Iordănescu unveils 28-man Romania squad
Thursday, May 12, 2016
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Romania coach Anghel Iordănescu has named a 28-man provisional squad for UEFA EURO 2016, with players beginning to convene from next Wednesday at their base in Italy.
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Romania coach Anghel Iordănescu has named a 28-man provisional squad for UEFA EURO 2016.
There are few surprises among them, but Iordănescu's biggest initial challenge appears to be getting the players together in good time before deciding upon his final 23 – the deadline is 31 May. Available players, including the 13 based in Romania, will convene next Wednesday for a training camp in Italy but others still have domestic commitments.
Ovidiu Hoban's last game of the season for Israeli league leaders Hapoel Beer Sheva is on 21 May, Alexandru Maxim may have a relegation-promotion play-off with Stuttgart in Germany. Ludogorets have already been crowned in Bulgaria but their three Romania players could remain until the last round on 29 May.
Then there is Florin Andone, who plays for Córdoba in the Spanish second tier, where the regular season continues until 5 June. Regulations state players must be released by clubs before then, though.
Pre-finals plan
Preparations start with a pre-training camp in Saint-Vincent Valle d'Aosta in northern Italy between 18 and 29 May, with friendlies scheduled against DR Congo (Como, 25 May) and Ukraine (Torino, 29 May). They then return home, taking on Georgia in Bucharest on 3 June, before departing for France two days later.
Provisional Romania squad for UEFA EURO 2016
Goalkeepers: Ciprian Tătăruşanu (Fiorentina), Costel Pantilimon (Watford), Silviu Lung (Astra Giurgiu).
Defenders: Cristian Săpunaru (Pandurii Târgu Jiu), Alexandru Matel (Dinamo Zagreb), Vlad Chiricheş (Napoli), Valerică Găman (Astra Giurgiu), Cosmin Moţi (Ludogorets), Dragoş Grigore (Al-Sailiya), Răzvan Raţ (Rayo Vallecano), Steliano Filip (Dinamo Bucureşti), Alin Toşca (Steaua Bucureşti).
Midfielders: Mihai Pintilii (Steaua Bucureşti), Ovidiu Hoban (Hapoel Beer Sheva), Adrian Ropotan (Pandurii Târgu Jiu), Andrei Prepeliţă (Ludogorets), Adrian Popa (Steaua Bucureşti), Gabriel Torje (Osmanlıspor), Alexandru Chipciu (Steaua Bucureşti), Alexandru Maxim (Stuttgart), Nicolae Stanciu (Steaua Bucureşti), Lucian Sânmărtean (al-Ittihad).
Forwards: Claudiu Keșerü (Ludogorets), Bogdan Stancu (Gençlerbirliği), Florin Andone (Córdoba), Denis Alibec (Astra Giurgiu), Ioan Hora (Pandurii Târgu Jiu), Andrei Ivan (CSU Craiova).
Romania's Group A fixtures
10/06: France v Romania (Saint-Denis)
15/06: Romania v Switzerland (Paris)
19/06: Romania v Albania (Lyon)
