This is the match that settles Italy’s fate. To clear up the confusion, a Romanian win eliminates the Azzurri regardless of what happens in their game.

A draw in this encounter combined with an Italian draw also eliminates Roberto Donadoni – and Victor Piturca’s side could even lose by a margin of three goals or less, but strangely not exactly 3-0, and still progress. A win for Holland combined with a result either way in the other match will end Romania’s participation.

The permutations are myriad and confusing, but the main thing that Romania need to know is that they hold their own fate in their hands. If they can beat Holland then they will go into the quarter-finals – and that is all that will be concerning them. The speculation suggests that Holland will sit back and take it easy in order to ensure France and Italy go home, but the Eastern Europeans are more than capable of doing the job themselves.

“We have recorded two draws against the most powerful teams in the world,” explained defender Cosmin Contra. “We need to go in hard against Holland.” Meanwhile, the skipper Cristian Chivu has no qualms about hurting the hopes of his employing nation. “Nobody gave us a chance to qualify, or get past the best teams,” said the Inter defender. “We want to reach the quarterfinals and we want to send France and Italy home.”

The conspiracy theorists on the peninsula are wondering whether Holland Coach Marco Van Basten will ease off the gas with his side already qualified for the last eight. Two great performances have earned them the right to rest players in this match, but MVB insists he won’t be taking this match lightly.

“We don’t talk about an ‘A’ team and a ‘B’ team. We have 23 full internationals,” the former Milan striker explained of his side. “The fact we have qualified already is nice but we still want to perform at our best.” He definitely has options on his bench if he wishes to shuffle the pack. Outstanding Ajax attacker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has yet to even get a minute of playing time and will be eager to impress if he plays, while both Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben have made their impacts as substitutes.

Piturca has a headache defensively, given that Mirel Radoi is out of the tournament with a bad facial injury and Dorin Goian is suspended. Chivu is likely to drop back into defence with exciting midfielder Banel Nicolita likely to benefit by taking a starting shirt.

Romania have the Indian sign over the Dutch at the moment, having beaten and drawn with them in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Consequently a win for Adrian Mutu & Co may not be the shocking surprise that some may claim after the event. Having missed a vital penalty against Italy the Fiorentina striker will feel he owes his nation. “I will make up for it in the match against the Holland,” he promised. We shall have to wait and see if that is the case.

Key clash: Cristian Chivu v Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
The Romanian captain has been forced to go back into defence due to injuries and he will be tested to the limit if the Dutch decided to unleash Huntelaar in this game. The Ajax striker missed out on the squad for the World Cup and this time around has been restricted to watching from the bench. He will be itching to show the world what he can do and certainly won’t give Romania’s centre-backs any leeway in this clash.

Italian connection:
Holland’s Edwin Van Der Sar had a spell on the books of Juventus while the Romanian trio of Chivu, Mutu and Paul Codrea all ply their trade in Serie A.

Did You Know..?
This is the third time the two nations have met in the last 17 months. A 0-0 draw in Rotterdam in March 2007 was followed by a 1-0 win for Romania in October 2007 – the scorer being defender Goian. Both those games were in Euro 2008 qualifiers.

The defeat in October 2007 was the first time Romania had beaten Holland. The two nations also met in qualifiers for World Cup 2006 with the Dutch winning both.

Van Basten appeared for the Dutch national side in their final warm-up match before Euro ’88 – which they went on to win. Back in those days the European Championship was contested by just eight sides, this match will be Holland’s last before this event reaches a knockout stage involving an octagon of nations.

Van Basten has also faced Piturca before. They met in the 1989 European Cup Final which the Dutch boss won with Milan over Steaua Bucharest.
Holland (probable): To follow

Romania (probable): To follow

Ref: Busacca (Swi)

Ref From channel4.com