Romania vs Spain

Romania maintained their use of a narrow front three, supported by the forward movements of Hagi. Ilie offered lots of dynamic movements to stretch the game, which was complimented by Stinga & Raducioiu linking the play into the final third.    Hagi’s free role saw him pull into the inside left channel predominantly. Galca and […]

Romania vs Spain

Spain qualified for the quarter finals of Euro 96 in dramatic fashion courtesy of an 84th minute game winning goal from Guillermo Amor.  The result, accompanied by Bulgaria’s 3-1 defeat to group winners France saw Spain qualify as Group B runners up. Knowing only a win would be good enough to see his team advance, […]

France vs Bulgaria

France focused much of their attack play down the left hand side, using Lizarazu as the width, Dugarry as the target who would drop to receive the ball and Djorkaeff would would penetrate with runs in behind. Deschamps worked as the anchor in midfield, linking play efficiently and often starting transitions going forward. Guerin & […]

France vs Bulgaria

France sealed qualification to the last eight as Group B winners with a 3-1 win over Bulgaria.  Accompanied by Spain’s 2-1 decision over Romania in the group’s other game, this result saw Bulgaria eliminated from the competition. France coach AIme Jacquet lined up in a now familiar 4-3-3, with Lilian Thuram and striker Christophe Dugarry […]

France vs Spain

France’s overall attack play was predicated upon a cohesive defensive shape that then gave them opportunities to attack centrally, should the opponent leave gaps, or to attack the flanks on the weak side should they pin an opponent to one side. When starting play France were quite direct, often using a long chipped ball from […]

France vs Spain

Spain struck late via Jose Luis Caminero to force a 1-1 draw with France and leave Group B on a knife edge heading into the final round of games.  The result left France in control of their own destiny, while Spain knew a win in their final group game would at worst force them into […]

Bulgaria vs Romania

Bulgaria’s attacking formation was predicated on the narrow front three’s positioning, with the intent of pinning Romania’s full backs and forcing them to defend 4v3. Both Stoichkov & Kostadinov remained in advanced positions during transition, each within the width of the 18 yard box. Penev served as a traditional target man, linking the play where […]

Bulgaria vs Romania

Bulgaria injected life into their Euro 96 campaign, and eliminated Romania with a tight 1-0 win in Newcastle.  The game would see a clash of two star playmakers, as former Barcelona teammates Hristo Stoichkov and Gheorghe Hagi were the fulcrum of each team’s attack. Dimitar Penev lined his Bulgaria team up in a 4-3-3 making […]

Romania vs France

France kicked off their Euro 96 campaign by riding a strong defensive performance to a 1-0 victory over a livewire Romanian team. The two teams were more than familiar with each other, as both came through Qualifying Group 1, with Romania topping the group, one point ahead of the French. France drew 0-0 with Romania […]

Romania vs France

Romania started the match in an asymmetrical 433 shape, which was predicated around the positioning of Hagi’s free role. Munteanu defensive role was to man mark Karembeu, however he also served as an effective wide left player, overlapping the central movements of Hagi to provide width. Lacatus did well to manage the inside/outside right balance […]