Dumitrescu’s moment goal against Argentina in the final 16 of the World Cup was neither a dazzling solo effort nor a long-range howitzer but it surpassed all others scored at USA 94 and crystallised all of Romanias strengths Every generation of World Cup watchers has its cherished romantic failures. For a whole swathe of fans,Brazil’s lovely losers of 1982 were formative, in both opening their eyes to a whole new way in which the game could be played and in giving the brutal lesson that such teams usually drop short, or often in heartbreaking fashion.
That team of Zico,Falcão, Eder et al became the standard-bearers of a certain type of poignant choke but there are others less celebrated: France in 1986 maybe; Argentina in 2006; perhaps even Ghana in 2010, or denied a semi-final slot by Luis Suárez’s sleight of hand.
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Source: theguardian.com