Romania captain Cristian Chivu said only a victory would do against the Czech Republic today to revive their slim hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup finals.
Romania are third in Group One with 19 points from 10 matches, two behind the Czechs, who have two matches in hand. The Netherlands lead the group with 22 points from eight games and barring an upset, the Dutch and the Czechs seem set to fill the top two places.
"We only promised good results but we failed to get them so far," Chivu said. "It's time to achieve a performance and beat a great team of the world as the Czech Republic are."
Romania were beaten 1-0 by the Czechs in Prague, one of the three defeats that have left their hopes hanging by a thread.
Romania coach Victor Piturca will stick to his trusted four-man defence of Cosmin Contra, Gabriel Tamas, Cristian Chivu and Razvan Rat, while 37-year-old midfielder Dorinel Munteanu is expected to win his 126th cap to overtake Gheorghe Hagi's national record.
The Czechs' main worry is captain Tomas Galasek, who injured his knee in training on Wednesday. He could be replaced by Nuremberg midfielder Jan Polak.
National coach Fatih Terim has set his sights on securing Turkey a place in the World Cup qualifying play-offs, with the fight for second place in Group Two hotting up against Denmark today.
Runaway leaders Ukraine will win the group and qualify for the finals if they beat Georgia this afternoon and are top of the group with 23 points from their nine matches.
Turkey, second on 16 points, Greece on 15 points, both from nine matches, and Denmark, on 12 points from eight games, must battle it out for a play-off berth with three qualifiers left.
Turkey travel to Ukraine on Wednesday and to Albania in their last qualifier next month.
"If we win the Denmark and Ukraine matches we will not have a problem. We think that seven points will take us to the 2006 finals," said Terim.
They will have a tough task, however, against Denmark, who are brimming with confidence after inflicting England's biggest defeat for 25 years in a 4-1 friendly last month.
Turkey beat Kazakhstan 6-0 in their last qualifier in June, having been held to a 0-0 draw at home to Greece in their previous game. But the team made an inauspicious start under the newly-appointed Terim two weeks ago, losing 3-1 in a friendly against Bulgaria and are without injured goalkeeper Rustu Recber and Newcastle United midfielder Emre Belozoglu, who has a a calf injury.
In Group Three, Russia play what looks to be straight forward game against Liechtenstein in Moscow. But the home side will be aware that it was Liechtenstein's draw with Slovakia last month which rekindled Russia's hopes of coming second in that group.
Group leaders Portugal take on Luxembourg at home while Slovakia play Latvia on Wednesday.
Spain, the Group Seven leaders, are not playing today but they will have interest in Serbia and Montenegro's home match against Lithuania. The home side are just a point behind the Spanish.
Croatia travel to Iceland looking to protect their leading position in Group Eight from second-placed Sweden, who entertain Bulgaria today.
Meanwhile, Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira thinks it is still too early to say whether the world champions will continue to use four forwards.
Brazil won the Confederations Cup using the ultra-offensive line-up, with Adriano and Robinho playing in attack and Kaka and Ronaldinho behind them.
Parreira will repeat the system for tomorrow's World Cup qualifier against Chile in Brasilia, when a win will guarantee them a place in Germany with two games to spare.
This time, Ronaldo, who was rested from the Confederations Cup, returns to partner Adriano in attack with Robinho and Kaka behind them. Ronaldinho is suspended.
"Having four forwards doesn't mean that you're going to score lots of goals in every game," Parreira said. "We hope it works against Chile so you can continue with this formation for a while longer, and, who knows, even until the World Cup."
