Berne, Switzerland  - Romania coach Victor Piturca blamed fatigue for his side's elimination Tuesday from Euro 2008 at the hands of the Netherlands.

The Romanians, needing a victory to advance, slipped to a tame, 2- 0 defeat after second-half goals from Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie.

Italy's 2-0 defeat of France in Zurich sealed the Romanians' fate in Group C.

"The Dutch team was better and fresher than us. Also, the half- time score in Zurich maybe had an influence on the players," Piturca.

Although it was goalless at the break in Berne, the Romanians knew Italy were a goal up against a 10-man France in Zurich and would need a victory against a Dutch side showing nine changes.

"The players weren't supposed to know what the result in Zurich was, and personally I was not interested," he said. "Had it been a draw between France and Italy it could have been a good thing for us, but I was only interested in my team."

Piturca denied that his players were too relaxed because they knew they were up against a second-string Dutch side, saying that "maybe their substitutes are better than the regular players."

However, the coach was pleased with the team's overall performance.

"I think it was a very good tournament. We played very well playing in such a group with such fantastic teams, and not losing against the world champions (Italy) and vice world champions (France) has been an achievement for our team," he said.

"We could have done better. If we had scored a penalty against Italy, we would have qualified. As far as the mentality was concerned, we should have been better than the Dutch today, and that was not the case.

"Maybe we were a bit tired, and we couldn't change the players involved in the first two matches, and the concentration we needed in the first matches definitely played a part. We lacked coherence and no longer played as we did in the first two matches."

The coach denied the side should have done more to go for a victory on Tuesday.

"I think we took enough risks. At one point there were three Dutch players against three Romanian players," he said.

"Against a team like the Netherlands, you just can't play this way. Everything, in fact, turned out this way after they scored first. You can't let a team like the Netherlands score first."

He added: "We should analyse what has happened. The experience we have gained here will be very important. Some players were not that experienced. ... Life goes on, and this tournament will be over, and we will have to think about the World Cup." (dpa)