A preview of the football match pitting Romania against Turkey

Romanias national football squad today might make a crucial step forward towards the play-off session of next years World Cup.

Florin Orban, 10.09.2013, 12:05

In Bucharest, the Romanians take on Turkey, in a match counting towards Group D of the World Cup’s qualifiers. The as-it-stands table reveals that Romania is on the runner-up position in the group, with 13 points on their record sheet, having outclassed third-placed Hungary, which has 11 points. Even if Turkey holds Romania to a draw, our national team rank as the main favorite for the runner-up position in their group. A win, however, is sure to secure the Romanians their ticket for the World Cup’s play –off session.

Tonight, Turkey will be pinning all its hopes on an experienced team, which includes a string of stars, such as Atletico Madrid’s Arda Turan or Nuri Sahin, who plays for Real Madrid, but who is currently on loan with the German side Borussia Dortmund. Yet the Turks’ heavyweight piece is Fatih Terim, one of Europe’s most respected and most valuable football managers.

In his latest press statements, Fatih Terim was very realistic, saying a miracle was needed for Turkey to keep their hopes alive to make headway into the competition. However, Terim was upbeat about the fact that such a thing might occur for his side.

A real stumbling block for the Turkish manager, however, is a Romanian team that this past Friday crushed Hungary, 3-nil. Furthermore, manager Victor Piturca’s trainees put on a strong and coherent performance, as well as a very special tactical discipline. If tonight the Romanians are as strong as last Friday, they are sure to snatch a good result. The Turks are in dire need of a win and will be putting on an offensive game; the Romanians, on the other hand, will only have to put on a very good defensive game, peppered with audacious counterattacking bouts.

Ahead of tonight’s game, head-to-heads reveals that Romania ranks as favorites Out of 23 games played, the Romanians won 12, lost 4 and managed 7 draws.