The Chelsea midfielder is confident that Romania can go all the way to the final even though three players - including himself - will be suspended for the Italian clash.

They will be boosted by the return of key playmaker Gheorghe Hagi who was suspended for Tuesday's last gasp win over England in Charleroi.

Petrescu, who picked up his second yellow card against Kevin Keegan's side, believes that Romania have not bee afforded the respect they deserve so far in the competition.

He said: "I would have loved to play against the Italians because they don't think we are a very good team and we want to prove them wrong.

"I've also been reading the Italian papers during the tournament and we are being written off as having no chance. I'm so sorry I can't play on Saturday.

"Before we came out here Gheorghe Popescu and Gheorghe Hagi predicted Romania would go all the way to the final and none of the critics believe this.

"But after the way we played against England surly everyone has to take us seriously now and we can beat Italy as well.

"We won against England without Hagi and now we will have two or three players out against Italy but we have great talent in the squad. I genuinely believe that Romania can go all the way now.

"We showed against England they we are capable of scoring goals. We should have scored three or four in the first 25 minutes alone and we also passed the ball around well."

In addition to Petrescu, defender Cosmin Contra and striker Adrian Ilie are suspended while Popescu is out for the rest of the tournament with the torn thigh muscle suffered against England.

Romania defender Cristian Chivu said: "I made Figo and Beckham anonymous and I will do the same with Italians, whether it is Del Piero or Totti."

Italy's legendary defender Paolo Maldini has warned of the threat that Hagi can still pose at 35 although he thinks the loss of four players could tip the balance in his count and with good technique.

"Three of their players are suspended and that will heavily affect the balance of their team but if we are not on top of our form we will encounter problems. Of that, I have no doubt."

Maldini admitted: "We have not done very well in past European championships and this tradition is a mystery but I know that to be champions of Europe you need great players and Italy have those.

"People were talking about how poor we were in the friendlies before the tournament but I always knew that we would do well when the football started for real."