Spain stifled in Romania stalemate
Sunday, March 27, 2016
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Romania 0-0 Spain
The visitors had to settle for their second friendly draw in four days, on a night when Sergi Roberto made his debut and Iker Casillas equalled a record.
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- Full pre-UEFA EURO 2016 friendly fixture list
- Full rundown of March friendlies
- UEFA EURO 2016 final tournament fixtures
- 2018 FIFA World Cup: European Qualifiers
Romania 0-0 Spain
Romania: Tătăruşanu; Săpunaru, Chiricheş, Grigore, Filip; Hoban, Pintilii (Ropotan 90+1); Popa (Torje 61), Stanciu (Sânmărtean 85), Stancu (Ivan 67); Andone (Rusescu 74)
Spain: Casillas; Gaspar, Piqué (Nacho 52), Bartra, Alba; Koke, Roberto (Fàbregas 60); Pedro (Mata 67), Silva (Morata 79), Nolito (Isco 46); Alcácer (Aduriz 59)
Iker Casillas won his 166th cap to equal the European record and Barcelona midfielder Sergi Roberto collected his first as the reigning continental champions were held to another friendly draw, four days after their 1-1 stalemate with Italy.
Spain had never won in Romania and that statistic remains unchanged following a low-key display in Cluj-Napoca, although Gerard Piqué forced Ciprian Tătăruşanu to tip his header over from a David Silva free-kick and Pedro Rodríguez also obliged the goalkeeper to make a save.
The hosts, meanwhile, had plenty of reasons to be encouraged, as they stretched their unbeaten run to 14 matches – with their last defeat coming in June 2014. Nicolae Stanciu was especially impressive, twice testing Casillas, and both Florin Andone and Bogdan Stancu spurned chances to open the scoring.
