CHISINAU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Romanian soccer head coach Victor Piturca was sacked on Thursday after the team finished next-to-last in its European qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup.

    The Romanian Football Federation made the decision at the meeting of the Executive Committee. Piturca would be offered the choice to end his contract amiably and receive 250,000 euros (332,400 U.S. dollars), said Romanian FA general manager Ionut Lupescu.

    Piturca, under his two mandates, led Romania in 62 matches, the last against Austria (lost by 2-1) in Klagenfurt, in the preliminaries to the 2010 World Cup.