Coach of the Romanian national football team Mircea Lucescu said on Monday evening, after a 5-1 victory over San Marino in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, that despite the score he expected more from some of the players, stressing that he was very upset by the goal conceded.
"It's not easy against any team, no matter what level it has. It's not easy to win matches. Especially since San Marino has a young team that is well built physically, with intensity, but without a very good knowledge of the game. Their players are 20-21 years old; they could not be at the level of our players who have special experience. The players thanked me, they respected what they had to do, especially in the first half, because until the 60th minute the opponents had not even passed the midfield. We played fast, we were an aggressive team, with 1-2 touches... Then, of course, I expected something more from some of the boys. But that's it, I don't want to discuss it anymore. We conceded a goal and that upset me very much, it dissatisfied me. Because we all play the game together, we speak the same language, we have the same principles and mechanisms... I don't want this team to be satisfied that they scored a goal against San Marino. The team must be satisfied with the way they score that goal," the coach told Digisport private broadcaster.
"After we made the changes, even though we scored three goals, I wasn't happy at all. Because the goals came as a result of random situations and not after actions in which 7-8 players participated. But I congratulated them because it is a very good result. In a way, their mood changed with the victory," added the coach.
Lucescu added that he did not talk about Mihai Popescu's mistake from the goal conceded in the match against Bosnia to blame him.
"People didn't understand what I said about Mihai Popescu after the match against Bosnia. I always explain and then I said that he was wrong at that goal. It was an individual mistake, but I explained. Everyone thought that I wasn't going to put him in the team anymore, that I was going to take him out. But that's not my aim; I must make a strong team in which the players have to take responsibility and respond to my insistence to shape a type of collective game. That's all. Otherwise, that's it, it's over, it's something else. If I, 80 years old, can't make an observation, can't criticize, can't argue what I'm doing, then who can?"
Romania defeated San Marino 5-1 (2-0) on Monday night at the San Marino Stadium in Serravalle, in Group H of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
This is the second match of the team trained by Mircea Lucescu in the World Cup qualifying campaign, after in the first game the "tricolours" took a wrong step against Bosnia-Herzegovina, score 0-1, at the National Arena.
The next group matches will take place in June, when Romania will play against Austria (June 7) away and against Cyprus (June 10) at home.
The winners of the 12 preliminary groups will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup. For the other four places available for the European zone, the 12 group runners-up and the best-ranked group winners of the Nations League, 2024-25 edition, who did not qualify through the qualifiers, will fight.
Comentează