EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS - 2014/16 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS National Arena Bucharest - Bucharest Thursday 8 October 2015 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Romania Group F - Matchday -4 Finland Last updated 12/07/2021 18:13CET Official Partners of UEFA EURO 2020 Previous meetings 2 Match background 4 Squad list 5 Head coach 7 Match officials 8 Competition facts 9 Match-by-match lineups 10 Team facts 12 Legend 14 1 Romania - Finland Thursday 8 October 2015 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit National Arena Bucharest, Bucharest Previous meetings Head to Head 2016 UEFA European Championship Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached 14/10/2014 QR (GS) Finland - Romania 0-2 Helsinki Stancu 54, 83 FIFA World Cup Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached 08/10/2005 QR (GS) Finland - Romania 0-1 Helsinki Mutu 41 Mutu 50, Petre 90; A. 18/08/2004 QR (GS) Romania - Finland 2-1 Bucharest Eremenko 90+3 (P) FIFA World Cup Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached 28/08/1985 QR (GS) Romania - Finland 2-0 Timisoara Hagi 7, Mateut 57 06/06/1985 QR (GS) Finland - Romania 1-1 Helsinki Lipponen 26; Hagi 7 FIFA World Cup Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Dumitru 6, Marcu 8, 43, Sandu 25, 65, 14/10/1973 QR (GS) Romania - Finland 9-0 Bucharest Dumitrache 45, 63, Pantea 55, Georgescu 75 Rissanen 87; 20/09/1972 QR (GS) Finland - Romania 1-1 Helsinki Nunweiller 51 1972 UEFA European Championship Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Iordănescu 25, Lupescu 37, 22/09/1971 PR (GS) Finland - Romania 0-4 Helsinki Dembrovski 55, Lucescu 64 (P) Dumitrache 28, 42, 11/10/1970 PR (GS) Romania - Finland 3-0 Bucharest Nunweiller 77 Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA EURO Romania 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 - - - - 3 3 0 0 9 0 Finland 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 - - - - 3 0 0 3 0 9 FIFA* 2 Romania - Finland Thursday 8 October 2015 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit National Arena Bucharest, Bucharest Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Romania 3 3 0 0 3 1 2 0 - - - - 6 4 2 0 16 3 Finland 3 0 2 1 3 0 0 3 - - - - 6 0 2 4 3 16 Friendlies Romania - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Finland - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Total Romania 4 4 0 0 5 3 2 0 - - - - 9 7 2 0 25 3 Finland 5 0 2 3 4 0 0 4 - - - - 9 0 2 7 3 25 * FIFA World Cup/FIFA Confederations Cup 3 Romania - Finland Thursday 8 October 2015 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit National Arena Bucharest, Bucharest Match background Romania remain in an excellent position to qualify for UEFA EURO 2016 but could do with ending their recent goal drought as they take on a Finland side who have rallied in Group F. • Second-placed Romania will qualify if they get a better result than Hungary, in third, manage against the Faroe Islands. • Fourth-ranked Finland and Romania both have an inferior head-to-head record in the event that they finish level on points with Hungary. Previous meetings • Bogdan Stancu scored both goals as Romania marked captain Răzvan Raţ's 100th international appearance with a 2-0 win in Helsinki last October in the teams' first Group F meeting. Finland's Alexander Ring was sent off after 56 minutes. • Romania's record in nine matches against Finland is W7 D2 L0 (W4 D0 L0 at home). Form guide • Romania are unbeaten in six competitive home games (W3 D3). They have the best defensive record in qualifying with just one goal conceded in eight outings. However, the goals have dried up at the other end too – their last three Group F matches all ended 0-0. • Finland's away record in Group F reads W2 D2. Their confidence is returning after winning their two September qualifiers 1-0, against Greece and the Faroe Islands – their first two assignments under caretaker coach Markku Kanerva. Disciplinary • Alexandru Chipciu is available after a one-game ban; Gabriel Torje and Claudiu Keșerü will incur a suspension with their next bookings. • Tim Sparv is suspended for the Romania game; Paulus Arajuuri, Markus Halsti and Perparim Hetemaj are within a booking of a ban. Trivia and links • In 11 encounters in UEFA age-group competitions, Finland's record against Romania is W1 D3 L7. The most recent of these was a 1-0 victory for Romania in a 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifier staged in Albania. • The nations' clubs have met in 21 UEFA competition games, with the Finnish sides' record in these fixtures reading W6 D2 L13. 4 Romania - Finland Thursday 8 October 2015 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit National Arena Bucharest, Bucharest Squad list Romania Current season Overall Qual. FT Team No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Costel Pantilimon 01/02/1987 28 Sunderland - 1 0 0 0 19 - - Ciprian Tătăruşanu 09/02/1986 29 Fiorentina - 7 0 0 0 31 - - Silviu Lung 04/06/1989 26 Astra - 0 0 0 0 3 - Defenders Rayo - Răzvan Raţ 26/05/1981 34 - 7 0 0 0 105 2 Vallecano - Cosmin Moţi 03/12/1984 30 Ludogorets - 0 0 0 0 6 - Dinamo - Alexandru Măţel 17/10/1989 25 - 0 0 0 0 13 - Zagreb - Paul Papp 11/11/1989 25 Steaua - 5 2 0 0 17 3 - Valerică Găman 25/02/1989 26 Astra - 0 0 0 0 13 1 - Dragoş Grigore 07/09/1986 29 Al-Sailiya - 8 0 0 0 14 - - Vlad Chiricheş 14/11/1989 25 Napoli - 8 0 0 0 34 - Midfielders - Lucian Sânmărtean 13/03/1980 35 Al-Ittihad - 6 0 0 0 14 - - Andrei Prepeliţă 08/12/1985 29 Ludogorets - 4 0 0 0 5 - - Gabriel Torje 22/11/1989 25 Osmanlıspor * 7 0 0 0 43 10 - Alexandru Chipciu 18/05/1989 26 Steaua - 6 0 0 0 19 3 Dinamo - Steliano Filip 15/05/1994 21 - 0 0 0 0 - - Bucureşti H. Beer - Ovidiu Hoban 27/12/1982 32 - 6 0 0 0 13 - Sheva - Mihai Pintilii 09/11/1984 30 H. Tel-Aviv - 7 0 0 0 25 1 - Alexandru Maxim 08/07/1990 25 Stuttgart - 7 0 0 0 23 2 Forwards - Claudiu Keșerü 02/12/1986 28 Ludogorets * 5 1 0 0 7 4 - Bogdan Stancu 28/06/1987 28 Gençlerbirliği - 5 2 0 0 34 8 - Constantin Budescu 19/02/1989 26 Astra - 2 0 0 0 2 - - Florin Andone 11/04/1993 22 Córdoba - 2 0 0 0 2 - - Adrian Popa 24/07/1988 27 Steaua - 3 0 0 0 8 - Coach - Anghel Iordanescu 04/05/1950 65 - 5 0 0 0 92 - 5 Romania - Finland Thursday 8 October 2015 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit National Arena Bucharest, Bucharest Finland Current season Overall Qual. FT Team No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Niki Mäenpää 23/01/1985 30 Brighton - 3 0 0 0 25 - - Lukas Hradecky 24/11/1989 25 Frankfurt - 5 0 0 0 22 - - Jesse Joronen 21/03/1993 22 Stevenage - 0 0 0 0 - - Defenders - Niklas Moisander 29/09/1985 30 Sampdoria - 6 0 0 0 50 2 - Kari Arkivuo 23/06/1983 32 Häcken - 6 0 0 0 36 1 - Jukka Raitala 15/09/1988 27 AaB - 1 0 0 0 26 - - Ville Jalasto 19/04/1986 29 Stabæk - 0 0 0 0 3 - - Juhani Ojala 19/06/1989 26 HJK - 0 0 0 0 11 - - Paulus Arajuuri 15/06/1988 27 Lech * 3 0 0 0 7 - - Thomas Lam 18/12/1993 21 Zwolle - 1 0 0 0 2 - - Jere Uronen 13/07/1994 21 Helsingborg - 5 0 0 0 12 - Midfielders - Markus Halsti 19/03/1984 31 DC United * 4 0 0 0 23 - - Kasper Hämäläinen 08/08/1986 29 Lech - 7 0 0 0 46 7 - Tim Sparv 20/02/1987 28 Midtjylland S 8 0 0 0 47 1 - Joona Toivio 10/03/1988 27 Molde - 6 0 0 0 31 2 - Perparim Hetemaj 12/12/1986 28 Chievo * 7 0 0 0 38 4 - Sakari Mattila 14/07/1989 26 Fulham - 4 0 0 0 7 - - Rasmus Schüller 18/06/1991 24 HJK - 0 0 0 0 7 - - Alexander Ring 09/04/1991 24 Kaiserslautern - 6 0 0 0 32 1 - Robin Lod 17/04/1993 22 Panathinaikos - 0 0 0 0 1 - Forwards - Teemu Pukki 29/03/1990 25 Brøndby - 7 0 0 0 41 8 Krylya - Berat Sadik 14/09/1986 29 - 2 1 0 0 10 1 Sovetov - Joel Pohjanpalo 13/09/1994 21 Düsseldorf - 8 2 0 0 16 3 Coach - Markku Kanerva 24/05/1964 51 - 2 0 0 0 4 - 6 Romania - Finland Thursday 8 October 2015 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit National Arena Bucharest, Bucharest Head coach Anghel Iordănescu Date of birth: 4 May 1950 Nationality: Romanian Playing career: FC Steaua București, OFI Crete FC Coaching career: FC Steaua București (twice), Anorthorsis Famagusta FC, Romania (three times), Greece, Al-Hilal, FC Rapid București, Al-Ain (twice), Al-Ittihad • The Romanian Football Federation (FRF) named Iordănescu 'Coach of the 20th Century' for his exploits with both Steaua and the national team, to which he was appointed for the third time on 27 October 2014.