Romania delight Antonin

Romania manager Robert Antonin was delighted as his team claimed a 14-10 win over Portugal in Toulouse.

Romania snatched a late victory to condemn plucky Portugal to the wooden spoon in World Cup Pool C and deny veteran hooker Joaquim Ferreira a fairytale finish to his career.

The Portuguese, the last team to book their place in the tournament courtesy of a repechage victory over Uruguay, produced a battling performance to lead for most of their final pool match.

But Romania flanker Florin Corodeanu spared his side's blushes with a close-range try nine minutes from the end which put them in front for the first time - and Antonin was clearly thrilled.

He said: "I am so happy with the result.''

It was a cruel finish for Portugal's acting captain Ferreira, who had scored the only try of the first half to give his side the scent of a first-ever World Cup victory.

Portugal have now lost 12 of their 13 meetings with the Romanians but they were in determined mood from the start against jittery opponents and scored a deserved try through their most experienced player Ferreria, who was winning his 84th and final cap.

The 34-year-old hooker, leading the Portuguese in the absence of the injured Vasco Uva, was driven over in the 18th minute after Romania suffered a rare line-out loss on their own throw.

Fly-half Duarte Cardoso Pinto added the conversion to bring up a century of points for his country and extend the lead to 7-0, which was the half-time score.

When asked what he said to his team at half-time, Antonin said: "Play with the ball. We need to do that to win the game.''

Winger Catalin Fercu produced Romania's only clean break of the first half but slipped on the lush surface - and full-back Iulian Dumitras was off target with a long-range drop-goal.

A superb break out of defence by Portugal winger Antonio Aguilar set up the position for the try, and full-back Pedro Leal almost added a second after an exciting touchline run just before the interval, while Pinto also missed with a drop-goal attempt.

Replacement lock Sorin Socol rumbled his way to the line only for television referee Kelvin Peaker to disallow the try for a knock-on - but the pressure told on 62 minutes when replacement hooker Marius Tincu forced his way over for a legitimate score.

Scrum-half Valentin Calafeteanu added the conversion to tie the scores. But replacement fly-half Gongalo Malheiro, Portugal's record points scorer who was sent on for his 36th cap after an hour, restored his side's lead with a 40-metre penalty 12 minutes from the end.

However, the weight of possession told when the more physical Romania forwards drove once more for the line - and Corodeanu got the all-important touch, with fly-half Dan Dumbrava adding the conversion before hitting an upright with a late penalty.

Romania lock Sorin Socol declined to lodge a complaint after being allegedly bitten during the game.

Socol appeared to show a bite mark to referee Paul Honiss during the second half of the match but afterwards refused to point the finger at the culprit.

"Somebody bit me but I don't want to say something now because I like this player and I think he has a future here in France,'' he said. "So I don't want to say. I'm a fair player, you know?''

Meanwhile super-sub Marius Tincu was delighted to prove a point after coming off the bench to claim a vital try - his 12th for his country - before Corodeanu's winner.

Tincu said: "The first half I was not happy - I was not playing. It was a strategy of the coach for me not to play the first half - to give everyone else a chance in the first half.

"Then I came in at the finish. I was not happy with that but I accept it.

"When I score a try, the team scores a try - it's together. I thank the team for that.

"It was very important because Portugal had seven points. It was a very hard game for us.''

Acting captain Ferreira, Portugal's most-capped player, rued being unable to claim victory in his final game.

"I would have liked to sign off on a win even if I did score a try,'' said Ferreira. "The only thing I'm thinking of right now is going on holiday.''

Portugal coach Tomaz Morais was proud of his team's display but admitted they buckled under intense pressure.

"We played as we thought we could but we lost our way a little in the last quarter under the Romanian pressure,'' he said.

"They had brought on some pretty tough forwards in the second half.

"We kicked well and forced them into mistakes but their players are more experienced than ours. Nevertheless we felt we would have won if it had not been our last match.

"A few weeks ago nobody would have believed we could have pulled off the results we did. We can be well satisfied with our first World Cup.''

Romania prop Bogdan Balan was also full of praise for the Portuguese.

"It was a very important victory for us because it's our first victory at this World Cup,'' he said.

"I want to congratulate the Romanian team because we believed in ourselves. And also Portugal, because they played very well today.

"It will be a very difficult game for us against New Zealand because they are the best team in the world.

"I hope to reduce the number of handling mistakes. If they create turnovers, then it's very hard to stop them. We will try to make the best possible match and at least score a try.''