As Italy cruised into the semi-finals with a 2-0 victory, Hagi received his marching orders for a second booking after diving in the Italian area.

It is sadly likely to signal the end of his career as an automatic two-match ban will strengthen his desire to leave the international arena once-and-for-all.

His demise will no doubt cause an outpouring of emotion in Romania where he is talismanic of the resurgance of national identity and footballing prowess in the small Eastern European nation.

An exhibition friendly planned in August against Yugoslavia will now almost certainly be the last appearance of the left-footed genius in a yellow shirt.

His retirement may not be the end of his love affair with the Romanian national team - there are plans afoot to cajole him into management after his club career is over.

Romania have never - and may never again - sees his like. But when the dust settles they may realise that behind Hagi there is a gaggle of youngsters who look more than capable of carrying the torch.

They outplayed England and Germany and were a little unlucky against the Portuguese, who are fast becoming one of the favourites to appear in Rotterdam on July 2nd.

Italy, on the other hand, found little diffculty in getting past a Romanian side who played with grit and determination but always looked out-gunned once their playmaker left the scene.

The Italians showed no mercy, pulling two goals clear with strikes from Francesco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi against the run of play in the first half.

Both Italian strikers found gaps in a fragile Romanian offside trap to their liking. Totti found space on the back post to chest and volley home from a Stefano Fiore chip through. Inzaghi raced clear from a free-kick to place the ball past Romanian keeper Bogdan Stelea for his first goal in three months.

Yet despite their numerical advantage the Italians looked brittle. Immediately after the first goal Hagi came within centimetres of pulling back the deficit when he belied his 35 years of age to sprint past the Italian defence and lob a stranded Toldo, only to see the ball strike the far upright.

Italy didn't heed the warning and Moldovan and Galca went close twice before Inzaghi found the space behind the Romanian defence to put some distance between the Italians and defeat.

When Hagi was booked for a foul on Conte and then - just five minutes later - for an obvious attempt at deception in the penalty area - it sealed the end for the Romanians and the career of their star player, who will be remembered throughout the world for sheer brilliance and for bringing the kind of unstilting arrogance that only genius can represent, to a grateful international stage .

Meanwhile it was a mixed result for Italian coach Dino Zoff, who was unsurprisingly happy with the win, but may now be forced to face a semi-final against either co-hosts Holland or Yugoslavia without the talismanic Paolo Maldini, who was forced off after a clash with Hagi.

'Maldini has a muscle contraction and Conte has an ankle injury,' he said. 'We'll have to see how they are tomorrow.'

Teams:

Italy: Toldo; Maldini (c) (Pessotto 46), Cannavaro, Nesta, Iuliano, Conte (Di Biagio 56), Zambrotta, Albertini, Fiore, Inzaghi, Totti (Del Piero 75).

Romania: Stelea; Chivu, Ciobotariu, Filipescu, Belodedici, Munteanu, Petre, Galca (Lupescu 68), Hagi (c), Moldovan (Ganea 54), Mutu.