Europa League opponents FC Astra Giurgiu brings back memories of the last time I saw the Hammers play Romanian opposition, who were Steaua Bucharest in the 2nd round of the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup.
We had finished 5th in the previous Premier League campaign before going on to win the newly formed Intertoto Cup which meant qualification for the UEFA Cup. In the 1st round proper we played Croatian side NK Osijek who we brushed aside 6-1 on aggregate.
Unlike tonight, the first leg of that tie back in late October 1999 was away from home. I remember the game was shown live on Channel 5 and Jonathan Pearce was the commentator but as myself and my Dad got comfortable on the sofa, we were to become rather anxious moments later when we saw the state of the pitch and heard the sound of a most hostile crowd.
The pitch was sodden, basically waterlogged from the rain of the previous few days in Bucharest and we knew straight away that we were in for a long night. That West Ham side rarely travelled well in the Premier League never mind a daunting trip to Eastern Europe but they had a superb home record, which meant a narrow defeat with an away goal would be seen as a decent result.
What followed was pretty much a disaster as we went down 2-0, with a goal in each half and to be quite frank it could have been a lot worse, such were the chances that Steaua created. Poor old Stevie Potts was at fault with both goals, with the second one being an absolute shocker. He bizarrely tried to clear the ball across the penalty area with his right foot but played it straight into Sabin Ilie’s path, who took a touch before striking the ball across Hislop into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
It was a poor result but we felt that the tie could be turned around in the second leg at a rocking Boleyn Ground in a fortnight’s time.
On the 4th November 1999 it was the night of the 2nd leg and I took my seat in the East Stand of the Boleyn Ground with my best mate Paul. We were probably thinking that an early goal would obviously be great but would have been concerned that we might go for it too much and leave the back door open to a quick counter attack. An away goal for Steaua would surely finish us off.
Paolo Di Canio had an ankle injury and Paulo Wanchope had been struggling for goals going into the game which was a worry at the time as we looked to turn around the two goal deficit. Di Canio was desperate to play according to our manager Harry Redknapp and had an injection to get him through the 90 minutes and extra time if required. That was a massive boost.
We lined up in our all white away strip and remember thinking it was strange to watch us play at home without our famous claret and blue shirts. What followed was one of the most frustrating nights I can ever remember under the Boleyn lights. Steaua had a five man defence and never had any intention of going forward, totally intending to defend their lead from the 1st leg, which was fair enough.
The overwhelming majority of the 24,514 people in the crowd willed West Ham forward from the 1st minute as wave after wave of attacks flooded forward upon the Romanian’s goal. My memory tells me many chances fell to the hapless Wanchope throughout the first half but there were probably other culprits as well.
It was very clear at half time that Steaua were not posing a threat on the counter-attack, so in the second half needing two goals without reply just to take it to extra time, Redknapp got his side to throw caution to the wind.
A very young Joe Cole was brought into the team that night and he was the most impressive player. We got to see what an excellent talent the 17-year-old was as he danced through the midfield on numerous occasions with his trickery.
More chances were wasted early in the second half and on 64 mins Redknapp decided to bring on striker Paul Kitson for our French wing-back Mark Keller. Shots and crosses were flashing across the face of the Steaua goal and nobody could seem to find the final touch to bring us back into the tie.
With time running out you still felt that if we could get one then the second would follow quickly after, such was the pressure we were putting on them.
Joe Cole continued to dazzle but the night was summed up when he saw his shot cannon off the post late in the game. Another chance gone. West Ham ended the game with Kitson, Di Canio, Wanchope, Sinclair and Cole all playing up front but it was not to be and Steaua clung on to a 0-0 draw that took them into the 3rd round of the UEFA Cup. A great result for them and so disappointing for us that our enjoyable European campaign was now over.
West Ham have beaten Romanian opponents before, in the shape of Poli Timisoara in the 2nd round of the 1980/81 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Steaua Bucharest have an impressive European history and actually won the European Cup in 1986 beating Terry Venables Barcelona on penalties in the final. FC Astra have no such history but after finishing second to Steaua in last season’s Romanian league it is likely to be another tricky test for West Ham to pass and they are not to be underestimated.
The West Ham United team that played Steaua Bucharest in that second leg was: Shaka Hislop, Rio Ferdinand, Javier Margas, Neil Ruddock, Joe Cole, Steve Lomas, Marc Keller (Paul Kitson), Trevor Sinclair, Frank Lampard, Paolo Di Canio, Paulo Wanchope.
