Argentina Sent Packing By Persistent Romania
Victory assured, four Romanian players crumpled to the Rose Bowl turf, not in celebration but from sheer exhaustion.
For 90 minutes, they had played soccer the way the Lakers once played basketball, racing end to end, delivering show-time passes and show-stopping goals, one counterattack following another in dragstrip fashion, until finally Romania had outlasted Argentina, 3-2, in the most enthralling game of this World Cup.
This second-round match today provided everything the recent National Basketball Association finals couldn't -- ebullient, insistent offense, dynamic fast-break soccer with creative dribbling, exquisite passing, open-field speed and relentless assault on the goal. There were frenzied stretches, particularly in the first half, when almost every possession seemed to produce at least the threat of the ball ending up in the net.
Each team played without its stars -- Romania without striker Florin Raducioiu (two yellow cards), Argentina without Diego Maradona (drug suspension) and Claudio Caniggia (injured toe) -- but their absences seemed to be liberating instead of inhibiting. Pressing the Ball Forward
Ilie Dumitrescu started at the lone striker for Romania, scoring two goals and assisting midfielder Gheorghe Hagi on the third. Undoubtedly, Argentina would have been less susceptible to the counterattack had Maradona and Caniggia played, but the team showed no hesitancy as striker Gabriel Batistuta, forward Arnaldo Ortega and midfielder Fernando Redondo explored their talents to the fullest in pressing the ball forward.
Romania now advances for the first time to the quarterfinals, to play Sweden, while Argentina, the 1986 champion and 1990 runner-up, makes its earliest exit from the World Cup since 1982.
"This is the greatest moment in Romanian soccer," said Coach Anghel Iordanescu, who carried in his hand a cross given to him by an elderly priest. Then, referring to the 1989 Christmas uprising against the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Iordanescu added, "This may be the greatest event celebrated by our people since the revolution."
In the absence of Raducioiu, Iordanescu started six defenders and let Argentina come forward in wave after wave, patiently waiting to counterattack, absorbing 22 shots and taking only 13. This strategy worked smartly against Colombia and the United States, and it worked again today. Tactical Domination
"I don't want anyone to believe the domination of the Argentine team was physical," Iordanescu said. "It was for tactical reasons. We wanted on purpose to let them come over us."
Dumitrescu, who plays for Steaua Bucharest, the Army team once run by the Ceausescu family, provided both goals in the first half for Romania as it took a 2-1 lead. He is the last of the Romanian stars still playing in the country's domestic league; after today's displaying of afterburner speed, precise shooting, passing and a finishing touch, Dumitrescu will command a high price.
"Bari of Italy wants him," said Gheorghe Stanca, a Romanian journalist. "The transfer fee is $5 million -- $4 million for Steaua, $1 million for Ilie. Now, I think, there is another million for Ilie."
Before the tournament, a newspaper article saying that Dumitrescu had made the national team only because Iordanescu was the coach had ruffled the star. True, Iordanescu coaches Steaua Bucharest and favors Dumitrescu. But there could be no doubt, especially after today, that he belonged on the national team.
"I talked to him before we left Romania," Iordanescu said. "Psychologically, he was falling."
Today, he picked himself up. In the 10th minute, Romania was awarded a free kick and Dumitrescu made the shot of the tournament. Standing to the left of the penalty area, at least 25 yards from goal, he accounted for the acute angle with perfect height and arc. Luis Islas, the Argentine goalkeeper, had no chance as the ball hooked like a Bert Blyleven curve inside the far post.
Six minutes later, Batistuta was taken down in the penalty area during a flamenco dribbling maneuver by Romania's Daniel Prodan. Argentina was awarded a penalty kick and Batistuta put the ball inside the left post as Romanian goalie Florin Prunea guessed the wrong way.
Romania made it 2-1 in the 18th minute when Hagi, the tempestuous midfielder, expertly switched the ball from right foot to left and pushed a pass from the right edge of the penalty area on a give-and-go. Dumitrescu pushed the ball into the net in soccer's version of a layup.
"Hagi gave me a genius pass," Dumitrescu said.
In the 58th minute, Dumitrescu broke out on a counterattack, dribbling 65 yards down the middle of the field, drew two defenders, hesitated, then pushed a genius pass of his own to Hagi, who was storming in from the right to give Romania a 3-1 lead.
Argentina made it 3-2 on a rebound goal by Abel Balbo in the 75th minute, then, with the game nearing its conclusion, Iordanescu made two risky decisions, substituting for both Hagi and Dumitrescu. On this day, though, every decision turned out to be the correct one.
"It is the first time that we have gotten to this phase, and I am pleased that the two goals I scored will place me in history," Dumitrescu said.  WORLD CUP '94