Saturday, May 14, 2016

October 11, 1995-Romania 1-France 3


October 11, 1995
Romania 1-France 3
UEFA European Championship Qualifying -Group 1
Venue: Bucharest (Bucuresti), Ghencea Stadionul (Steaua)   
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)
Goalscorers: (Romania): Marius Lacatus 52’
                    (France): Christian Karembeu 28’, Youri Djorkeff 42’,
       Zinedine Zidane 72’

Lineups:
Romania:
1- Bogdan Gheorghe Stelea (Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua- Bucuresti [30 / 0] 
3- Daniel Claudiu Prodan (Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua- Bucuresti [27 / 1] 
2- Dan Vasile Petrescu (Sheffield Wednesday Football Club / England) [48 / 5] 
4- Gheorge Mihali (En Avant de Guingamp / France)   [27 / 0]    (16-Danut  Lupu (Rapid Bucharest) [13 / 0]   46th)
5- Ioan Angelo Lupescu (Turn und Sportverein Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V. / Germany)  [44 / 5] 
6- Gheorge Popescu (Fútbol Club Barcelona / Spain) [59 / 3] 
7-Marius Mihai Lacatus (Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua- Bucuresti [71 / 12] 
9-Tibor Selymes (Koninklijke Sportvereniging Cercle Brugge / Belgium) [24 / 0] 
8- Ilie Dumitrescu (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club –London / England) [52 / 18]   (17-Ion Vladoui (Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua- Bucuresti[15 / 0]  46th)
10- Gheorge Hagi (Fútbol Club Barcelona / Spain)  [92 / 26]  (15-Basarab Nica Panduru (Sport Lisboa e Benfica / Portugal)  [19 / 1]  62nd)
11-Dorinel Ionel Munteanu (1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e.V. / Germany) [42 / 3] 

Coach: Anghel Iordanescu
Booked: Ion Vladoui 80, Ioan Angelo Lupescu 84

Other Subs:
12- Florin Prunea (Fotbal Club Dinamo Bucuresti)
14- Constantin Galca (Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua- Bucuresti 

Team Captain: Gheorge Hagi
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Uniform Colors: Yellow Shirts, Yellow Shorts, Yellow Socks

France:
1- Fabien Barthez (Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club) [2 / 0] 
3- Eric Di Meco  (Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club) [17 / 0]  
2- Jocelyn Angloma (Torino Calcio 1906 / Italy) [28 / 0] 
4- Christian Karembeu (Unione Calcio Sampdoria-Genova / Italy) [10 / 1] 
5- Frank Leboeuf (Racing Club de Strasbourg Football) [4 / 2] 
7- Didier Deschamps (Juventus Football Club-Torino / Italy) [44 / 3] 
8- Marcel Desailly (Associazione Calcio Milan / Italy) [17 / 1] 
6- Vincent Guérin (Paris Saint-Germain Football Club) [8 / 2] 
9- Youri Djorkaeff (Paris Saint-Germain Football Club) [12 / 7]  (12-Bixente Lizarazu (Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux) [16 / 0] 74th)
10- Zinedine Zidane (Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux) [7 / 4]  (13-Lilian Thuram (Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club) [6 / 0]  83rd
11- Christophe Dugarry (Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux) [8 / 1]  (15-Mikael Madar (Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club) [1 / 0] 62nd)  

Coach: Aimé Jacquet
Booked: Frank Leboeuf 17, Fabien Barthez 69, Bixente Lizarazu 82

Other Subs:
16-Bruno Martini (Montpellier-Hérault Sports Club)
14-Marc Keller (Racing Club de Strasbourg Football)

Team Captain: Eric Di Meco
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Uniform Colors: Blue Shirts, White Shorts, Red Socks


Photo From: Kickers Sportsmagazin
(France squad, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


Notes:

-Match number 483 for Romania and number 532 for France.

-This was the 8th meeting between the nations.

-The previous match between the nations, as well as the previous match on French soil, was the first leg of this EC Qualifier at Saint Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy Guichard on October 8, 1994 that ended scoreless.
Romania players: Stelea, Petrescu, Prodan, Lupescu, Popescu, Lacatus, Dumitrescu, Panduru, Hagi and Selymes and French players: Angloma, Lizarazu, Karembeu, Desailly, Zidane, Dugarry and Barthez were present that day (on the field and/or the substitutes bench).
Gheorge Hagi still captained Romania.
Romania’s Ilie Dumitrescu was booked in this match.
Both sets of managers were still in charge.

-The next match between the nations, as well as the next French win and next match on Neutral venue, was only a few months away during the Finals of UEFA European Championships on June 10, 1996 at Newcastle’s Saint James’ Park that France won 1 to 0.
Romania players: Stelea, Petrescu, Mihali, Munteanu, Prodan, Lupescu, Popescu, Lacatus, Prunea, Prodan, Galca, Hagi and Selymes and French players: Angloma, Guérin, Deschamps, Lizarazu, Thuram, Di Meco, Karembeu, Desailly, Djorkaeff, Zidane, Dugarry, Leboeuf, Madar, Martini and Barthez were present that day (on the field and/or the substitutes bench).
Gheorge Hagi still captained Romania; Didier Deschamps was now the Official Captain of France.
Christophe Dugarry scored France’s winner.
Romania’s Gheorge Mihali and Tibor Selymes and France’s Eric Di Meco were booked in this match.
Both sets of managers were still in charge.

-The previous match between the nations in the same city, as well as Romania’s last home win (home or otherwise) to date, was a Friendly on April 8, 1972 that Romania won 2 to 0.
The Romania Manager Anghel Iordanescu scored Romania’s first goal.

-The next match between the nations on Romanian soil, was a World Cup Qualifier on October 11, 2008 that ended in a 2-2 tie.

-The next match between the nations at Bucharest, was a EC Qualifier on September 6, 2011 that ended in a scoreless tie.

-The next match between the nations on French soil, was a Friendly at Saint-Denis’ Stade de France on February 13, 2002 that France won 2 to 1.
Romania players: Popescu, Munteanu, Stelea and Prodan and France players: Thuram, Desailly and Zidane were present that day (on the field and/or the substitutes bench).
Gheorghe Popescu and Marcel Desailly captained their respective nations in that match.
Anghel Iordanescu was in charge of Romania in that match as well.

-France’s previous win over Romania was a Friendly on March 23, 1974 on Paris’ Parc des Princes that France won 1 to 0.
The Romania Manager Anghel Iordanescu played in that match.
France were managed by Romanian Stefan Kovacs.

-The two teams were in a European Championship qualifying group that included also Poland, Slovakia, Azerbaijan and Israel.
Going into this match, the Romanians were on top, with France under pressure from Poland.

-In their previous qualifiers, France had easily demolished Azerbaijan (10-0) on September 6th, but had nearly lost vs, Poland at home on August 16th (1-1).
In fact they tied with Poland in the dying stages of the match and their qualification prospects were far from certain.

-Romania had built on their 1994 World Cup success and seemed set to qualify and were more confident.

-Since taking over from Gerard Houllier in 1994, Aimé Jacquet had a somewhat difficult task in rebuilding. Many of France’s matches under him had ended in ties and his position seemed weak and there were calls for his dismissal in French football circles.
In addition, Jacquet had lost his Captain Eric Cantona, since January 1995, after the infamous ‘Kung-Fu kick’ incident with his club Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace on January 25, 1995.
His suspension had only ended at the beginning of the month; as a result, Jacquet did not call him up for this match.
France were in a difficult position and had to absolutely get a positive result to have any hopes of advancing.

-The French striking duo of veterans Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin played their last match for France on January 18, 1995 (Holland 0-France 1).
This match took 7 days before Cantona’s exclusion following the kicking incident vs. Crystal Palace.
Eric Cantona was fined £20,000 and banned from playing football until October and also lost the captaincy of the French national team.
Cantona had claimed the fan, Matthew Simmons, had shouted racial insults and had thrown a missile at him as he was walking off the field after being sent–off for a foul on another player during a tackle.

-After Cantona’s loss, Jacquet had sought to implement a system with the Zidane-Djorkaeff combination upfront.

- Romania were missing starters such as Miodrag Beloidedic, Ioan Sabau and Florin Raducioiu.
In Addition Ilie Dumitrescu was rarely playing at Tottenham Hotspur and Hagi was also struggling at Barcelona.

-France were missing Laurent Blanc, Alain Roche, starting goalkeeper Bernard Lama, Reynald Pedros, David Ginola, Nicolas Ouedec, Jean-Pierre Papin and Patrice Loko.
Loko had just transferred to Paris St. Germain from Nantes. On July 20, 1995, he was arrested at Paris for violent behavior after what appeared to be a nervous breakdown.
He would miss France’s matches for fall of 1995, as he was going through counseling and recovery.
Newcastle United’s David Ginola, who was having an excellent season, was eventually omitted from France team due to his demand for a starter position.
He played his last match for France, the previous month vs. Azerbaijan.
Fabien Barthez deputized for the injured Lama in goal for France. This was only his second cap.
His previous and first cap had been on May 26, 1994 vs. Australia (1-0 win) during the Kirin Cup at Kobe, Japan.
Early in the year 1995, Barthez had been suspended for two months for using Cannabis.

-France’s Christian Karembeu was having an excellent season. He had just joined Serie A’s Sampdoria.
The previous season he had won the French League with Nantes.
Didier Deschamps had clinched the double the previous season with Juventus.
Youri Djorkaeff had just joined Paris St. Gerrmain from AS Monaco.

-Also missing for France was AS Monaco defender Emanuele Petit, who felt he had been overlooked, as he was a scapegoat for the failure to qualify for USA 94.

-Despite its tendency to tie so many matches, France had been unbeaten since Jacquet had taken over, a run of 15 matches.

-Prior to the match, Romanian superstar Gheorge Hagi had called into question France’s tactics. He believed they were not a great team yet.

- Following Eric Cantona’s exclusion from the national team, the France Manager Aime Jacquet experimented with the captaincy by rotating it from match to match.
For this match with Romania, he chose Eric Di Meco as his Captain. He explained that he needed a warrior for such an important match away from home.
This would be Di Meco’s one and only time as Captain.
For France’s previous match on September vs. Azerbaijan, Marcel Desailly had captained. For the following month, in the crucial qualifier vs. Israel, Vincent Guerin would Captain his nation.

-Jacquet chose to start with three defensive midfielders: Didier Deschamps, Vincent Guerin and Christian Karembeu.
Marcel Desailly, who had settled to excellent effect in midfield for his club AC Milan, was pushed back into the center of defense.
Desailly and Lebouef covered for the missing Blanc and Roche.
The injury to so many French strikers had paved the way for the selection of AS Monaco’s then-uncapped Mikael Madar.
Christophe Dugarry was positioned as sole striker.


Photo From: Capitaines des bleus depuis 1904, Author Vincent Duluc
(Eric Di Meco, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 82, November 1995
(October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)

-Prior to this match, Romania had not lost a match at Bucharest since 1990 (October 17, 1990, EC Qualifier, Romania 0-Bulgaria 3).
Their last defeat on home soil had been a meaningless friendly in Brasov in 1991 (August 28, 1991, Romania 0-USA 2)

- Jacquet had a meeting with the old heads, Deschamps, Desailly, Guerin and Di Meco. He asked them to guide the young into this crucial match.

-During the singing of the National Anthems, France’s ‘La Marseillaise’ was booed by some segment of Romania’s fans.

-Since were more determined from the opening kick, as they really needed a result. For Romania, a tie was sufficient to qualify for the Finals; as a result they may have played with less determination than usual.


Photo From: France Football, Issue 2584, October 17, 1995
(Marcel Desailly, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)

-France dominated the first half and had more shots on goal and unsurprisingly led by two goals.

-In the 29th minute, Deschamps won a ball in midfield and released it to Zidane.
Zidane crossed from the left side into the box for Karembeu who trapped it and advanced and put it past Stelea.
This turned out to be Karembeu’s first and only goal for France.

Photo From: France Football, Issue 2584, October 17, 1995
(Christian Karembeu scoring France’s first goal past Bogdan Stelea, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-In the 41st minute, Desailly won a ball and advanced laid it on for Guerin on the left side. Guerin crossed for Dugarry waiting just outside of the box. He trapped and took a shot that Stelea could only parry and Djorkaeff tapped it in.

Photo From: L’Annee du Football, 1996
(Youri Djorkaeff scoring France’s second goal past Bogdan Stelea, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-After the break, Romania took off defender Mihali and Dumitrescu and sent on Danut Lupu and Ion Vladoui for more attacking options. They somewhat raised their game in this half.

-In the 51st minute, Stelea kicked a ball upfield that Muntenau received. He sent a through pass for Lacatus, who dribbled past Barthez and score.
The French defense protested that Lacatus might have been marginally offside.

-After this goal, Romania pressed for an equalizer, but the French defense held firm.

- The French defense was never in real danger and conceded only three corners during the entire match.
Fabien Barthez’s only significant saves were from two free kicks from Hagi.

-France scored the deciding goal midway through the half.

-In the 72nd minute, Eric Di Meco tackled a ball that reached Madar on the left side. The debutant substitute, with plenty of open space ahead of him, crossed into the right side to Zidane (also with much space).
Zidane took a hard shot into the top corner of net from a difficult angle and sealed France’s win.

Photo From: Le Livre d'or du Football 1996
(Zinedine Zidane scoring France’s third goal, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)



-Afterwards, the players publicly paid homage to the much-contested Jacquet and his tactics.
Jacquet was vindicated in his plan to implement the Zidane/Djorkaeff association.

-Jacquet was pleased his with three defensive midfielders (Deschamps, Guerin, Karembeu) and stated that he has found his ‘three monsters’ in the middle.

Photo From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-Marcel Desailly had perhaps been the best player on the field.
By the time of the Euros he would be the starter in central defense and would remain so for the rest of his France career.
By the Euros, Laurent Blanc would also be back in the French set-up and they would form the central defensive rock of France’s glorious generation.
Laurent Blanc himself would go through a resurrection of sorts that season with Auxerre and win back his France spot.


Photo From: World Soccer, December 1995
(Dan Petrescu and Zinedine Zidane, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Hors Serie 23, May 1996
(Youri Djorkaeff, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-Young striker Christophe Dugarry also played his best match for France (up until then) and was praised.

-The theme in the French press was that a ‘team was born in Bucharest’.
This match was later described by experts/observers/players/etc as the pivotal turning point in the birth of the golden age of the French national team of late 90’s and early 2000’s.
It is described as that Generations’ ‘Match de Reference’.

-The following on November 15th, both nations qualified for the 1996 Euros in England.
France defeated Israel at home (2-0), while Romania defeated Slovakia away (2-0).
Romania won the group outright with 21 points followed by France (20 points).
Slovakia were a distant third with 14 points.

Photo From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(Dan Petrescu and International debutant Mickael Madar, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-France players: Angloma, Di Meco, Leboeuf, Guerin, Deschamps, Desailly, Djorkaeff, Zidane, Lizarazu, Dugarry, Thuram, Barthez, Madar, Karembeu and Martini made the Euros Finals squad.
By the time of the Tournament, Thuram and Lizarazu had established themselves as starters in the outside back positions ahead of Angloma and Di Meco.
Prior to the Tournament, Jacquet appointed Didier Deschamps as the official Team captain and he would remain fro the rest of his France career.
He is the current national team Manager.

Photo From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(Marcel Desailly, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


- Jacquet chose not to call upon Eric Cantona again following the end of his suspension, satisfied with the partnership of Zinedine Zidane and Youri Djorkaeff for Euro 96 and specially the 1998 World Cup in mind.
David Ginola was similarly omitted from the squad.
Cantona and Ginola were ironically the two English based players and both had and excellent season in the run up to the finals tournament.

-On May 27, 1996, Ilie Dumitrescu was withdrawn from the Euro Finals squad due to injury.

-Romania players: Stelea, Prunea, Petrescu, Prodan, Mihali, Selymes, Hagi, Lupescu, Popescu, Galca, Munteanu, Lacatus and Vladoiu made the Euros Finals squad.

-The two teams would be paired in the same Group in the Euros. France won that match (1-0) as stated earlier.

-Didier Deschamps won the Champions League that season with Juventus.
Marcel Desailly triumphed in the Italian League with AC Milan.
Vincent Guérin and Youri Djorkaeff won the Cup Winners Cup with Paris Saint-Germain Football Club.

- Vincent Guérin was elected as the French Player of the year for 1995.

Photo From: France Football, Issue 2584, October 17, 1995
(Vincent Guerin, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-France and Aime Jacquet’s unbeaten run ended after 31 matches. His first loss was in November 1996 vs. Denmark.
The last match prior that France had lost was the November 17, 1993 qualifier against Bulgaria.
(Note: France lost on a penalty kick shoot-out in the Euros vs. Czech republic, but the match had officially ended as a scoreless tie).

- Danut Lupu’s next and final cap would a friendly on March 18, 1998 at the same venue (Romania 0-Israel 1)

Photo From: France Football, Issue 2584, October 17, 1995
(Christophe Dugarry, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-Steaua Bucharest players: Stelea, Prodan, Lacatus, Vladoui and Galca had won the Romanian League title the previous season and would also win it that season.

- Romanian defender Gheorge Mihali was playing for French club En Avant de Guingamp.

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 89, June 1996
(Christophe Dugarry, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-Ilie Dumitrescu would transfer to West Ham United in a matter of months.

-France’s Bordeaux trio : Lizarazu, Zidane and Dugarry starred in their UEFA Cup run that included teh elimination of AC Milan. They reached teh Final but lost to Bayern Munich.

Photo From: France Football, Issue 2584, October 17, 1995
(Christian Karembeu, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-During the season, the landmark Bosman Ruling occured. At the end of the season many French players joined foreign clubs.:
Angloma (Valencia), Leboeuf (Chelsea), Djorkaeff (Internazionale Milano), Lizarazu (Athletic Bilbao), Zidane (Juventus), Thuram (Parma), Dugary (AC Milan), Madar (Deportivo La Coruna) and Keller (West Ham United).
The Popescu and Hagi joined Galatasaray.

Photo From: France Football, Issue 2584, October 17, 1995
(Youri Djorkaeff with Didier Deschamps in the background, October 11, 1995, EC Qualifier, Romania 1-France 3)


-France players: Lizarazu, Djorkaeff, Deschamps, Desailly, Thuram, Barthez, Leboeuf, Karembeu and Dugarry were part of France’s victorious World Cup winning squad of 1998, as well as the 2000 UEFA European.
Championships.

-Anghel Iordanescu won the 1986 Champions Cup with Lacatus as a teammate.

-Deschamps, Di Meco, Angloma, Barthez and Desailly won the 1993 Champions League with Olympique Marseille.
Deschamps (Juventus 1996), Desailly (AC Milan 1994), Karembeu (Real Madrid 1998), Lizarazu (Bayern Munich 2001) and Zidane (Real Madrid 2002) also won the trophy in their careers.

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