Romania suffered a defeat at Şükrü Saracoglu, like in the time of the sultans, against the "army" of referees hand in hand with Emre and company on the winning side.

The Turks and the Romanians faced each other last night in another epic battle. This time on the football pitch at national level the two teams met for the 23rd time.

Romania had the advantage with 12 wins before yesterday. In the stands, the Ottomans were in superior numbers to our own fans, just like in Ştefan cel Mare's time. On the pitch, the things stood different only until the last minutes of the game, when we again fell under the domination of The High Gates.

The Romanian players were well organized in the defense and persistent in the attack thanks to Bilaşco who won many balls and to Daniel Niculae deviations. Only 15 minutes in to the match Bilaşco header was saved from the goal line by a Turkish defender.

The near miss woke up Hiddink's boys, who have declared war to Romania and almost scored the opening goal of the match. Mevlut, who missed a lot of chances in the first half, deflected the ball just past Lobonţ's post (22). The hosts only striker also missed a shot from 12 meters, sending the ball over from a good position (36). The greater possesion of the Romanians prevented the Turkish side to approach Lobonţ's goal.

After the break, both teams seemed determined to change the score sheet. The number of opportunities increased in the second half to the satisfaction of the fans. First, the attack was reinforced by Marica's entry, Daniel Niculae had the opportunity to score (53), but the ball went agonizingly close. On the other goal, the Turks saw the ball in the net but Arda's shot from 25 meters hit the cross-bar (57)!

Then the game was going to a 0-0 and both teams seemed satisfied. The only one who resis