Dică: Pandev is important, but we fear Elmas

Romanian coach Nicolae Dică shared his thoughts about what is the biggest threat for his team in tomorrow’s match.

photo by FRF: Nicolae Dică

Since national team coach Mirel Radoi is COVID-19 positive, tomorrow his assistant Nicolae Dică will lead Romania against Macedonia in the 2022 WC opening qualifier.

“Our ambitions are to qualify for the World Cup, therefore we strive for a win against Macedonia. Pandev is very important player for them, but for us the most dangerous player in their squad is Elif Elmas. He plays in Napoli and if he gets in a situation with the last third of the field, he knows how to make a difference. If we want to win we will have to stop him. We like to match everyone, there is a good atmosphere in the team, so we go for wins in the three matches” – says Dică.

Romania faces Macedonia in Bucharest at 20.45 CET on Thursday, while on Sunday and Wednesday will play against Germany and Armenia.

Dică is a former attacking midfielder who also played for his national team end twice even featured against Macedonia: in the 2004 2:1 win and in 2010 0:1 defeat for Romania. In both matches he played against Goran Pandev, while in the later he also faced Agim Ibraimi who is back in the squad.

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