Group C preview: Chivu wants Italy and France packing their bags
Table of Contents
Romania captain Cristian Chivu is confident his side can beat Netherlands and send Italy and France home early.
A victory will be enough to guarantee their place in the knockout stages, whatever the result between Italy and France.
However, there have been suspicion surrounds Netherlands v Romania match whether the Dutch, having already through and guaranteed top spot in Group C, may intentionally lose the match in order to expense both 2006 World Cup finalists.
There are three reasons for the Azzurri and Les Bleus to worry.
First, Romania and Netherlands clashed in the preliminary round with the Romanians winning their group ahead of the Dutch.
The Netherlands managed only one point in two matches, 0-0 in Rotterdam, losing 1-0 away in Constanta.
Second, Marco Van Basten's side are already qualified and set to field some reserves in the match against Romania.
It is rumoured that Van Basten are planning at least four changes to the previous starting line-up that slammed both Italy and France.
The third and most concerning conspiracy theory is that the way the tournament is structured means Netherlands could drop out Italy and France to avoid potential semi-final rematch.
It brings back bad memories of Euro 2004, when the Azzurri went out of the tournament despite beating Bulgaria in the final match after Denmark and Sweden drew 2-2, the only scoreline that guaranteed both Scandinavians would qualify.
Meanwhile France are wait on the fitness of their captain Patrick Vieira, who suffered a thigh injury in training for a warm-up match and has not played since then.
Les Bleus badly need Vieira to beat the world champions to stand a chance of reaching the knockout stages.
But it was a very similar situation at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.
France, the defending world and European champions, made a gloomy start and need to beat Denmark by two goals or more in their final group match to qualify the second round.
Zinedine Zidane had suffered a thigh injury in a friendly match against South Korea just a few days before the tournament and missed the opening two matches.
He came in for the match against Denmark but was apparently not fully fit. France lost 2-0 and packed their suitcases.
Is history about to repeat itself?
Possible line-up
Also see:
A victory will be enough to guarantee their place in the knockout stages, whatever the result between Italy and France.
However, there have been suspicion surrounds Netherlands v Romania match whether the Dutch, having already through and guaranteed top spot in Group C, may intentionally lose the match in order to expense both 2006 World Cup finalists.
There are three reasons for the Azzurri and Les Bleus to worry.
First, Romania and Netherlands clashed in the preliminary round with the Romanians winning their group ahead of the Dutch.
The Netherlands managed only one point in two matches, 0-0 in Rotterdam, losing 1-0 away in Constanta.
Second, Marco Van Basten's side are already qualified and set to field some reserves in the match against Romania.
It is rumoured that Van Basten are planning at least four changes to the previous starting line-up that slammed both Italy and France.
The third and most concerning conspiracy theory is that the way the tournament is structured means Netherlands could drop out Italy and France to avoid potential semi-final rematch.
It brings back bad memories of Euro 2004, when the Azzurri went out of the tournament despite beating Bulgaria in the final match after Denmark and Sweden drew 2-2, the only scoreline that guaranteed both Scandinavians would qualify.
Meanwhile France are wait on the fitness of their captain Patrick Vieira, who suffered a thigh injury in training for a warm-up match and has not played since then.
Les Bleus badly need Vieira to beat the world champions to stand a chance of reaching the knockout stages.
But it was a very similar situation at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.
France, the defending world and European champions, made a gloomy start and need to beat Denmark by two goals or more in their final group match to qualify the second round.
Zinedine Zidane had suffered a thigh injury in a friendly match against South Korea just a few days before the tournament and missed the opening two matches.
He came in for the match against Denmark but was apparently not fully fit. France lost 2-0 and packed their suitcases.
Is history about to repeat itself?
Possible line-up
 | Netherlands |  | Romania | |
| 1 | van der Sar | 1 | Lobonţ | |
| 3 | Heitinga | 2 | Contra | |
| 6 | de Zeeuw | 3 | Raţ | |
| 7 | Van Persie | 4 | TamaÅŸ | |
| 8 | Engelaar | 5 | Chivu | |
| 11 | Robben | 7 | Petre | |
| 14 | Bouma | 8 | Codrea | |
| 15 | de Cler | 10 | Mutu | |
| 19 | Huntelaar | 11 | CociÅŸ | |
| 20 | Afellay | 16 | Nicoliţă | |
| 21 | Boulahrouz | 21 | D. Niculae |
 | Italy |  | France | |
| 1 | Buffon | 23 | Coupet | |
| 2 | Panucci | 5 | Gallas | |
| 3 | Grosso | 6 | Makélélé | |
| 4 | Chiellini | 7 | Malouda | |
| 9 | Toni | 11 | Nasri | |
| 10 | De Rossi | 12 | Henry | |
| 16 | Camoranesi | 13 | Evra | |
| 18 | Cassano | 15 | Thuram | |
| 19 | Zambrotta | 19 | Sagnol | |
| 21 | Pirlo | 20 | Toulalan | |
| 22 | Aquilani | 22 | Ribéry |
Please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. You can also subscribe by Email and enjoy our latest posts sent directly to your inbox.
Also see:
But of course my heart is with Italy. I live here and will have an Italian passport soon..hehehe
The Webloglearner
sono cosi felice che ho guardato tutto il gioco e l'azzuro ha provato che ci ancora speranza dopo di quel due gioco che non cosi bene...
toni really played bad! and also antoni have not shown how he really plays... but at least, i hope the team improves the nest time.
Viva l'italia. viva gli azzuri!
ciao Bro! are you sleepy?
The Webloglearner