2. Romania vs Hungary (Group D)
Not a matchup of well-known nations or players but this match could go a long way to determining who finishes runners-up in Group D. Netherlands are currently 7-points clear of Hungary who hold a 1-point lead over Romania, themselves 3 ahead of Turkey. Turkey will be expected to pick up 3 points at home to Andorra whilst this match is being played. I cannot promise you an exciting game between these two with neither side winning any of their last five qualifiers combined. They did play out a 2-2 draw in Hungary back in March though. Tottenham Hotspur fans may be interested to see new signing Vlad Chiriche play for Romania, whilst West Ham have 32-year old Rzvan Ra to look out for. Steaua Bucharest players make up a large portion of the squad they are in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League group. 37-year old former Crystal Palace goalkeeper Gábor Király is the number 1 choice for Hungary, facing competition from Bolton Wanderers' dám Bogdán. Middlesbrough's József Varga is in the squad in a side that does not feature any Premier League players. Schalke 04's big summer signing dám Szalai is the main attacking threat for the Hungarian national team whilst Dynamo Moscow's Balázs Dzsudzsák is the star of the team. Hungary's only defeat in qualifying came to the Netherlands who they still have to face again either side of home matches with Estonia and Andorra. A result here for Sándor Egervári's team would put them in good stead for the closing matches.
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Barrie's View is a football stat man focusing mainly on the English Premier League. Barrie also contributes to other large football blogs, including Back Page Football and Football Talk, and has been cited by the USA Today.
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