Defending champions Germany were humiliated 3-0 by the fluent Portuguese and England were beaten by a late penalty as Romania squeezed into the quarter-finals of Euro 2000 on Tuesday.
A Sergio Conceicao hat-trick in Rotterdam sealed the win for the Portuguese second-string side and condemned Germany to their worst performance at a major tournament - they finished bottom of Group A with just one point from three games. Romania deservedly joined Portugal in the quarter-finals with a 3-2 victory over England in Charleroi thanks to the 89th minute penalty from substitute Ioan Ganea. England, who led 2-1 at halftime, had needed a draw to go through. When Group A was drawn, it was hardly conceivable that the two heavyweights, Germany and England, would both fail. Yet both looked ponderous, and the lively and inventive play of the Portuguese and Romanians reaped their just reward. Portugal, who finished the group with a 100 percent record, play Turkey in Amsterdam in Saturday's quarter-finals. Romania will meet Italy in Brussels on the same day. Germany's fall was the greater of the two. The three-times champions faced a Portugal side that made no less than nine changes from the team which had already secured qualification in their last match against Romania. Yet they found themselves hopelessly outclassed by the Iberian stand-ins, Conceicao leading them a merry dance as he struck in the 36th, 54th and 71st minutes. It was even more embarrassing than the 3-0 thrashing administered by Croatia in the World Cup quarter-finals two years ago.
Romania's win was highly dramatic, though they had dominated the entire match. Christian Chivu gave them a 23rd minute lead with a cross which hit the far post and bounced into the net but England came back against the run of play with two goals just before halftime. Alan Shearer scored a penalty in the 41st minute after Paul Ince was tripped by Chivu and then, in the third minute of stoppage time, Michael Owen ran on to a Paul Scholes lob over the defence and rounded Romania keeper Bogdan Stelea to score. Romanian coach Emerich Jenei later complained the referee had made mistakes on both goals, claiming Ince was not fouled and Owen was offside. "I believe the powers of European football like to have these things given on a plate," he said. "We were superior in tactics and technically." Romania equalised soon after the break when Dorinel Munteanu thumped the ball home from the edge of the box after England keeper Nigel Martyn, standing in for David Seaman who was injured in the warm-up, punched a clearance to him. Romania always looked the more likely to get a winner and it arrived when Phil Neville made a rash tackle on Viorel Moldovan in the area. Ganea made no mistake from the spot.
England coach Kevin Keegan, whose side gave away a 2-0 lead against Portugal before losing 3-2 in their first match, said he was devastated and took the blame for the defeat. "It's the most disappointing moment in my career as a manager," he said.
"I'd like to say how unlucky we were but I don't think we were, " he said. "We were not unlucky. We weren't good enough to win." Keegan said his team had failed to stick to their pre-match game plan and had been let down by their passing. "We lost as a team and as a squad," he said. "We didn't get anywhere near our potential and I take responsibility for that, not the players. "I have to get that level of performance out of them. I did get a lot out of them in this tournament but not the level of performance they are capable of."
Keegan's frank admission that his team had failed to pass well enough in all three of their group games was his chief reason for his team's exit after losing to Portugal and Romania and beating Germany. "We had a game plan, we had talked for three days about passing the ball better and we never did that tonight, so I have no qualms about the result. "I don't think we can make any excuses. We didn't pass the ball well enough and we spent the whole game trying to win it back as it has been all the way through the tournament for us. "I said to the lads that you can't ask yourselves to play like that in this heat against these quality sides and squander possession so easily. So, I am disappointed for the fans in the stadium, not the ones who caused the problems.
"The fans in the stadium were magnificent again tonight and we failed to live up to their standards as a team and it disappoints me to say that. They were absolutely magnificent and we had so much going for us but we couldn't really say we were unlucky," Keegan stated.
Bucharest swamped by celebrating fans
Hundreds of thousands of Romanians swarmed through the streets of Bucharest in mad celebration of Romania reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2000 on Tuesday. "We are the best, we are the champions," the crowd shouted. Fans streamed out of Bucharest bars and homes with bottles of alcohol in their hands and headed for the University Square, waving tricolor flags and shouting "Victory, Victory". Police cars, which started cruising Bucharest with lights flashing as soon as the final whistle was blown, were unable to get through the human sea which filled the city's main avenues. "It's total madness, but so far we are able to keep it under control," an police officer told Reuters as a young man draped a police armoured car with a Romanian flag. Spraying champagne, young men ripped off their shirts and danced on car roofs. Garbage can lids, blaring horns and whistles filled the city with noise. It was Romania's first win in the finals after two draws and six defeats. Several armoured trucks full of riot police arrived at the scene but within minutes the crowd started to hug the police and called on them to join the fiesta.
Thousands of people, gathered in front of a huge video screen erected for the duration of Euro 2000, exploded with joy when national team coach Emeric Ienei said in a live televised broadcast: "The team dedicates this victory to all those who celebrate our victory on the streets at home." Four cars in a convoy through the city collided, slightly injuring their passengers. Glass from broken bottles, waste paper and banners filled the streets.
Police blocked access to a central street leading to the British embassy to prevent the crowd from getting too close to the building but no incidents were reported.
Coach Emerich Jenei praised Romanians for their determination and said it showed they could operate without Gheorghe Hagi. "The players did exactly what I asked of them. They were disciplined and determined and they stuck to their tasks. I am delighted for them," he said. Jenei played down talk of a poor display by England, choosing instead to praise the way his side kept England's key attacking midfielders quiet. "It wasn't a surprise for me how the game went. England played like they did because we forced them to be like that. Beckham did nothing because we marked him very well and it was the same with Scholes." Romania side coped without suspended Hagi, who will retire from international soccer after the tournament, and also with the loss of experienced defender Gica Popescu who picked up an injury and was replaced in the 32nd minute. "For the last hour we were without two great players but our collective strength gave us what we needed to win. "We also showed our tactical strength in covering the two key players and then attacking the English defence whenever we could," said Jenei.
Inter Milan midfielder Adrian Ilie gave an impressive performance in Hagi's playmaker role and enjoyed the space he was given in midfield. Hagi will return for the quarter-final against Italy on Saturday. "We played well, I am delighted with the win and I hope that against Italy we can win again," said Adrian Mutu.
Hagi praised his team mates. "Once again Romania showed that without Hagi they are still a very good team and they gave an excellent performance. Our ambition was the key, everyone on the field believed (in victory) until the last minute." Reuters
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