Victor Piturca's Romania were cheered on Tuesday night by more than 50,000 enthusiastic supporters, but they couldn't stop the Dutch romping to a 4 - 1 victory in the World Cup qualifier.

Romanian fans had great hopes after the unexpected 1-0 victory against Turkey in Istanbul, on Friday. Piturca's eleven started courageously and had their first big opportunity to score 4 minutes after the starting whistle, when a free kick taken by Gabi Torje hit the post.

The initial enthusiasm of the home crowd was soon put to the test when Dutch forward Lens threw a lucky header from outside the penalty area after Romanian goalkeeper Tatarusanu misdirected a corner kick. One to zero for van Gaal's team.

In the 29th minute, Van der Vaart delivered a perfect cross inside the box and Indi duly put it in the net.

The Romanian team struggled to recover and in the 39th minute the effort paid off when striker Marica scored with a fantastic long shot after beating three Dutch players.

However in the extra time of the first half, Scottish referee Craig Thomson gave the Dutch a penalty and Van der Vaart turned it into 3-1.

The second half was less spectacular. The Romanians tried to put some pressure on their opponents but were caught on a counter attack in the 86th minute at the end of which Dutch star Robin van Persie scored to take the visitors to 4-1.

The Romanian team fell to third place in Group D with 9 points after four games, while the Dutch team cemented their lead with a maximum 12 points. Hungary are up to second place on goal difference, after beating Turkey 3-1 in Budapest. The next round is in March 2013 when Romania will face Hungary in Budapest, barring the highly unlikely event of the Dutch losing by a wide margin to Estonia, the match will be a chance for Hungary or Romania to consolidate second second position in Group D.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: screen capture)