Football Re-Heated: Romania Vs Argentina, USA '94

Football Re-Heated – Romania Vs Argentina – USA 94

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_FI...a_vs_Argentina

I’ve never liked Argentina. In football obviously. I have no beef with them outside of the sporting arena. I don’t think I’ve even met an Argentinian before. But when it comes to sport, I despise them. I think everyone outside of Argentina hates them too. They are the archetypal villains. They will cheat outrageously and do whatever it takes to win. Other teams are guilty of this too, but what sets Argentina apart is the sheer brazenness of the way they cheat. For them it’s a way of life. Win at all cost. Sod the rules, They are only there to be broken! The sad thing is that if Argentina ever actually played the game fairly they probably would still win quite a lot of matches and be universally well liked. When Argentina actually play fairly they end up producing some excellent football as this match readily shows.

USA 94 was kind of a miserable experience for Argentina, highlighted by their star player Diego Maradona getting suspended for failing a drug test. The terrifying clip of Mardona celebrating a goal against Greece, his eyes wide as saucers and his mouth frothing like a gopher with rabies, will live in my mind forever. Whatever he was taking, it seemed to be working. I find the story of Maradona a living example that there is such a thing as karma. I know a bunch of people are going to be falling over themselves saying “Don’t have a go at Diego, he won a World Cup in 86’ single handed!”

This one has always rankled me. Yes Argentina won the World Cup in 86’ but outside of England (Who they had to cheat against to beat) and Germany, who of any consequence did they play at that World Cup? I’m sorry, but getting a soft draw to the Quarters and then having to PUNCH the ball into the net to beat ENGLAND leaves a lot to be desired. “But Mike, that other goal he scored was amazing!”. Yes, it was a very good goal and Maradona fans cling to it like a security blanket. To them, this is the proof that Maradona isn’t the cheating scum bucket that he’s made out to be. This one goal has somehow rose this cocky little scoundrel with small man syndrome into one of sports greatest heroes. Look, the goal is excellent, that I’m not disputing, but that doesn’t excuse Diego’s prior actions. If a man saves a child from a burning building but then murders 15 others in a bank robbery, does that make him a good person or a bad person? I know which side of the fence I’m on in this one.

Anyway, a Maradona-less Argentina had made it to the second round of the World Cup where they were scheduled to face an impressive Romanian side. Romania had got to the second round by beating pre-tournament favourites Columbia and also sneaking past tournament hosts USA 1-0 in their final group game. The Yanks, by virtue of also beating the Columbians, had pretty much already qualified at that point.
Despite a shock loss to Bulgaria, Argentina had qualified with relative comfort from their group and most fancied them to do well despite the loss of Maradona to a drugs ban. Maradona, always needing to be centre of attention, still attended the game and did some commentary for Argentinian radio, a mere stones throw from where Motty and Trevor Brooking were sitting. The version of the match I watched was the BBC TV version and despite the fact it was clearly taped off a VCR and then copied to a DVD, the quality was surprisingly good.
Romania had done well in Italia 90’ and had ended up going out in Round 2 to Jack Charlton’s Ireland on penalties. Key players for them were the uber talented Hagi and a determined Dumitrescu. Argentina of course had used every single trick in the book to make it to the final at Italia 90’ and, in true panto villain style, had managed to knock the hosts out in the semi-finals before going on to enter a performance so vile in the final that it went from being infuriating to just plain embarrassing. Their play in USA 94 had been a lot more positive and that was a trend that continued here in this match.

The action was hot a heavy with both teams playing counter attacking football. Pretty much every goal in the game was a result of a counter attack as both defences were exposed on a number of occasions. Ortega had been shuffled into the Maradona role and performed admirably. Rather than diving all over the place when tackled, he often stood firm on his feet and had a number of very good chances towards the end of the first half.

Romania were able to take the lead after a mere 11 minutes into the contest. Hagi won a, admittedly soft, free kick outside the Argentine box. Dumitrescu aimed to cross the ball in to the box and find the head of one of the two Romanian defenders who had come up for the free kick. He needn’t have bothered. The “cross” swung over a helpless Islas in the Argentine goal and landed in the corner of the net. Dumitrescu quickly acted like he meant it all along but he wasn’t fooling anybody.

Argentina were very quick to get back into the match and at the 15 minute mark Batistuta (sporting what I could only describe as a lions main on his head) went down in the Romanian box and the referee pointed to the spot. The penalty, similar to the free kick earlier, was pretty soft. At most he fell into the Romanian number 3 Prodan. Batistuta stepped up and coolly slotted the spot kick home. 1-1.

Argentina had little time to relax though as Romania were soon straight back up the pitch. Hagi went on a teasing run down the right side of the pitch and played in a peach of a through ball into the box to Dumitrescu who tapped it past Isla with alarming ease to put the Romanians back into the lead. The Romanians had essentially created two goals from nothing and only 18 minutes had passed by!

You’d think the match would settle down this point but you’d be dead wrong. Romania had another run up the pitch where Isla barely denied Dumistrescu his hat-trick with a great save. Argentina immediately broke down the other side with Ortega almost clean on goal before being smothered by both a defender and the goal keeper. Romania then went up the pitch AGAIN with Petrescu’s long range shot smacked away by a desperate Isla. This all happened in the space of 45 seconds. It was like watching your mates play FIFA.

The first half continued in this vein with both teams taking it in turns to attack the others goal. Argentina made a conscious effort towards the end of the half to try and slow the pace down and build attacks up slowly but the Romanians stuffed 4-5 guys in the box and waited to steal the ball back. The Argentinians continued to give the ball away at silly times and Romania aimed to punish them at every turn. Batistuta did a fine job of scuffing a shot wide at the 25 minute mark.

Argentina dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half, instigating attack after attack on the Romanian goal. However, every attack was subdued by the Romanian defence. The fourth goal in the match came from a, say it with me, counter attack. Ortega’s corner kick at the 56 minute mark was headed out to Basualdo who was easily dispossessed by Dumitrescu on the outside of the Romanian box. Dumitrescu stormed down the middle of the pitch. All three Argentine defenders pounced on him but none of them noticed a sprinting Hagi stampeding down the right hand side of the pitch. Dumitrescu played Hagi a peach of the ball and Hagi easily tucked the ball away to put Romania 3-1 up.

Argentina was not to be outdone and continued to pressurize the Romanian box. Romania decided to keep it on the ground and hold on to the ball whenever they had possession. Watching them calmly hang on to the ball and pass it between themselves reminded me a little bit of the famed “Tiki-Taka” style of play that Spain employs.

The game didn’t so much fizzle out at this point but the pace did noticeably slow as Romania were trying to hold on to their lead. Both sides were still willing to attack with Argentina desperately trying to drag themselves back into contention. At the 75th minute, they managed it. Caceres had a long range shot from way outside the Romanian box. The shot was saved by Prunea in the Romanian goal but he couldn’t hang on to it and Abel Balbo knocked the rebound into the net to make it 3-2.

Despite this goal, Romania were able to hang on and get a famous win. The Argentinian fans, in a show of class, applauded Hagi as he left the field at the 86th minute to be replaced by Galca. The game itself was played in a good spirit and the usual cheating and chicanery that you expect from Argentina was not on display. This may have been the most fun I’ve ever had watching Argentina play football. It was miles away from the horrid displays at Italia 90. That being said, playing exciting and relatively clean football against a talented Romanian side led to Argentina crashing out of the tournament. Maybe this is why Argentinians prefer to play dirty?
Overall, this match is not just the best match at USA 94 it may very well be one of the top 10 greatest matches in World Cup history. Unlike some other matches, this match stands on it’s excitement factor alone. There’s no grudge between the two sides or intense rivalry between the players. That being said, it’s captivating stuff and is a constant and dizzying exhibition of attacking football. It certainly helps that Romania get the early goal. This forces Argentina to chase the game and leaves them open to more counter attacks from the Romanian Mega Powers of Hagi and Dumitrescu. Hagi’s performance is excellent throughout as he is a constant threat and causes the Argentinians no end of bother. That being said, I’d go with Dumitrescu as the man of the match. He really had something to prove here and stepped up to the plate to deliver a cracking performance. 

Ortega would be the player who stood out most to me for Argentina. Filling Maradona’s shoes is not a task most men would inherit happily. In fact, pretty much every attacking chance that Argentina had involved Ortega in some form or another. Batistuta, despite winning the penalty, entered a below par performance up front. He really didn’t play up to his potential at all and really should have done better with some of his chances in the first half.

This match is certainly “must see”. If you’re never seen it before, it’s worth trying to hunt a copy down or watch the highlights in the youtube link below