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Piturca picked to coach Romania
Posted: Tuesday July 14, 1998 05:11 PM
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) --
A former striker and coach of Romania's under-21 soccer team was appointed
Tuesday to head the country's national soccer team for two years.
Victor Piturca, 42, replaces Anghel Iordanescu, who has signed a contract
with Greece. Piturca's salary is confidential, but Greece will pay
Iordanescu $400,000 a year, a fortune in Romania. Romania was
eliminated by Croatia in the
World Cup, losing 1-0. The team is comprised of several aging soccer stars
and a handful of budding young ones who play for mainly European soccer
clubs. Piturca, who had been convicted of gambling during the
Commuist years, said he aims to get the team to the European Championships
in two years. "I was a striker, and so I will train the team to be on
the offensive," said Piturca after he was named. Piturca played for
Romania 13 times and in 1986 won the European Champions' Cup with Steaua
Bucharest.
Romania will next play a friendly game against Germany in
Malta on September 5 and after that against Liechtenstein, Portugal and
Hungary for the European Championship in Holland and Belgium.
Romania's star player, Gheorghe Hagi, recently retired from the national
squad after 17 years and 114 caps.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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