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After the World Cup qualifying match with Armenia on Friday, the head coach of the Romanian national team, Anghel Iordanescu, resigned.
The 54-year-old Iordanescu, who previously coached the national team from 1993 to 1998, decided to step down despite his team having the same number of points as the leader Netherlands in Group 1.
"I think that stepping down is a normal thing, because our results and style of play have disappointed all Romanian football fans. Since I respect these fans, I decided to step down. I am stepping down so that a better atmosphere can be created in the national team, because without a good atmosphere, you cannot achieve anything great," said Iordanescu. "I am the only one responsible for the result in Yerevan. I am an honorable person, and this resignation is a matter of honor."
When Iordanescu first took over the national team in 1994, the team reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup, later participated in the Euro 96 finals, and made it to the round of 16 at the 1998 World Cup.
However, his second stint at the helm of the team did not go as well - failing to secure a spot in the Euro 2004 main tournament in the last minutes against Denmark. In the new qualifying cycle that started this year, Romania, led by Iordanescu, defeated Finland, Macedonia, and Andorra, but then lost to the Czech Republic.
However, the team faced a crisis this month - as many as 16 players were unable to join the team for various reasons, and with a significantly weakened squad, Romania failed to defeat Armenia away.
