Romania 0 - 3 Lithuania

Romania 0-3 Lithuania: Absent trio sorely missed

Updated: September 6, 2008, 3:00 AM ET

CLUJ, Romania, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Unheralded Lithuania crushed an injury-hit Romania 3-0 in their World Cup Group Seven qualifier on Saturday.

It was one of Romania's poorest performances in recent years and a rare home defeat under coach Victor Piturca.

"It was a shameful evening, to forget as soon as possible," a frustrated Cosmin Contra, who captained Romania for the first time, told reporters.

Defender Marius Stankevicius opened the scoring for the visitors with a powerful 25-metre shot in the 31st minute. Midfielder Saulius Mikoliunas added a second with a 17-metre effort midway through the second half.

Substitute Mindaugas Kalonas scored the third after a swift counter-attack four minutes from time.

Romania failed to create opportunities in the absence of injured striker Adrian Mutu, while defenders Cristian Chivu and Razvan Rat were also sorely missed.

"We played very badly this evening, this is the truth," coach Piturca said. "But everybody must admit that such miserable evenings happen sometimes in the life of a team."

Nicolae Dica had Romania's only chance when he hit the crossbar with an 18-metre free kick three minutes from the break.

Lithuania's Portuguese coach Jose Couceiro was delighted with his side's good attacking play and tight defence.

"I told my players that we can do it against Romania, who did not have their best day," Couceiro said.

"My players applied perfectly the tasks we established before the game ... It's the perfect start for qualification for the World Cup finals, which we can now reach."