Romania exited the European Championship with their worst performance of the campaign Sunday.
The dismal showing in the 1-0 loss to Albania made millions of Romanian fans live out their ugliest Euro nightmare. Romania succumbed to their limits and couldn't hit back after a goal from Armando Sadiku in the 43rd minute.
Manager Anghel Iordanescu tried to change Romania's rhythm, vision and style with his second-half substitutions, but his team failed to react. Romania's every system crashed, which left the national team looking like a desperate set of boys failing to find their way out of a labyrinth.
The saddest of European nights for Romanian football sends home a national team that lacked all their historic values: technique, flair and the love for the game.
Player ratings (1-10, with 10 the best; players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating):
GK Ciprian Tatarusanu, 4 -- Romania conceded an amateurish goal, and Tatarusanu must be thanked by the Albanians for the present. Fiorentina's goalkeeper burned his goalkeeping manual for one of his biggest mistakes in his international career. He will probably pay the price in the years to come with a consolidated spot in Romanian football's Hall of Shame.
DF Cristian Sapunaru, 5 -- His offensive participation wasn't the best, despite Romania trying to push their full-backs and defensive midfielders' line into Albania's half. Sapunaru rarely had the intention of passing the ball forward and was happy to move it to the closest teammate around, returning possession to the central lane.
DF Vlad Chiriches, 5 -- Technical qualities are obvious, but that's not the main priority when you're a central defender, is it? Just like in the other two games in the group, against France and Switzerland, Chiriches couldn't end the first half without making an immense mistake. He was lucky to escape unpunished until Sunday, when Sadiku hit not only Chiriches' confidence but an entire nation's as well.
DF Dragos Grigore, 6 -- Honest, committed and hungry, Grigore was the best Romanian player at this tournament. If Iordanescu had 11 like him, Romania could have gone out of the tournament with their heads held high. Grigore won most of his duels, was always cautious and brought spirit to a rather emptied national team.
DF Alexandru Matel, 5 -- A left-back at club level for Dinamo Zagreb, Matel was always used on the opposite flank for Romania until Sunday. With Razvan Rat out because of injury, Matel came in to add speed and a bit of offensive pressure to the Albanian defense. He was active, moved a lot and tried to press high but showed his limits at the back. He also had a role to play for Albania's goal, as he allowed the cross that led to Sadiku's goal.
MF Ovidiu Hoban, 6 -- He ran a lot but didn't make his effort count. At the end of the day, Hoban is the type of player you want in your team -- one of the few in Romania's case. He did a good job at defensive midfield and tried to drag lines up high to get the ball early. He missed only six passes throughout the game.
MF Andrei Prepelita, 5 -- He was happy to move the ball around but almost never forward. None of his attempts to be Romania's Xavi were successful. He was left on the bench after 45 minutes, when Sanmartean came in to replace him.
MF Adrian Popa, 4 -- Popa took the day off. The right winger looked completely out of form and couldn't trouble his opposite number, Elseid Hysaj. Popa attempted only one cross, in the 61st minute, seven minutes before he left the pitch. Usually impossible to ignore during games for both Steaua and the national team, Popa was invisible in Lyon.
MF Nicusor Stanciu, 4 -- An unused substitute against Switzerland, despite being Romania's Man of the Match versus France, Stanciu returned to the first XI for the group's decider. Instead of building on the midfield maestro image he created for himself at the Stade de France, Stanciu looked more like a rugby player, as he wasted three chances with shots that missed the target by miles. The 23-year-old also missed a lot of simple passes and looked overwhelmed by the leading role he was required to play.
MF Bogdan Stancu, 5 -- Stancu is good to have in the team, but he wasn't at all inspired against Albania. A look at his face after 90 minutes would have told the game's story. Regret, frustration, disappointment -- they were all in his eyes. Stancu had a superb volley stopped by Albania keeper Etrit Berisha after eight minutes, and his game seemed to stop there.
FW Denis Alibec, 5 -- Romania's lone striker looked a bit overweight, but that wouldn't have bothered anyone if his Romanian league heroics for champions Astra had been repeated last night. In the 57 minutes he spent on the pitch, he had three shots. None of them troubled Berisha. The first one summed up his game perfectly in the 14th minute, when he got the ball away despite being attacked by four opponents, had at least two better options to pass and chose to shoot -- well wide -- from long range. Alibec looked motivated but unable to cause real danger.
Substitutes
MF Lucian Sanmartean, 6 -- The 36-year-old made his debut at the Euros in the 46th minute of the game against Albania. The most skillful Romanian player since Gheorghe Hagi, Sanmartean showed glimpses of his talent but couldn't influence the game as planned. He left a lot of regrets behind him, all of them starting with "what if?"
MF Gabriel Torje, 5 -- Torje was sent in to replace Alibec after 57 minutes. He wasted a free kick from a good position five minutes before the end of the game.
FW Florin Andone, 6 -- Andone hit the woodwork with a superb shot from a difficult angle in the 76th minute, minutes after coming on for Popa. He was a more dangerous presence than Alibec and Stancu, who were both tried as lone forwards on Sunday.
