And after surviving two early scares when keeper Florin Prunea needed to be at his agile best to deny Balbo and Batistuta, coach Anghel Iordinescu’s charges took the lead thanks to an 11th-minute free-kick from the left flank by Ilie Dumitrescu, which wrong-footed Albiceleste custodian Luis Islas and sailed into the far corner. Stung by the goal, Argentina struck back within five minutes via a Batistuta penalty, after the powerful forward was brought down by Daniel Prodan just inside the box.
Yet Batigol barely had time to celebrate his fourth strike of the competition. Just two minutes later, Dumitrescu latched onto an inch-perfect pass from the roving Hagi to touch the ball past Islas and into the net – the culmination of a textbook counter-attacking move. Argentina showed spirit to take the fight to Romania for the remainder of the first half, though their European opponents looked capable of extending their lead with each lightning break.
The second period followed a similar pattern, with Basile’s team throwing men forward in search of an equaliser, only to be denied time and again by the reflexes of Prunea and some wayward finishing. They would pay dearly for their profligacy on 58 minutes when a Basualdo misjudgement left his team overrun at the back. Dumitrescu was able to carry the ball half the length of the field and commit several defenders before releasing the onrushing Hagi, whose first-time shot with his weaker right foot flew past the hapless Islas.
Argentina continued to battle bravely despite this latest setback, with Basile throwing on prolific striker Ramon Medina Bello for defender Roberto Sensini in a bid to reduce the deficit. Continually repelled by Prunea, La Albiceleste’s pressure finally paid off after the keeper’s only slip-up of an immense display – a spill from a long-rang Fernando Caceres effort that Balbo tucked away on 75 minutes. Hagi and his men held firm, however, to see out a 3-2 win and seal a place in the quarter-finals.
Goluri 11' 1-0 Ilie Dumitrescu (free-kick)
16' 1-1 Gabriel Batistuta (penalty)
18' 2-1 Ilie Dumitrescu (assist - Gheorghe Hagi)
58' 3-1 Gheorghe Hagi (assist - Ilie Dumitrescu)
75' 3-2 Abel Balbo
Arbitru Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)
ROMANIA AGE D.O.B. CLUB
1 GK Florin Prunea 25 08 Aug 1968 Dinamo Bucharest
2 DF Dan Petrescu 26 22 Dec 1967 Genoa (ITA)
3 DF Daniel Prodan 22 23 Mar 1972 Steaua Bucharest
4 DF Miodrag Belodedici 30 20 May 1964 Valencia (SPA)
13 DF Tibor Selymes 24 14 May 1970 Cercle Brügge (BEL)
14 DF Gheorghe Mihali 28 09 Dec 1965 Dinamo Bucharest
5 MD Ioan Lupescu 25 09 Dec 1968 Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
6 MD Gheorghe Popescu 26 09 Oct 1967 PSV Eindhoven (NED)
7 MD Dorinel Munteanu 26 25 Jun 1968 Cercle Brügge (BEL)
10 MD Gheorghe Hagi (c) (-85) 29 05 Feb 1965 Brescia (ITA)
11 MD Ilie Dumitrescu (-89) 25 06 Jan 1969 Steaua Bucharest
Substitutes
19 DF Corneliu Papura (+89) 20 05 Sep 1973 Universitatea Craiova
18 MD Constantin Galca (+85) 22 08 Mar 1972 Steaua Bucharest
Coach: Anghel Iordanescu 44 04 May 1950
ARGENTINA AGE D.O.B. CLUB
12 GK Luis Islas 28 22 Dec 1965 Independiente
3 DF Jose Chamot 25 17 May 1969 Foggia (ITA)
4 DF Roberto Sensini (-62) 27 12 Oct 1966 Parma (ITA)
6 DF Oscar Ruggeri (c) 32 26 Jan 1962 San Lorenzo
13 DF Fernando Caceres 25 07 Feb 1969 Real Zaragoza (SPA)
5 MD Fernando Redondo 25 06 Jun 1969 CD Tenerife (SPA)
8 MD Jose Basualdo 31 20 Jun 1963 Velez Sarsfield
14 MD Diego Simeone 24 28 Apr 1970 Sevilla (SPA)
9 FW Gabriel Batistuta 25 01 Feb 1969 AC Fiorentina (ITA)
17 FW Ariel Ortega 20 04 Mar 1974 River Plate
19 FW Abel Balbo 28 01 Jun 1966 AS Roma (ITA)
Substitutes
11 FW Ramon Medina Bello (+62) 28 29 Apr 1966 Yokohama Marinos (JPN)
Coach: Alfio Basile 50 01 Nov 1943
