FlashFocus: After 28 years of waiting, Romania are ready to return to the World Cup
Under the leadership of Mircea Lucescu, Romania's national team seems to be regaining its former lustre, but let's not forget that the renaissance began with Edward Iordanescu, who secured qualification for a European Championship after an eight-year wait.
The performance at Euro 2024, where Romania won their group, then reignited the flames of passion in the souls of the supporters.
Iordanescu practically laid the foundations for the 'Generation of Soul', as he called the current group before the Euros, and Lucescu continues to build.
As proof, in the first match played in the country after the finals, interest was high. Over 28,000 fans filled the stands of the Ghencea stadium (total capacity 31,254) for the victory over Lithuania.
For the match against Kosovo on Friday, which was abandoned before a result, over 40,000 tickets were sold in just 72 hours.
Young guns
The success of the side is no accident, but largely the fruit of hard work. Many of the players now shining on the international stage were part of the generation that reached the semi-finals of the under-21 Euros in 2019. These talented youngsters have continued to progress and are now reaping the rewards.
The back line is led by Radu Dragușin (22), for whom Tottenham paid Genoa €25 million in early 2024. Andrei Rațiu (26) has earned his starting place at Rayo Vallecano and is expected to make the step up to a bigger team in the summer.
The midfield is dominated by Serie A players. Razvan Marin (28) stops opponents' attacks and the Cagliari player is even the national team's top scorer in this edition of the Nations League with four goals.
However, the most influential attacking player is undoubtedly Dennis Man (26). Parma's right winger has scored two goals and provided two assists.
On the left flank is his Parma team-mate Valentin Mihaila (24), who also has a goal and a decisive assist in four Nations League games, and the frontline is completed by Trabzonspor's Denis Draguș (25), who has scored twice in his last four games.
Only five of the 26 players included in the squad for the matches against Kosovo and Cyprus are over 30. According to Flashscore, the most valuable Romanian players are Dragușin (€24.8m) and Man (€15.7m).
After qualifying for the Euros and a very good run in the Nations League, Romania's national team will now attempt to qualify for the World Cup, a tournament they have not played in since 1998.
In the draw for the qualifiers, the national team is in the second pot, which means it will face top teams such as France, Belgium and England. They'll go into the campaign with a relatively young squad, but it remains to be seen whether they are mature enough to make a return to the finals.