Dinamo Bucharest central defender Valentin Nastase has quit the club after he was blamed for the Romanian side’s Champions League defeat to Lazio.
Dinamo were beaten 3-1 by Lazio in Bucharest on Tuesday, losing the third qualifying round tie 4-2 on aggregate.
Nastase was heavily criticised for conceding an early second-half penalty which allowed Lazio to cancel out Florin Bratu’s first-half goal.
“I’m not a coward but I’ll immediately quit Dinamo,” Nastase told reporters.
The 33-year-old former international was upset after Dinamo coach Mircea Rednic said he would “never forget Nastase” at a post-match news conference.
“I’m responsible for the huge error I made, but it’s not normal to be executed for that,” Nastase said. “I don’t know now if I will go on playing football.”