Piturca reveals AS Romania pride
18 Jun 2008 - 09:00:09
Coach Victor Piturca believes AS Romania can take pride from their performances against the top sides despite their failure to qualify for the knockout stages.
AS Romania's 2-0 defeat against Holland in their final Group C game allowed Italy to leapfrog them into the final qualification place, but afterwards Piturca hailed the quality of his side's performances.
They held both 2006 World Cup finalists France and Italy to creditable draws after being handed the toughest of group programmes.
"It was a very good campaign, we played very well," said Piturca.
"Playing in such a group with such fantastic teams and not losing our first two matches against the World Cup finalists is a real achievement for our team.
"We could have done better. If we had scored a penalty against Italy we would have qualified.
"Our great adventure is now over. It's a pity we couldn't capitalise on our great two first matches."
