National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Eric Oltean kicked off to start the match. U21 Romania's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Florin Imperatore in the 9th minute. It was a well-played corner which Declan Rice managed to volley towards the net. Unfortunately, he didn't get a great hit on the ball and it went out into the grandstand. Florin Imperatore struck a weak shot in the 11th minute. Leslie Thebe didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for U21 Romania. In the 15th minute Patrice Mothobi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Sabin Pânzaru saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 17 minutes into the match, U21 South Africa's goalkeeper Leslie Thebe had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Eric Oltean. U21 South Africa's Leslie Thebe played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Eric Oltean in the 18th minute of play. A collision led to U21 South Africa getting a freekick after 20 minutes play. Milton Mncube hit a great ball. U21 South Africa's Leslie Thebe proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 23rd minute of the match, managed to save U21 South Africa from getting a goal against them. Eric Oltean's shot straight on target was not completely harmless. The ball had pretty good speed, but Leslie Thebe firmly grabbed it by the left post. In the 27th minute, Eric Oltean ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Leslie Thebe was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-0. Sabin Pânzaru showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Jafta Tshabalala in the 30th minute of the match. Eric Oltean's shot straight on target was not completely harmless. The ball had pretty good speed, but Leslie Thebe firmly grabbed it by the left post. With a little luck, U21 South Africa's Leslie Thebe got control of the ball when Eric Oltean tried to sneak it across the goal line. 41 minutes into the match, Cristi Rogozea had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Leslie Thebe. U21 South Africa's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Cristi Rogozea was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 3-0. In the 43rd minute, U21 South Africa's goalie took a deep sigh of relief after Florin Imperatore fired away a hard shot that went just outside the left post. In the 43rd minute, Florin Imperatore left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The U21 Romania fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 4-0. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 4-0.

The wind increased when Patrice Mothobi made the kick off in the second half. Leslie Thebe stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Eric Oltean's shot from short distance in the 51st minute. 52 minutes into the match, U21 South Africa's goal looked a bit too open when Eric Oltean came free, but Leslie Thebe reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Leslie Thebe didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Eric Oltean went, in the 52nd minute, to the upper right corner, 5-0 was the resulting score. A collision led to U21 South Africa getting a freekick after 55 minutes play. Jafta Tshabalala hit a great ball. A well-hit corner resulted in Cristi Rogozea heading the ball towards the goal, but to his dismay he misdirected it and missed the goal completely. Leslie Thebe took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Eric Oltean, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. U21 South Africa's Leslie Thebe played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Eric Oltean in the 65th minute of play. Milton Mncube hit a great freekick 67 minutes into the match. U21 Romania's Rareș Nicola was substituted for Eric Oltean. 69 minutes into the game, Rareș Nicola cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 6-0. Leslie Thebe was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. After having played for 72 minutes, Florin Imperatore managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Romania's supporters crossed their fingers, but Florin Imperatore was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Rareș Nicola's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Leslie Thebe read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 74th minute of play. In the 75th match minute, U21 Romania was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Cristi Rogozea to maneuver through the defense. Sabin Pânzaru showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Patrice Mothobi, who was totally free with the ball in the 78th minute. If Florin Imperatore had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 80th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. U21 Romania made a substitution. Dinu Bocu replaced Florin Imperatore. Nae Strungă hit a great freekick 85 minutes into the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Rareș Nicola in the 87th minute of play forced U21 South Africa's goalkeeper Leslie Thebe to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Leslie Thebe showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Rareș Nicola in the 90th minute of the match. Patrice Mothobi hit a great freekick 90 minutes into the match. The U21 Romania fans' excitement grew in the 95th match minute when U21 Romania's Rareș Nicola looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 8-0 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. There was no doubt that U21 Romania were the better team. U21 Romania's players enjoyed the ovations of the crowd after the victory.