Wales beaten by Romania in friendly clash

By Phil Blanche, Press Association, Bucharest

Wales ended their season on a low note as Romania won their Bucharest friendly 2-1.

Romania led through Florian Coman’s tidy finish before substitute David Brooks – who had only been on the pitch for two minutes – equalised with a sweet left-foot volley after being picked out at the far post by Daniel James.

Wales had chances to turn around the contest completely, but Adrian Rus restored Romania’s lead 10 minutes from time.

So Wales are still without a friendly away victory since November 2008 when current manager Craig Bellamy scored the winner in Denmark.

This was the first meeting between the two nations since a 1994 World Cup qualification decider when Gheorghe Hagi broke Welsh hearts in Cardiff.

The 61-year-old is in charge of Romania again and this was the first home game of his second spell, ensuring a larger attendance than might have been expected for an end-of-season friendly between two countries who missed out on this summer’s World Cup.