The Valencia striker outmaneuvered midfielder Maurizio Serna and defender Everth Palacios and lobbed the ball over advancing goalkeeper Farid Mondragon.
Colombia nearly tied the game in the 85th minute when replacement Adolfo Valencia shot from 30 meters.
The Romanian squad, still built around the core of veterans that played at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, set the pace for much of the match.
At the start of the second half, Colombia's coach Hernan Dario Gomez livened up his attack by substituting ineffective striker Victor Aritsizabal with Valencia.
In the first half, Colombia started briskly, eager to avenge defeat by Romania at the last World Cup. But its passing was ragged and easily intercepted by the Romanians, who quickly established midfield dominance.
Ilie had the first scoring chance on a fast break in the 11th minute, when he beat three defenders in the box and crossed the ball to unmarked Viorel Moldovan, who failedto connect from 7 meters.
Five minutes later, Colombian goalkeeper Farid Mondragon stretched to his right to stop a rasping shot from Dorinel Munteanu from the edge of the box, then knocked away the rebound hit by Ilie.
In the 40th minute, Moldovan intercepted a ricochet in the Colombian box, but his header from 6 meters just missed the right post.
"In the first period we lacked cohesion and clarity. After the break we were much more determined but unfortunately we missed all our scoring opportunities," Gomez told reporters.
Formatii:
Romania: Bogdan Stelea; Dan Petrescu, Gheorghe Popescu, Liviu Ciubotariu; Iulian Filipescu, Dorinel Munteanu, Gheorghe Hagi (Lucian Marinescu, 76), Constantin Galca, Gabriel Popescu (Ovidiu Stinga, 68); Adrian Ilie, Viorel Moldovan (Radu Niculescu, 85)
Colombia: Farid Mondragon; WilmerCabrera, Jorge Bermudez, Everth Palacios, Jose Santa; Maurizio Serna, Harold Lozano, Freddy Rincon, Carlos Valderrama; Victor Aristizabal (Adolfo Valencia, 46), Faustino Asprilla (Leider Preciado, 85).
Arbitru: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius).
