Suddenly even if Italy is the current world champions, their Euro 2008 fate is not so certain. After being handled a 3-0 defeat by Holland, a reality check.
Romania had been accused for the kind of football they play in their opener against France. Or if one want to see it from another angle, it's a resilient Romania holding down France. Whoever say Romania is there to make up the numbers, hang on. They earned their right to be there (though I admit I was bored even before the first-half of the Romania-France match).
The Italian press had been hounding on their national coach Roberto Donadoni since the 3-0 loss to the Dutch (but then, the man himself had expected it). But then, Donadoni reminded everyone he was part of the 1994 World Cup squad which lost to Ireland in their opening match before they went all the way to the final (only eventually losing to Brazil on penalties). In short, turning back the clock and counting on history to repeat itself once more.
Romania's Adrain Mutu had been not at his best in the opener against France. But as according to his fellow teammate and captain Cristian Chivu, he believes the Italian defenders will be having nightmares about the prospect of keeping tabs on his team-mate Adrian Mutu.
Ahead of the encounter in Zurich, Italy coach Roberto Donadoni will likely make changes against Romania. What is for sure though in the Azzuri camp, Alessandro Del Piero will start against Romania. Over at Romania, Cirpian Marica returned to training after colliding with a teammate in training (for a moment as a VfB Stuttgart fan given Marica plays for my club in Germany, I was shocked). But will he start is another question.
For Italy, it's now or never. Or else their fate is hanging on a thread. Romania? Whether they can pull off another draw like they did against France...
