Romania held a struggling Spain to a goalless draw in a friendly in preparation for Euro 2016.
Vicente del Bosque has a team whose tiki taka has gone missing.They lacked consistency and fluency and what made life a little more difficult for them was the fact that the Romanian team had greater numbers.
Romania’s players had swapped their normal squad numbers for maths problems in a bid to help their country’s children improve their maths skills ..!!
The idea for the new numbers, printed on the back of training tops, was backed up by a video at the Cluj Arena explaining the idea,
It was designed to try combat Romanian children dropping out of school – as of 2014 the rate is 18%, one of the worst records in the European Union.
Wow.

“Football and mathematics are not mutually exclusive,” said the Romanian Football Federation president, Razvan Burleanu. “We must look at sports and education as not only complementary but fundamental elements integrated in the training and perfection of children. We want to have healthy generation and smart students who achieve performance and tools through tailored passions. Through this project, children will learn the basics of football and have an opportunity for the first time in our country – to discover mathematics through an attractive approach.”

More luck to them.
And here’s a look at the highlights of that game where Spain were just unable to get past the numerical superiority of their opponents ..!