With the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament from Austria-Switzerland just days away, the Sportable staff will bring you team previews leading up to the opening match. Group by group, we will discuss team rosters, flaws. and chances of being crowned European Champions.

Group C Matches:
June 9th: vs. France (Letzigrund Stadium-Zurich)
June 13th: vs. Italy (Letzigrund Stadium-Zurich)
June 17th: vs. Netherlands (Stade de Suisse Wankdorf-Bern)

Spoiler Alert!
Romania is good. Good enough to advance out of a group that includes Italy, France, and the Netherlands? Maybe. Romania finished first in qualifying group G, which included Bulgaria and EURO Group C opponent Holland. Adrian Mutu scored 6 goals in the qualifying stage and will be the pulse for Romania at EURO 2008. A tough task lies ahead for this squad who didn’t deserve this draw after finishing first in the qualifying stage. However, could you imagine if the Tricolorii pulled a Ghana and advanced out of a very tough group?

Attack
As I mentioned before, Adrian Mutu will have to provide the spark for this eastern European nation if they want to get anything done. Mutu will have the help of Marius Niculae in attack and the two can do a lot of damage with their quickness. In regards to Romania’s midfield, it is strong, but a little slow at the same time. Florentin Petre, Dorin Goian, Bănel Nicoliţă and Paul Codrea will complete Romania’s four man midfield, but youngster Adrian Cristea showed great form in the recent UEFA CUP. If Mutu shines at EURO 2008, we could see many club teams trying to vow for his services. Don’t be surprised if the Romanians net a few early on to surprise the rest of the teams in the group.

Defense
The Romanian defense is one that is a close knit group. Team captain and Inter Milan defender Cristian Chivu will lead his back line with Cosmin Contra, Răzvan Raţ, and Gabriel Tamaş flanking him. Allowing only 7 goals in 12 qualifying matches, the Romanians will get a real test this June to see if they can handle the big boys. If Chivu can rely on his Serie A experiences with a competitive defense, we could see Romania steal a few matches here.

Outlook
Romania’s brutal draw will make it hard hard for them to come out of this one. However, with that said, the European Championships never go according to plan. But overall, it looks like Romania was the odd team out here. It will be interesting to see how they handle themselves.

Prediction
-1 point in Group C.