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| April 29th 2005 |
Madrid, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
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| HUNGARY - ROMANIA |
4-1 (2-0)
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GOALS 20' 1-0 Sandor Kocsis
36' 2-0 Ferenc Puskas
51' 3-0 Zoltan Czibor
59' 4-0 Sandor Kocsis
88' 4-1 Marius Lacatus
REFEREE Maurice Guigue (France)
ATTENDANCE 83,000
YELLOW CARDS Lantos (HUN) - Nunweiler, Petrescu, Bodola (ROM)
HUNGARY (Coach: Gustav Sebes, system 4-2-4)
1 Gyula Grosics
2 Jenö Buzansky
5 Kalman Meszoly
13 Laszlo Balint
16 Mihaly Lantos
6 Jozsef Bozsik
15 Tibor Nyilasi (-71)
14 Ladislao Kubala
8 Sandor Kocsis (-64)
10 Ferenc Puskas (captain)
11 Zoltan Czibor (-71)
Substitutes:
19 Alfred Schaffer (+64)
9 Nandor Hidegkuti (+71)
12 Gyorgy Sarosi (+71)
ROMANIA (Coach: Emerich Jenei, system 4-4-2)
16 Helmuth Ducadam
2 Dan Petrescu
6 Cornel Dinu
4 Gheorghe Popescu
21 Ludovic Satmareanu
12 Anghel Iordanescu (-83)
15 Radu Nunweiler
8 Ladislau Bölöni (-65)
10 Gheorghe Hagi (captain)
13 Marius Lacatus
9 Dudu Georgescu (-60)
Substitutes:
20 Iuliu Bodola (+60)
7 Ilie Balaci (+65)
18 Ion Dumitru (+83)
MATCHREPORT
The match of truth for both teams, aiming for the second spot in the
group behind unreachable Italy. Hungary would only need a draw because of
their superiour goaldifference, Romania therefore needed a win. Hungarian
coach Sebes wasn't so satisfied about his defence and left both Lorant and
Biro out, this time giving sweeper Balint and back Lantos the chance to show
their qualities. In the Romanian team there were some changes, too. Popescu
played in central defence again in place of Belodedici who was on the bench.
Nunweiler, who had done so well against Paraguay and Italy as a substitute,
was in the starting line-up now, Satmareanu played left back and Lacatus was
brought into team. Coach Jenei hoped for his speed and direct approach to
goal.
But this match was never a real match. Romania showed too much respect and
Hungary were far too strong. They took control of the match from the very
beginning. This time Czibor was their best man who created danger time and
again. Petrescu, his direct opponent, was in pain from the start during
those first minutes, Czibor outplayed him a couple of times, but Kocsis
headed straight into Ducadam's hands and Kubala just failed to get on the
end of the second cross. But they were not left too long to rue their missed
chances, the 1-0 was already on its way. Again it was Czibor who whizzed
down the left and this time Kocsis arrived at the right spot to beat Ducadam
with another header: 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Romania never got back into the match. The 1-0 was the start of the end and
they were close to scoring in that first half just once. Lacatus anticipated
better to a long Bölöni pass than Lantos and stormed into the box. Grosics
however narrowed the angle and Lacatus couldn't find the gap. But that was
it and Hungary were gone and away. Puskas struck the crossbar and later in
the first half Ducadam showed his qualities on efforts from Kubala and
Czibor. Then 9 minutes before the break Bozsik delivered a great pass to
Kocsis who served Puskas. From the edge of the box, Puskas needed only
inches of space to beat Ducadam fair and square with another beautiful shot
that went it just under the bar: 2-0.
Now Hungary's defence were not known for their unbeatability, but it was
clear that Romania would never score three goals against these Mighty
Magyars. Hagi was invisible and the other midfielders were busy holding
their opponents at bay rather than being able of supporting the strikers.
There was no munition whatsoever for Lacatus and Georgescu, who were left on
an island and simply controlled by Meszoly, Lantos and Balint. Within 15
minutes of the second half Hungary even doubled their lead. First Puskas
sent Czibor deep and the outside left controlled it perfectly before beating
Ducadam for a third time. And just before the 60 minute mark, Kocsis scored
his second from another brilliant Czibor moment, to level with Eusebio for 4
goals at the top of the scoringslist. Sebes then took some stars off and
Schaffer, Hidegkuti and Sarosi entered the pitch. Hungary now were satisfied
and did nothing more to increase the score, the Romanians mentally were
already on their plane back home. This tournament had showed them the
difference between good and superb. Romania were nothing more than just
good. But not against the better teams.
Lacatus gave them a fairwell and saved the honours just before the last
whistle from referee Guigue. Substitute Balaci took the ball out of the air,
his shot touched Balint and fell to Lacatus' feet. Grosics had no chance
this time, but could live with 4-1. Hungary were used to goals against them,
but always had the intention to score more than the opponents. And apart from
the great match they played against Italy and lost unfortunately, they had
succeeded in doing so very much with spectacular football. Fabulous Four
Kubala, Puskas, Kocsis and Czibor had entertained the whole world and the
world on their turn hoped that this team would get far; a real outsider for
the title of All Time World Champion! They would now meet Yugoslavia, a team
tough to beat. But Hungary had gained confidence that they could go the
whole way.
Next Tuesday group E comes to an end. Like group B, a very tight group.
Sweden visit England in the Wembley Stadium. To be sure of qualifying,
Sweden need a win. England will be happy with a draw. Both teams have all
their players available. Interesting to see is, which strikers Ramsey
chooses. And will he put Finney in the team or will Bryan Robson regain his
place? Sweden's coach Raynor is not expected to change much, though his team
lost surprisingly to Austria. In the other match Denmark and Austria meet.
The Austrians are slightly favourites, but Denmark must win and even in that
case remain dependent on the result in the England-Sweden match. A 2-0
Danish win and a 1-0 win for Sweden would put Denmark and England exactly
level on points and goals, and that would mean a decisive match. But let's
wait what happens next week. It will be close, very close...
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