Romania’s national football team makes its debut at the end of this week in a brand-new edition of the UEFA Nations League. The Romanian footballers have been drawn into Group 4 of League B, the competition\u2019s second tier.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The campaign begins on Friday with a trip away to face Sweden. That will be followed on Monday, September 28, by a home match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bucharest, which will be played behind closed doors. On October 2, Romania travels to take on Poland, before wrapping up this initial stretch on Monday, October 5, with the return fixture against Sweden in Bucharest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Romania’s final two group matches will take place in November: a home game against Poland on the 14, and an away clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 17.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Head coach Gheorghe Hagi\u2019s squad selection features a few notable talking points.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For starters, no domestic league goalkeepers were called up. All three selected shot-stoppers play abroad: Ionu\u021b Radu at Celta Vigo, Otto Hindrich at Legia Warsaw, and Valentin Cojocaru at Pogo\u0144 Szczecin.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In midfield, we see some relatively new faces, including Dinamo\u2019s C\u0103t\u0103lin C\u00eerjan and David Matei from Universitatea Craiova. Another surprise is the inclusion of former FCSB captain Darius Olaru among the attacking options, he now plays in Belgium for Union Saint-Gilloise. Olimpiu Moru\u021ban has also been called up following his return to Romania with Rapid Bucharest after a five-year spell across Turkey, Italy, and Greece.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hagi\u2019s roster also features players from further afield, such as midfielder Marius Marin, currently with Al-Nasr in the United Arab Emirates, and forward Louis Munteanu, who plays in Major League Soccer for D.C. United.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The most capped player in the squad is Nicolae Stanciu from Chinese side Dalian Yingbo, who has represented the national team 87 times and scored 15 goals. Press reports recently confirmed his upcoming return to Romania to play for Universitatea Cluj starting early next year. The Transylvanian club is also set to sign defender Andrei Burc\u0103 from China’s Yunnan Yukun, another key member of Hagi\u2019s current squad. (VP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania’s national football team makes its debut at the end of this week in a brand-new edition of the UEFA Nations League. The Romanian footballers have been drawn into Group 4 of League B, the competition\u2019s second tier. The campaign begins on Friday with a trip away to face Sweden. That will be followed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":911398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40940],"tags":[148410,33603,30990],"coauthors":[113302],"class_list":["post-1062597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-gheorghe-hagi-2","tag-nations-league","tag-romanias-national-football-team"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n