Ilie rejoins Romanian party

Adrian Ilie will join the Romania squad for their EURO 2004™ Group 2 qualifiers against Norway and Luxembourg.

Eight-month absence
The striker, who recently signed for Spanish side Deportivo Alavés, had been out of Anghel Iordanescu's side for eight months due to a combination of injuries and an extended period of uncertainty about his prospects after he was released by Valencia CF.

'A key player for us'
The coach maintained confidence in Ilie while the striker was struggling to find a new club, saying: "Adrian is a key player for us and, as soon as is fit and has a team to play for, he will be immediately be back in the national side."

Friendly appearance
Ilie last pulled on the yellow shirt of Romania for a friendly game against France at the Stade de France in February this year, and he is one of 14 foreign-based players to be named for the squad.

Moldovan returns
Striker Viorel Moldovan of FC Nantes Atlantique will also join the squad for the games on 12 and 16 October in Bucharest and Luxembourg respectively after deciding not to retire from international football.

Munteanu milestone
He will be joined by VfL Wolfsburg midfield player Dorinel Munteanu who, if he plays in both games, will earn his 109th and 110th international caps to become Romania's third most-capped player after Gheorghe Hagi (125) and current national team captain Gheorghe Popescu (111).

Filipescu hopes
Real Betis Balompié defender Iulian Filipescu has also received a surprising call-up despite a foot injury. "Filipescu is very important for us, because he is tall and strong and he can jump very well for high balls - something at which the Norwegians are very strong," explained Iordanescu.

Domestic talent
Should Filipescu fail to recover from his injury, Iordanescu will call up another player along with the seven Romanian-based players whom he has yet to name for the qualifying games for a place in the finals in Portugal. Romania made a positive start in their first qualifier with a 1-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

'Very difficult games'
"It's obvious that they will be very difficult games," Iordanescu said. "By the end we could earn either six or three points. Even if [Norway] didn't have such great results in [recent qualifiers], the Norwegians are very strong and I think that in Bucharest they will choose to play counterattacking football."

Romania's foreign-based players
Stelea, Chivu, Contra, Filipescu, Ghioane, Cernat, Munteanu, Codrea, Pancu, Ganea, Mutu, Ilie, Niculae, Moldovan.