ROMANIA joined England at the top of Group G thanks to Adrian Ilie's goal just before half-time, setting up Monday's head-to-head in Toulouse perfectly. Coach Glenn Hoddle will be alerting a defence that wobbled occasionally against the generally harmless Tunisians to watch out for Ilie, who has enjoyed a good season with Valencia in Spain and made a pest of himself against Colombia, especially in the first half. The 24-year-old looked very sharp and inventive and forced goalkeeper Sarid Mondragon into two good saves before he broke the deadlock. He burst into the box down the left, skipped past the last defender and ignored the supporting Viorel Moldovan to chip a neat right-footed finish into the net. Ilie also set up a gilt-edged opening for Moldovan in the 11th minute, but the Coventry City striker embarrassingly failed to make contact with an inviting waist-high cross as the goal gaped in front of him. Colombia, out for revenge after being beaten by the same opposition in the group stage at USA 94, responded well to that let-off, launching a string of unexpectedly direct attacks. But despite the hard work of midfielder Freddy Rincon and former Newcastle striker Faustino Asprilla, they didn't seriously test goalkeeper Bogdan Stelea until well into the second half. The European side really should have added to their lead, looking nimble enough in possession to explode doubts over their ageing squad, even though 33-year-old playmaker Gheorghe Hagi has enjoyed better days at the office. He was tightly marked throughout by Jose Santa - who got a yellow card for one crude challenge - and was substituted 20 minutes from the end as he tired and his influence decreased. Hagi's opposite number Carlos Valderrama, four years older than the Romanians' midfield general, didn't have much more joy. Dorinel Munteanu kept a close eye on him at all times and when the Colombians did get into the final third, classy ex-Spurs sweeper Gica Popescu was waiting to clear the danger. Adolfo Valencia came on for the South Americans at the start of the second half and twice came close to hitting the equaliser. Romania had clearly settled for victory by the slimmest of margins, and they found themselves under the cosh in the last quarter as Colombia went for broke. Stelea needed to make an outstanding save to push away Valencia's shot after Rincon had found him with a perfect through ball and Asprilla raided effectively down the right, but his link-up with Valencia couldn't find a way past Popescu and the powerful Iulian Filipescu.

WINNING IS ALL THAT MATTERS FOR HAGI   ROMANIA skipper Gheorghe Hagi dismissed his side's failure to turn a sackful of chances into more than a single goal after their Group G win over Colombia in Lyon yesterday. Adrian Ilie claimed the all-important winner, but wayward finishing denied England's next opponents a more convincing victory. Thankfully for them, their veteran defence had few problems containing Faustino Asprilla and Co. ''The important thing is that we won - nothing else matters,'' said Hagi. ''We showed that when we need to be, we are just as good in defence as in attack.'' The midfielder, who showed flashes of his old brilliance but tired after the break, added: ''This is going to be my last World Cup and I want to leave a good impression.'' Coach Anghel Iordanescu accepted that his side faded in the second period, but felt they did enough especially in a first half they largely dominated - to be worth the win. ''I'm very pleased with how we played, he said, especially as so many of our players are playing in the World Cup for the first time. We had many chances in the first half. We were tired in the second half but we were pragmatic and intelligent enough to secure the win.'' Romania now face Glenn Hoddle's men, 2-0 winners over Tunisia, in Toulouse on Monday while Colombia boss Hernan Dario Gomez knows his side must improve. They were particularly grim in the early stages, but picked up after the interval. ''With a bit of luck things might have been different,'' Gomez said. "We have lost this game, but we have still got to play Tunisia and England and we will do everything we can to win those two games.'' 365 SAYS... Nothing in this game to suggest Glenn Hoddle's boys are not going into the second stages of these finals mind you the Colombians, who England meet last, can surely get much better and could be dangerous if they actually try to turn it on for a full 90 minutes. As for Romania, they are not the same force as in the previous two World Cup finals but played this one coolly, clearly very happy to sit on a one-goal lead however precarious a plan that might have been.

TALE OF THE TURF		HOW THEY RATED
Team Name Romania Colombia Goals 1 0 Shots On Target 5 4 Shots Off Target 10 7 Blocked Shots 6 3 Corners 6 1 Fouls Conceded 21 24 Offsides 5 2 Red Cards 0 0 Yellow Cards 3 1		Romania: Stelea (7), Petrescu (7), Ciubotariu (6), Filipescu (6), Gheorghe Popescu (7), Munteanu (6), Galca (6), Hagi (7) (Marinescu (6) 77), Gabriel Popescu (6) (Stinga (6) 69), Ilie (8), Moldovan (7) (Niculescu (6) 85). Subs Not Used: Prunea, Stingaciu, Dobos, Selymes, Dulca, Dumitrescu, Lacatus, Craioveanu. Booked: Filipescu, Munteanu, Petrescu. Goals: Ilie 45. Colombia: Mondragon (8), Cabrera (7), Bermudez (6), Santa (8), Palacios (6), Serna (6), Lozano (7), Valderrama (7), Rincon (7), Aristizabal (6) (Valencia (7) 45), Asprilla (7) (Preciado (6) 85). Subs Not Used: Calero, O. Cordoba, I. Cordoba, Moreno, Perez, Bolano, Estrada, De Avila, Ricard. Booked: Santa. Att: 37,572 (crowd rating: 7) Ref: A-Y Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius) 7.

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