International Career
Petrescu registered 95 caps for the Romanian national football team. He made his debut for the squad in 1989, and played at four major tournaments: the 1994 World Cup, Euro 96, the 1998 World Cup, where the entire team famously dyed their hair blond after losing a bet with the team's coach Anghel Iordanescu, and Euro 2000.
In 1994 Petrescu played in his first World Cup in the U.S.. He scored the only goal in a win against the United States which saw Romania qualify for the second round as group winners. They were then handed a difficult game against Argentina which they managed to win, only to lose to Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals, with Petrescu missing his spot-kick.
Euro 96 was a disappointment for Romania, as they lost all three group matches and only managed to score one goal.
At France 1998, he raced past his Chelsea teammate Graeme Le Saux and scored the winning goal against England, which effectively won them the group and ensured they would not have to face Argentina in the second round. In the end, the Romanians lost their second round game 1–0 to Croatia.
Read more about this topic: Dan Petrescu
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)