Soccer-Another goalless draw sets alarm bells ringing for Romania

BUCHAREST, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Romania stayed on track for a place at the Euro 2016 finals following a goalless home draw against Greece on Monday, but the sense of crisis intensified after they failed to score in a third consecutive match in Group F. Anghel Iordanescu's men, who are still unbeaten, moved up to 16 points, one behind leaders Northern Ireland and three ahead of third-placed Hungary. Romania, who have conceded only one goal in their eight games in the qualifying campaign, also earned a goalless draw in Northern Ireland in June and another in Hungary last Friday. Fans have become frustrated with the team's failure to score goals or convert possession into goal-scoring chances and only a few were surprised when the Romanian players were booed off the field after the Greece stalemate at Bucharest's National Arena. Iordanescu, who began his third spell as Romania coach in October, having not coached a team since 2006, has been criticised by some pundits for his defensive tactical approach. "I'm sorry we didn't win," Iordanescu said after his men failed to break down a massed Greek defence in a scrappy encounter. The manager, who led Romania to the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals, their biggest achievement, attributed his team's lack of efficiency going forward to the fact that some of his key attacking players were still out of form and needed more match practice, while others were still recovering from injuries. "These things matter," he said. "Three of our attacking players who could help us, (Raul) Rusescu, (Bogdan) Stancu and (Ciprian) Marica, are still not available for selection. Many players have had problems. "But we still tried to play attacking football and we all wanted to win," added the former Romania striker, who also guided his country to the Euro 1996 finals and the last 16 of the 1998 World Cup during his five-year spell in the 1990s. The lacklustre performance against Greece, who looked a shadow of the team that won the Euro 2004 title, rang alarm bells that all was not right, and there is an uneasy air in the camp before the final rounds of group matches. Iordanescu, however, remained upbeat, saying he doesn't expect any problems for Romania on their way to the finals in France next summer. Romania, who failed to reach Euro 2012, host Finland on Oct. 8 before visiting Faroe Islands three days later. "I think we can beat Finland, we should do that. Hopefully, our players will play more this month and we'll get the result we wish against Faroe Islands, too." (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov,; Editing by Neville Dalton)