Blast from the past
Having defeated Lusitans of Andorra and Birkirkara of Malta, West Ham United were drawn against Astra Giurgiu of Romania in the 2015/16 Europa League third qualifying round.
Little Mix were number one with ‘Black Magic’ when the Hammers played the first leg in front of 33,858 at the Boleyn Ground. Dimitri Payet, making his competitive debut for the club, sent over a 23rd minute cross which Ecuadorian forward Enner Valencia powerfully headed home. The Hammers then lost two players through injury before half-time, Joey O’Brien succumbing to a hamstring injury before Valencia himself was forced off with a serious leg injury – Valencia would not play for three months and O’Brien would be out for six months.
Mauro Zarate doubled the home side’s advantage six minutes into the second half with a superb solo effort to put the Hammers firmly in the driving seat. The wheels started to fall off, however, when French referee Adrien Jaccottet issued a second yellow card to James Collins, forcing the Irons to play out the final 32 minutes with 10 men. Fernando Boldrin, now at Steaua Bucharest, halved the deficit with a stunning 71st-minute strike before Angelo Ogbonna, also making his competitive West Ham debut, clipped the ball over his own goalkeeper to level the score with eight minutes to go.
West Ham United, of course, would go on to lose the second leg 2-1 in Romania and were knocked out 4-3 on aggregate. Astra would be knocked out themselves in the play-off round, losing 4-3 on aggregate to AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands.
West Ham United: Adrian, Joey O’Brien (Reece Burke), James Collins, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyate, Reece Oxford, Mark Noble, Dimitri Payet, Enner Valencia (Modibo Maiga), Mauro Zarate (Matt Jarvis).
Astra Giurgiu: Silviu Lung Junior, Valerica Gaman, Pedro Queiros, Geraldo Alves, Junior Morais, Takayuki Seto, Gabriel Enache, Rick (Alexandru Dandea), Felipe Teixeira, William (Daniel Florea), Constantin Budescu (Florin Lovin).
Romanian Connections
Bucharest-born Ilie Dumitrescu arrived at Upton Park from Tottenham after a protracted work permit appeal which even saw the MP for Newham North West, the late Tony Banks, get involved as the Hammers finally landed their man in February 1996 for £1.5m. By the following winter, however, Dumitrescu was plying his trade in Mexico, having signed for Club America after a disappointing spell in east London.
Dumitrescu made his first West Ham appearance as a substitute in the 2-0 Premier League home win over Middlesbrough on 9th March 1996. He made two starts that month, in the 3-0 defeat at Newcastle and the 4-2 home win over Manchester City, but was not seen again until the start of the following season in the 2-1 home win over Southampton on 24th August 1996. He later played a part in a thrilling 2-2 draw with Manchester United in December 1996 before making his final appearance for the club 10 days later in the ill-fated and ignominious 2-1 defeat at Edgeley Park as Stockport dumped the Hammers out of the League Cup in a fourth round replay on the 18th December 1996. Dumitrescu made 13 appearances for the Hammers, without scoring, before signing for Club America for £1m in late December 1996.
West Ham United were one of a number of clubs the creative midfielder represented in a career that began and ended at Steaua Bucharest and included a spell in Spain (with Sevilla where he was on loan from Tottenham) and Atlante (as well as the aforementioned Club America) in Mexico. He is best known internationally for his role in Romania’s World Cup success at USA ’94, scoring two goals (both against Argentina in the 3-2 second round win, with Dumitrescu creating Romania’s other goal) in five games during the tournament – in total he won 62 caps for his country, scoring 20 goals.
Dumitrescu, now 47, retired in 1998 at the age of 29. He opened an art gallery, had a brief spell as an agent and has since managed clubs in Romania, Cyprus and Greece.
Referee
Thursday’s officials are from Germany, with the referee being 42-year-old Manuel Grafe; he was the man in the middle for 18 top-flight games in Germany last season, awarding seven penalties and showing 57 yellow cards and two reds. Grafe has refereed Europa League matches in each of the last six seasons and has officiated in qualifiers for Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.
Possible line-ups
Slaven Bilic is likely to name a strong line-up while also giving game time to first team players who have been lacking match fitness. This could mean Angelo Ogbonna starts in central defence. Super Slav has little option but to again pitch Reece Burke at left-back with Arthur Masuaku ineligible for this play-off round. Burke could soon be set for a loan move to Brighton. Pedro Obiang could come into midfield.
Astra Giurgiu are likely to again play their first-choice right-back, 32-year-old Romanian international Cristian Sapunaru, in a defensive midfield role with 30-year-old reserve Kristi Vangjeli filling in at full-back. Manager Marius Sumudica must decide whether to start with 31-year-old Frenchman Damien Boudjemaa or 21-year-old Romanian youth international Alexandru Ionita on the right flank. Please see last week’s preview for a more in-depth look at Astra’s players and the club in general.
Possible West Ham United XI: Randolph; Byram, Oxford, Ogbonna, Burke; Antonio, Noble, Obiang, Tore; Calleri, Valencia.
Possible Astra Giurgiu XI: Lung; Vangjeli, Fabricio, Alves, Junior Morais; Lovin, Sapunaru; Ionita, Seto, Teixeira; Niculae.
The match is available to watch on BT Sport 2 in the UK (Sky channel 417 or HD 457, Virgin channel 532 or HD 528, Plusnet channel 410 or HD 432, TalkTalk channel 410) with the programme starting at 7.30pm for a 7.45pm kick-off.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!