Manea steps down despite progress
Friday, March 4, 2005
Article summary
Nicolae Manea has resigned as coach of Romania's Under-21s despite his side leading their qualifying group.
Article body
Personal choice
The 51-year-old, who was appointed in autumn 2002 and failed to guide Romania to the 2004 finals, said: "I am leaving for personal reasons. I was fully backed by the president of the Romanian Football Federation, Mircea Sandu, and by the head coach of the national team, Victor Piturca."
Pressure on
A decision on Manea's replacement could be taken as early as Monday with the Group 1 qualifier against the Netherlands on 25 March looming. Romania have nine points from four games, the third-placed Dutch seven from three.