Suker spot on for glory

At the world Cup, it seems, some teams simply like to make the trip and then get back home before their families start to miss them. The Scots, one presumes, have a particularly low threshold for being without their men folk, but the Romanians don't appear to be too far behind.

Having been sent home at this stage of Italia '90, Anghel Iordanescu's side lasted one round more four years ago. This time, they threatened to at least equal that achievement, but ran out of steam yesterday against a Croatian team that struck just the right balance between defence and attack.

Their coach, Miroslav Blazevic, afterwards said his defence produced a display "close to perfection", their tireless work depriving a decent Romanian striking partnership of anything but a couple of decent halfchances. The Romanian cause wasn't helped by the failure of Gheorghe Hagi and Dan Petrescu to perform on the day, the captain eventually wandering out of his last World Cup finals appearance with less than an hour played, the Chelsea player not long after.

But given the amount of possession they enjoyed - they had 50 per cent more possession than their opponents - it was the lack of creativity around the box that cost them a quarter-final tie with Germany on Saturday night.

That honour now goes to Croatia, a team that attempted to kick the Germans off the pitch at the same stage of Euro '96 when many felt they might have played them off it had they given it a try. As they head into the re-match they look well equipped. The strength they demonstrated in the air yesterday is an absolute necessity if Klinsmann and Bierhoff are to be kept at bay, while their speed breaking forward is just what made Matthaus uncomfortable against Mexico in Montpellier on Monday. Their finishing, though, could still do with a bit of work. Davor Suker took, then retook, his penalty on the stroke of half-time with style - his 32nd goal in 38 internationals and his third of this tournament - but from play he was as guilty as those around him of throwing away chances that could have wrapped up the game.

Bogdan Stelea had a fine afternoon in goal for the Romanians, but he shouldn't have been given even the slimmest chance of making a stop when Croatia began to counter-attack effectively during the second half. Things became comical with a couple of minutes to play when Zvonomir Boban led a three-man charge and opted to shoot, despite having Petar Krpan and Suker inside to his left.

The goalkeeper parried the Croatian skipper's effort, but the rebound looked like a lost cause. In only his second international, though, Krpan hesitated, Stelea blocked again and was also able to push the 23 year-old's follow up far enough away for the danger to be cleared.

At least Croatia can be content that they created a string of chances (well, that and winning of course). Even with elimination staring them in the face, their opponents couldn't manage much up front. Ilie still looked to be the Romanians danger man, but even he looked rather tame yesterday.

Petrescu may have led the line when it came to knocking harmless shots straight at Drazen Ladic through the second period, but there were also plenty of others willing to give the approach a try. There was, in fairness, no shortage of decent crosses from promising positions, but in the centre there was nothing. No aerial challenge, no penetration, no threat.

Over the course of their last game under Iordanescu, the Romanians managed just 10 attempts on goal and scarcely one of them required a decent save.

Slaven Bilic's outstanding performance at the heart of the Croatian defence went a long way towards containing Ilie, a nippy 24-year-old who looks to be the outstanding talent amongst the new generation of Romanians. However, Bilic's performance was marred by a somewhat harsh second half booking for time wasting. Also cautioned was captain Boban, who needlessly took out Hagi midway through the first period.

The return of the suspended Zvonimir Soldo on Saturday should provide a boost. As long as they don't return to the Euro '96 game plan . . . kick now, ponder what might have been later.