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.

France – Serbia: searching South Africa while Raymond Domenech doubt

This match is so important for France: Raymond Domenech could say goodbye if his team lost. After a remarkable defeat at Austria, the French team must win at Stade de France, Paris, if they desire to reach World Cup. Serbia didn’t have any problem to beat Faroe Islands and is just waiting for this significant meeting.


Head to Head Official Matches: France – Serbia (Yugoslavia)

Paris 29/04/1989 FRA 0:0 YUG World Cup Qualifying
Belgrade 19/11/1988 YUG 3:2 (1:1) FRA World Cup Qualifying
Paris 16/11/1985 FRA 2:0 (1:0) YUG World Cup Qualifying
Sarajevo 03/04/1985 YUG 0:0 FRA World Cup Qualifying
St. Etienne 19/06/1984 FRA 3:2 (0:1) YUG Euro Final round
Belgrade 24/04/1968 YUG 5:1 (4:1) FRA Euro Quarter-finals
Marseille 06/04/1968 FRA 1:1 (0:0) YUG Euro Quarter-finals
Paris 09/10/1965 FRA 1:0 (0:0) YUG World Cup Qualifying
Belgrade 18/04/1965 YUG 1:0 (0:0) FRA World Cup Qualifying
Paris 06/07/1960 FRA 4:5 (0:0) YUG Euro Semi-finals
Vasteras 11/06/1958 YUG 3:2 (1:1) FRA World Cup
Lausanne 16/06/1954 YUG 1:0 (1:0) FRA World Cup
Florence 11/12/1949 YUG 3:2 a.e.t. (2:2, 1:1) FRA World Cup Qualifying
Paris 30/10/1949 FRA 1:1 (1:1) YUG World Cup Qualifying
Belgrade 09/10/1949 YUG 1:1 (1:0) FRA World Cup Qualifying