Radio Romania International Sports club
Romanian national football team’s EURO 2024 end-of-the-road trail
Radio România Internațional, 03.07.2024, 13:45
The Romanian national football team’s midsummer dream has been shattered. In Germany, the national squad was unable to go past EURO 2024’s round of 16. This past Tuesday, Romania sustained a nil-3 defeat by Netherlands.
Head-coach Ronald Koeman’s trainees were better; more often than not the Dutch line-up was able to penetrate the Romanian defensive lineup thanks to the generous space they found on the pitch. No less than three times the Netherlands successfully capitalized on their scoring opportunities. Cody Gakpo on 20 minutes drew first blood with a surprising near-post low shot that touched Romanian goalie Florin Nita’s net.
A string of mistakes in the Romanian defensive line enabled Donyell Malen on 83 minutes to score the second goal. As the result of a counter-attack, it was also Malen who sealed the fate of the game, scoring the third goal in added time.
Notwithstanding, the Romanian national team returned with their heads held high. They met their set target, that of playing in the knockout stage and they accomplished that emerging as winners in Group E, which also included Belgium Slovakia and Ukraine.
The Romanians’ run in all three group fixtures was honorably above par, yet they kind of struck it lucky against Ukraine winning the game with a buoyant 3-nil win. They sustained a nil-2 defeat by Belgium, another team that was undeniably superior. They Romanians drew against Slovakia, 1-all, with Slovakia being one of the tournament’s pleasant surprises.
In each fixture, the Romanians were united like a true team. They fought all their all way through from the beginning and until the end, they put in a lot of passion and a tremendous amount of determination on the pitch but eventually they were unable to stand on an equal footing with Europe’s great teams. In the stands, they enjoyed tremendous support from their fans who were there in their tens of thousands, watching every game and frantically supporting their favorite team.
EURO 2024 has now reached its quarterfinal stage. On Friday, Spain goes against Germany, while Portugal faces France. On Saturday, England plays Switzerland while Turkey is pitted against the Netherlands. Next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, the semifinals will be played, while the big final is scheduled on July 14.
Scheduled for the Romanian national squad are the League of Nations fixtures this coming fall. As part of the third tier’s second group, Romania is pitted against Kosovo, Lithuania and Cyprus, in September, October and November, respectively. Romanian national team’s first scheduled match is the one against Kosovo on September 6, away.
