Romania vs Serbia: victory is crucial

Star striker Adrian Mutu claimed Romania must beat Serbia in their 2010 World Cup qualifier on Saturday if they are to remain in contention for a place at next year's finals.

The 30-year-old, Romania's third all-time scorer with 29, said that a draw would not be good enough against a side that presently tops Group 7 with nine points, though, the Romanians on four points have a game in hand.

"We cannot just come away with a draw against Serbia," said Mutu.

"This match is vital because if we don't win, we won't have a chance of qualifying," added Mutu, who also said that they must take three points off Austria on April 1.

The Fiorentina marksman claimed Serbia had an advantage because their players played in tougher championships than most of the Romanian squad and called on his compatriots to motivate themselves so that they would not allow this to be replayed out on the pitch.

"We have shown before that we can play as well as stronger teams than us such as against France (a 2-2 draw in their World Cup qualifier last October) and Holland (a 1-0 victory in a Euro 2008 qualifier)," said Mutu, who is just six goals short of Romania's leading all-time scorer Gheorghe Hagi.