Preview: Romania vs. Greece - prediction, team news, lineups

As the international break gets underway, Greece head north to Bucharest to take on Romania at the Stadionul Steaua in Friday evening's friendly.

Both sides narrowly failed to qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup and will now be looking to bounce back with a consolatory victory.

Match preview

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Romania travelled to Liechtenstein back in November for their final Group J game with their hopes of a playoff place on the line.

They could not have done much more on the night, a goal at either end of the match - from Dennis Man in the eighth minute and Nicusor Bancu in the 87th - securing a 2-0 win.

However, it was still not enough to progress as North Macedonia's 3-1 win at Iceland saw them secure second spot in the group, with 18 points to the 17 accrued by the Tricolorii.

That extends Romania's absence from the World Cup to 24 years, stretching all the way back to the golden era of Gheorghe Hagi and co in 1998, having fallen at the group stage four times and the playoff stage in 2002 and 2014.

After also failing to qualify for Euro 2020, a win here for Edward Iordanescu's men would be welcomed to soften their recent blows, but they will be coming up against a side with a similar mindset.

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Greece also narrowly missed out on the 2022 World Cup playoffs, finishing third in Group B, but their failure was not quite as galling.

Their fate was already sealed heading into their final game with Kosovo - which ended in a 1-1 draw - with third place the best they could hope for.

The Pirate Ship had actually put themselves firmly in contention for a top-two finish when they recorded back-to-back victories over Sweden and Georgia, only to then lose their following two against Sweden and Spain.

Those were, in fact, the only two defeats for then-manager John van 't Schip's side during the qualification process, but an inability to secure victories cost them as they drew half of their eight games.

Former Chelsea midfielder and Brighton & Hove Albion manager Gus Poyet took over the reigns in February and will be looking to make a strong start in his first game in charge.

Team News

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Goalkeeper Florin Iacob has had to leave the Romania squad due to a positive COVID-19 test and has been replaced by Horatiu Moldovan.

Iordanescu has no reported injuries or suspensions to worry about, but Man, Andrei Ivan and Bancu have also been showing flu-like symptoms.

At the time of writing, they have not tested positive for COVID but their involvement on Friday is doubtful either way.

Greece have lost two players from the squad through a positive COVID test, in the shape of Marios Vrousai and Giorgos Masouras.

Tasos Chatzigiovanis has been called up as a replacement, whilst Lefteris Lyratzis has replaced the injured Kostas Stafylidis.

Romania possible starting lineup:
Nita; Ratiu, Chiriches, Nedelcearu, Burca; Mihaila, Tanase; Hagi, Cicaldau, Maxim; Puscas

Greece possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Goutas, Mavropanos, Tzavellas; Rota, Alexandropoulos, Siopis, Bouchalakis, Tsimikas; Pavlidis, Vrousai

We say: Romania 2-1 Greece

As mentioned, both teams have some momentum and a point to prove coming into this game, and will likely fancy themselves for the victory. We are backing the home side to come out on top, however, extending their unbeaten run of three games with a narrow win.

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