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Blond ambition
Romanians draw 1-1 with Tunisia, advance to 2nd round
Posted: Friday June 26, 1998 06:40 PM
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Moldovan scored his second goal of the tournament in 72nd minute to give Romania (2-0-1) a loss-less first round at the World Cup (AP) |
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) --
Romania, its
players all sporting hair dyed blond, clinched its World Cup group Friday
with a 1-1 draw with Tunisia.
The Romanians pledged to dye their hair if they won their group, and
the entire squad arrived for the match with blond manes. Meanwhile, coach
Anghel Iordanescu shaved his head, but wore a white baseball cap to hide
the evidence.
Romania, first in Group G, avoided a meeting with Argentina in
the second round. Instead, Romania will play Croatia in
Bordeaux on Tuesday.
The draw still salvaged some pride for the Tunisians, who despite
losses to England and Colombia
avoided a last-place finish overall. That spot fell to the United
States.
Second-half substitute Viorel Moldovan buried a loose ball into the
net in the 72nd minute.
Moldovan, who replaced Ilie Dumitrescu only five minutes earlier,
finished a play that started when Gheorge Popescu sent a free kick from
midfield into the Romanian end. Adrian Ilie, who appeared offside, chased
it down and chipped the ball over Tunisian goalkeeper Chorki el Ouaer.
Souayah broke a scoreless run with Tunisia's first goal of the tournament on a penalty kick (AP) | |
Defender Ferid Chouchane headed the ball away, but not far enough. The
ball bounded to Moldovan, who volleyed it into the goal. All three
Romanians involved in the goal were substitutes.
The goal came after 10 minutes of sustained pressure by Romania, its
first consistent offensive effort of the match.
For most of the game the Tunisians were in control and led from the
10th minute, when Skander Souayah converted a penalty kick. Souayah drove
his chance into the lower left corner after Christian Dulca was whistled
for dragging down Adel Sellimi.
Lineups
Romania: Bogdan Stelea; Dan Petrescu, Cristian Dulca (Gheorghe
Popescu, 33rd minute), Anton Dobos, Liviu Ciobotariu; Constantin Galca,
Dorinel Munteanu, Gheorghe Hagi, Lucian Marinescu; Ilie Dumitrescu (Viorel
Moldovan, 67th), Marius Lacatus (Adrian Ilie, 46th).
Tunisia: Chokri el Ouaer; Sami Trabelsi, Mounir Boukadida,
Ferid houchane, Zoubaier Baya; Kaies Ghodbane (Tarek Thabet, 83rd), Riadh
Bouazizi, Sirajeddine Chihi, Skander Souayah (Imed Ben Younes, 92nd); Adel
Sellimi, Mehdi Slimane Ben (Riadh Jelassi, 55th).
Referee: Edward Lennie, Australia.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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