: Daniel, are you ready for France?
A: I believe I am yes. I've been thinking of this game for a long time. It depends on the coach if I will play or not.

Q: Our informations says that you will play!
A: We'll see about it at the game, I don't know if I will or not.

Q: How do you think your teammates feel before this game?
A: We're ready for battle from a physical standpoint, psychological and tactical standpoints. We've seen tens of tapes with the French, we know them well. Now it depends on us!

Q: What is our chance?
A: We can beat anyone. We're the best organized team at Euro, we're ready for this final tournament.

Q: I bet you know everything about Gallas and Thuram, including what they eat for breakfast!
A: We all studied them very well, but let's not forget they're two of the best defenders in the world. And that says a lot. But I'm not afraid and I'm ready to show what I can do.

Q: Have you scored any goals on Coupet at Lyon?
A: No I never have. He is a big goalkeeper, he's a champion and that says a lot, but he can be beaten.

Q: Were these weeks hard while training for EURO?
A: No! It was a special period, but let's not forget that every other team went through a similar process, not only us.

Q: You have the chance to enter in the goalscorer history for Romania in final tournaments, along-side Raducioiu, Dumitrescu, Hagi, Moldovan and others.
A: What you're saying sounds amazing, and so to end the dialogue optimistically I'll say: Let it be that way! Come of Romania!

Giga Hagi has spoken to the Romanian media about his thoughts about this Romanian squad and what we can do. Hagi to me is the best player I have ever seen play with my own two eyes. He's a football genious, he's the East's Maradona, and he's the best player in Romanian history, and in Turkish history as well (since he played at Galatasaray so much, the Turkish populous thinks he's Turkish!). Here are some quotes from this interview:

Q: How are you doing?
A: I feel great, happy and fulfilled. Maybe this is because I played a lot of my career outside Romania, so many years when I was away from home make me want to spend as much time as possible with my family. However, I do see myself around football forever, it's a love that will never disappea.

Q: You were the national team captain for a long period of time. What advice can you give Chivu and his teammates before EURO?
A: The captain has to give courage to the team. Football is a team sport and the spirit of the team matters a lot. You can't do everything alone, you need the support of the team, they need to be close to you, they need to know to form a united and strong group. 

Q: Are Mutu and Chivu the best players of our national team right now?
A: They are two fundamental players, very important, and leaders of the team. Of corse the national team with both of them on the field is a lot better, and with them in good form I hope that they will get as far as possible in this final tournament.

Q: How important is the European Championship for them?
A: It's the first final tournament of their generation and the result will depend on their demeanor aand the responsability that they will show. We have a talented national team, young, and it's their turn to shine! They did what is toughest part and now they have to think that they can have great performances, but it all depends on them. I wish them luck, and I will be with them at this final tournament!

What a legend. I'm shaking in my seat here writing this to be honest. There are 17 hours to go until the kick off of Romania - France. Henry and Vieira are still announced to be missing from the game, but that won't stop my heart from racing. This is big, it's France, and it doesn't get better than that. Damnnn.

I'll write some more updates as I have them! I probably won't sleep tonight, I don't know how the players do it!

This just gets better and better for me! Not only do we play one of the best teams in the world on Monday, but Daniel Niculae is starting as the striker for Romania! Most people reading this won't know anything about Daniel Niculae, and that's probably expected. But he's my personal hero (Hence the Nico21 in my username EVERYWHERE), a Rapid Bucuresti legend, a top guy, and a hard working footballer. He's most known outside Romania for his goal against Hamburg in the UEFA Cup 2005-2006 season.

Anyways, I am excited as hell about this. I've always said that he's the best option in the attack for Romania. He's fast, he has a good shot, he has good foot skills. He performs when you need him to, and he inspires those around him. His style is a bit unorthodox so he never looks like the best choice to start to most people, and to the manager as well. He's in form now after scoring 11 goals for Auxerre this season in Ligue 1. Victor Piturca has been using Niculae in the last 3 days in the starters squad in training. The goal is to let someone play who can take advantage of the slow French center defence, that is both footed, and who knows the French.

Anyways, this is the team Romania will start with for the France game:

GK: Bogdan Lobont (Dinamo Bucuresti)
RB: Cosmin Contra (Getafe)
CB: Gabi Tamas (Auxerre)
CB: Dorin Goian (Steaua)
LB: Razvan Rat (Shakhtar)
LDM: Cristian Chivu (Inter Milan)
RDM: Mirel Radoi (Steaua)
CAM: Razvan Cocis (Lokomotiv Moscow)
LAM: Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina)
RAM: Banel Nicolita (Steaua)
CF: Daniel Niculae (Auxerre)

We have a good blend of experience with younger players, and I like the looks of the team, especially for the France game. I would switch some things up for the Holland game due to their speed on the left flank. 

I wrote yesterday about what FIFA want to do to Mutu in the Chelsea vs. Mutu case.  The Romanian Football Federation have come out saying that they will give him 100% support and put their weight on his side in this case. They'll help him with lawyers, costs, and leverge and influence. 

It was also reported that the worth of mutu is around 12 million euros. In other words, all his endorsements, savings, and salaries are equaled to about 12 million euros - the sum Chelsea and FIFA want him to PAY them.  It's quite ridiculous and overboard. He'll have to transfer to come out of this ordeal with some money for a decade of playing top flight football at top teams. 

Not only does all of this come at a bad time, but yesterday Adi Mutu found out that his grandmother passed away - my condoloances Adi. People in the team have spoken up and said that this is the first time they've seen Mutu affected emotionally. I hope it motivates him to do something great on Monday and doesn't get to him. But he knows 23 million people are with him, and that's what counts. 

By the way, my prediction still stands at Romania 2-1 France. The France game is starting to look like the toughest game for us in the group as the other teams are slowly breaking. Robben is now out for Holland, who's next? Hopefully they beat eachother up in training some more. Bad Boy Cassano has been causing problems in the Italy squad as well - hopefully he continues. 

That's it for now, I'll let you know as soon as other developments occur dealing with Romania and Group C. 

There was a lot of speculation around the possibility of Vieira playing on monday against Romania. Domenech announced in today's press conference that Patrick Vieira will not be playing on monday. 

"Vieira trained thursday and he will train friday as well. I don't want to make any guesses about him. He will have to work to be ready to play as soon as possible. The only certain thing is that he will not play against Romania." explained Raymond Domenech. 

The likely pair in midfield will be Toulalan and Makelele for the Romania game, but Domenech expressed concerns about Makelele being apt for the second match. The French will have a real problem in Vieira and Makelele are both out against Holland.

Either way, the French squad is slowly breaking. Henry, Ribery, Vieira, and maybe Makelele with problems. It's not looking good for Domenech's side so far. 

MESSAGE TO EUROPE: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE US.

It's about the time when I begin to get really excited. I've been waiting for this for the past eight years and I have a feeling I'm not the only one. There will be 23 million people wearing yellow this coming Monday for the Romania - France game, hoping and expecting that some kind of miracle can happen and that Romania might be able to defeat les Bleus, the world finalists just two years ago. 

Nobody expects Romania to do anything this Euro. We're in "The Group of Death," the impossible group that only Italy, France or Holland could move on from.  There are two options for Romania this final tournament: either we surprise everyone from the beginning and keep surprising until we move out of the group stages and then fail under pressure later on, or we don't surprise anyone and we fail under pressure from the beginning. There is no middle ground with Romania, and a middle ground should never be expected. Either we shock the hell out of every betting man, or we make them happy. 

Point: Romania 1994

In 1994 the situation was very similar to the one we're faced with now - very tough opponents in our group, and no one expected us to do anything at all. What came out of WC94 was completely positive - victories against Colombia and Argentina, and a good run until we completely blundered it against Sweden and then lost it in penalties - a game we had in our hand. 

Point: France sucks. 

I don't see the justification for all of the big hype for the French.. I really don't. This is a team that didn't even deserve to qualify after Scotland wiped the floor with them twice in the groups. They have performed terribly in their friendlies and with all of their big name stars, managed to do fuck all in terms of scoring. Their highest scorers in the pre-Euro friendlies were Gomis (2 goals) and Ribery (2 goals, both penalties). Gomis won't play (at least against Romania), so there goes half of their attacking productivity. Their performance through all these friendlies was terrible, boring, and unproductive. Romania will need to take advantage of this.

France also has more than a hand full of players that are in the squad just because they are French glories, and not because they are in top form or will make enough impact. With them in there, surprises are always possible, but the chances are that it will work in our favor more than against our favor. 

Here are the significant games registered by France since the world cup:

France 3-1 Italy
France 0-0 Italy
France 0-1 Scotland
France 0-1 Scotland
France 2-2 Ukraine
France 2-0 Ukraine
France 1-0 England
France 2-0 Ecuador
France 0-0 Paraguay
France 1-0 Colombia

They've played one team qualified to Euro 2008, drew once and won once against Italy. They've been beaten twice by Scotland, home and away, drew and beat Ukraine, won the England friendly in an awful game with a penalty, and then struggled to barely beat and draw second-tier South American teams. 

Here are the significant games registered by Romania in the past two years:

Romania 2-0 Czech Republic
Romania 1-0 Spain
Romania 1-3 Germany
Romania 0-0 Holland
Romania 1-0 Holland
Romania 2-0 Turkey
Romania 3-0 Russia
Romania 4-0 Muntenegro

We've played against 6 teams qualified to Euro since 2006 and we've lost to one of them (Germany). However, I could excuse this by saying that we played 60 minutes of the game with no main players, and the whole 23 man squad was rolled in the game, the germans having Schweinsteiger and co. still on the pitch at the end of the game while we had our third keeper and a team made of all Romanian League players. But without excuses, we've beaten 5 teams qualified to Euro 2008 in the past two years. We're ready, and we've proven ourselves to be ready. We've scored 9 goals and received 3 goals in games agaisnt teams qualified to EURO 2008. 

If the players remain calm and colected and we play our game, we'll beat France and beat them soundly. There is an interesting tactic prepared by Piturca for the France game. Chivu will play Defensive midfield on the left side - tracking Ribery. Daniel Niculae could start the game due to the fact that he plays in Ligue 1 and is in great form. Banel Nicolita could be in the starting 11 to contain the speed of Abidal. 

Point: Injuries

Henry and Ribery have injury concerns. Vieira is just recovering from an injury. All three are said to start the game even if not 100% fit. All I have to say is thank you Colombia!

Point: Sagnol + Thuram

What makes me laugh most is the French defense. We have Mutu attacking the left side against Sagnol and Thuram. I can't wait to see this. It might be the sole reason that we win the game. We play an attacking trident, and if they give too much attention to Mutu since I doubt Sagnol can handle him alone, then openings will appear in the center of the defense. 

Point: Adrian Mutu #10

I don't care what anyone says, France don't have anyone like Mutu on the team. Since Zidane retired, there is no Mutu figure in the french squad.  He'll have more impact than the whole 4 attacking French players, because for Romania, Mutu plays all those positions. Makelele won't breathe this hard ever again.

I'll follow up with more information about this match, pre-game, during game, and post-game analysis here following Romania from every angle possible.

Everything is possible. My guess: Romania 2-1 France.