Ionel Ganea, the substitute who scored the last-gasp penalty that eliminated England from Euro 2000, did the trick again by scoring an 89th-minute goal to give Romania a 1-0 win from their group eight World Cup opener against Lithuania.
Ganea, who came on in the 67th minute, headed home his ninth goal in 17 internationals from
eight metres after Salamanca's Catalin Munteanu sent over a perfect ball from the left flank.
Romania had Lithuania's defence under constant pressure but
the visitors out until the closing minutes in front of a paltry crowd of 4,000 in Bucharest.
Romania's coach Boloni said: 'The contribution of the bench
was outstanding, because Romania succeeded in winning with the
substitutes' help.'
Midfielder Dan Petrescu missed Romania's best scoring chance
seven minutes from time, failing to beat Lithuanian goalkeeper
Gitys Padimanskas from four metres out.
- NEWS