Romania coach turning deaf ear to France vs Italy

Romania coach Victor Piturca said today he plans to ignore Italy's final Group C game with France, even though it could decide whether his team reach the quarter-finals.

A Romania victory over Netherlands in their last group match tomorrow would guarantee them a place in the last eight alongside the Dutch, who top the group after two wins.

A draw would be enough for Romania if the game between world champions Italy and France, which also kicks off at 8.45 p.m. tomorrow, ended all-square. If Romania failed to win, a victory for France or Italy would qualify one of those teams.

However, there are further permutations whereby Romania could still go through even after losing to the Dutch.

Asked about Italy's game with France, Piturca told a news conference: "I don't care about that game. I will not find out about the result until our game has ended.

"I will ignore it. I am not going to coach my team based on the other result."

Romania held World Cup runners-up France to a 0-0 draw in their opening group game and then drew 1-1 with Italy, missing a late penalty.

The Netherlands are already assured of a quarter-final place after a 3-0 win over Italy and a 4-1 victory over the French.

"I am counting on the fact that Holland have already qualified. Maybe their level of concentration won't be the same," Piturca said.

He said he expects Dutch coach Marco van Basten to make a number of changes for the game, resting some players and avoiding a second yellow card for others which would rule them out of the quarter-finals.

"We hope they will be looking at the quarter-final now and not the game against us," he said. "But even if there are changes, they will be just as dangerous because those substitutes will want to prove a point."

"But we must also remind ourselves that these great victories by Holland so far were created by the first-choice team and not by those on the bench," Piturca added.

If Romania managed to qualify on Tuesday, they would meet Group D winners Spain in the quarter-finals, while the Dutch will face either Sweden or Russia, who meet on Wednesday.