"A crushing disappointment, but we were not good enough." That was the frank assessment of Romania captain Cristian Chivu as he reflected on his country's 2-0 defeat by the Netherlands which ended their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2008™.

'Massive disappointment'
A win would have guaranteed Victor Piţurcă's side a place in the last eight, but it proved to be a game too far for the Tricolorii and instead, Italy now advance to the knockout stages courtesy of their 2-0 win against France in Zurich. "It's a massive disappointment because we expected a lot out of this game and we wanted so badly to reach the quarter-finals," Chivu told euro2008.com. "But we came up against a very good Dutch team and unfortunately for us we didn't create enough chances to win the match. We go home now. That's the reality and it's very disappointing."

Missed opportunities
Romania's best chance came before half-time – with the game still goalless – when midfielder Paul Codrea shot over the crossbar after left-back Răzvan Raţ had pulled the ball back from the byline. Just like Adrian Mutu's penalty miss against Italy, it proved to be costly, but Chivu refused to apportion blame preferring instead to concentrate on the positives from a campaign in which they held both finalists from the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

No blame
"There's no point in blaming people for individual mistakes," said the FC Internazionale Milano defender who played all three games in Group C in a holding midfield role. "We had 90 minutes to show that we deserved to go to the next stage and it's a pity we didn't take advantage. However, in a few days – once the disappointment has died down a bit – we can look back and feel proud about the way we played, especially in the games against France and Italy."

Dutch favourites
In his pre-match comments, Piţurcă admitted that the inside knowledge of players like Chivu, who spent four years at AFC Ajax, had been instrumental in Romania's 1-0 qualifying defeat of the Oranje in Constanta last October. However, the 27-year-old admits there was little his team-mates could do to stop a side he now expects to go on and lift the Henri Delaunay trophy. "We held them in the first half but then we saw the quality they have in the second," added Chivu. "I always said it would be a difficult game for us and so it proved. Even though they left out some players, they have so much quality that they are difficult to keep out for 90 minutes. They are a great team and I wish them all the best." However, despite his side's elimination, Chivu does have one more pressing engagement this summer. "Now, I'm away to get married," were his final words.