vs

Orange colour is in, the Dutch have swarmed Swiss streets and according to the estimates there are about 100 000 of them in search for the tickets for the second stage; their team were dominant in group C and already after two rounds qualified for the quarterfinals.

Russia or Sweden will await them, though whoever their rivals may be in the second round Oranje will be the favourites. After impressive wins over Italy and France, Van Basten’s squad’s rates have grown high, now they are seen as possible main favourites for the crown.

After not so convincing qualifiers this squad simply exploded in the final tournament. Romania found themselves in a situation where they hold destiny in their own hands and they weren’t' given much chances before the competition started. They played tough against Italy and France; they were close to victory against Azzurri since their bets player Mutu missed the golden opportunity from the white spot.

With two points they are ahead of France and Italy and a point could lead them to the quarterfinals if the duel between Azzurri and Les Blues ends without winners.

The safest choice would be if Romania won Netherlands and this way ruled out two big teams. This would certainly be a sensation but judging by what we saw in the first two matches it would be a fair outcome. The teams know each other very well – they were in the same qualifications group.

Interestingly, Romania had more success, won Oranje in Bucharest while the duel in Rotterdam ended scoreless.

Head-to-heads

Netherlands and Romania have met each other on 10 occasions with the Dutch winning six times and Romania once. Romania have only scored twice in those 10 meetings.

Both countries met in the qualifying tournament for Euro 2008. The match in the Netherlands ended in a 0-0 draw and Romania won the home leg 1-0 on 13 October 2007.

Team facts - Netherlands

Already qualified as group winners.

Now reached the knock-out stages in six consecutive European Championship editions, which is a competition record, and won 16 European Championship matches which equals Germany's record.

Boast six different goal scorers in Euro 2008. The tournament record is seven and is held by three countries: Czech Republic (1996), Italy (2000) and France (2000).

Beaten two former World Champions in the group phase. The last country to do so was Portugal in 2000 when they beat England and Germany. Romania finished as runners-up in that group.

In the previous editions of the European Championship only five countries won all three group matches. France in 1984 are the only country to win the tournament after winning the first three group matches.

Team facts - Romania

Romania will qualify for the quarter-finals with a win over the Netherlands. If Romania draw, they only qualify if Italy and France draw.

With a 0-0 draw at France - Italy, Romania can lose by a three goal margin (except 3-0) and still qualify. With a draw at France - Italy involving goals (1-1, 2-2, ...) and a defeat against Netherlands, Romania are out of the tournament.

Player facts - Netherlands

Nigel de Jong and Andre Ooijer will miss the quarter-final match if they receive a yellow card.

In the second group match against France, Edwin van der Sar broke the Dutch record for matches played (26) at the European Championship and World Cup combined.

Midfielder Wesley Sneijder is one of four players to score in each of the first two group matches. Forwards Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Lukas Podolski (Germany) and David Villa (Spain) are the others.

Player facts - Romania

Dorin Goian is suspended for this match. Goian scored the only goal when these teams last met in a European Championship qualifier on 13 October 2007.

Daniel Niculae, Cristian Chivu, Adrian Mutu and Cosmin Contra will miss a possible quarter-final match if they receive a yellow card.

Romania's Mirel Radoi is ruled out of the tournament with a head injury.

Adrian Mutu has scored 29 international goals. He needs one goal to equal second placed Iulu Bodola. Georghe Hagi is Romania's top scorer with 35 goals.

Miscellaneous Info

In the European Champions Cup final in 1989, current Romania coach Victor Piturca was part of the Steaua Bucharest team that lost to 0-4 to AC Milan. Current Dutch coach Marco van Basten scored twice in that final.

Probable Line Up :

Netherlands : E. van der Sar, M. Melchiot, J. Heitinga, J. Mathijsen, T. De Cler, R. van Persie, D. De Zeeuw, O. Engelaar, A. Robben, W. Sneijder, K. Huntelaar

Subs : van Bronckhorst, Bouma, Ooijer, van der Vaart, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Timmer, van Nistelrooy, De Jong, Kuijt, Afellay, Stekelenburg, Bouhlarouz

Manager: Marco van Basten

Captain: Edwin van der Sar

Romania : B. Lobont, G. Tamas, C. Chivu, S. Radu, C. Contra, F. Petre, P. Codrea, B. Nicolita, R. Cocis, C. Marica, A. Mutu

Subs : Sapunaru, Niculae, Dica, Rat, Ghionea, Cristea, Niculae, Moti, Popa, Stancioiu

Injured : Radoi

Suspended : Goian

Manager: Victor Piturca

Captain: Cristian Chivu

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