Romania share honours with Spain
AFP
AFP, CLUJ-NAPOCA (ROMANIA): Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas equalled the record of most international caps for a European player on Sunday as two-time defending European champions Spain drew 0-0 against Romania in Cluj.
Casillas, who made his national team debut in June 2000, returned after sitting out Thursdays 1-1 draw in Italy to move level with former Latvia midfielder Vitalijs Astafjevs on 166 appearances.
Barcelona midfielder Sergi Roberto was handed his Spain debut as Vicente del Bosque made wholesale changes to the side that played in Udine three days ago, with their opening game at Euro 2016 just over two months away.
Gerard Pique and Pedro Rodriguez tested Romania keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu early on, while Casillas still well shy of Egyptian Ahmed Hassans all-time record of 184 international caps was twice forced to turn away efforts from Nicolae Stanciu.
Pique fired straight at Tatarusanu just after half-time after a corner found the Barcelona defender unmarked beyond the far post, but Spain found a Romanian defence that conceded just twice in 10 qualifying matches difficult to break down.
Romania, who qualified for the finals in France as runners-up in Group F, stretched their unbeaten run to 16 matches a sequence which includes five goalless draws with Spain now turning their focus towards a third straight European crown.
Meanwhile, Romanias footballers swapped their traditional squad numbers for maths problems ahead of Sundays international friendly against European champions Spain in Cluj.
The idea is part of an initiative to help combat the school dropout rate in Romania, listed at 18 percent in 2014, which is one of the highest in the European Union.
The equations were printed on the back of Romanias training tops and worn during the warm-up, while an instructional video aired at the Cluj Arena before kick-off.
Football and mathematics are not mutually exclusive, said Romanian Football Federation president Razvan Burleanu.
