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Slovakia: Dubravka, Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko, Kucka, Lobotka, Duda, Schranz, Strelec, Haraslin.
Subs: Obert, Rigo, Gyomber, Suslov, Bozenik, Tupta, Benes, Rodak, Hrosovsky, De Marco, Duris, Bero, Ravas, Sauer, Kosa.
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Romania: Nita, Ratiu, Burca, Dragusin, Bancu, Marius Marin, Hagi, Razvan Marin, Stanciu, Coman, Dragus.
Subs: Rus, Nedelcearu, Alibec, Cicaldau, Puscas, Moldovan, Mihaila, Olaru, Tarnovanu, Man, Mogos, Sorescu, Racovitan, Birligea, Sut.
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Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
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Never before has a European Championship group had four teams all on three points after two games. But here we are.
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| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Belgium | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Slovakia | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Ukraine | 2 | -2 | 3 |
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This means a few things, but the most pertinent for this game is thus: no matter what the result is between Belgium and Ukraine, if Slovakia v Romania ends in a draw, both will qualify for the knockout stage, with Slovakia finishing on four points, which will certainly be enough for them to finish as one of the four best third-placed teams.
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This could be problematic, and there will doubtless be dissenting voices if the two teams play out a boring goalless draw to guarantee passage to the round of 16, but both head coaches of Slovakia and Romania have been falling over themselves that they will be trying to win the game.
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Slovakia head coach Francesco Calzona: “We are professionals. We know that the draw might help us to qualify for the last 16, but that doesn’t mean anything because we want to play our own match. We deserve this opportunity to progress as we have played good football.”
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Romania head coach Edward Iordanescu: “We want to win the group. If we win the group at least theoretically you have a certain advantage, especially in terms of extra rest days and also of the opponents. But the most important thing is to qualify, this is what our objective is.”
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Hmmmm. Let’s hope for a belting game.
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Kick-off: 5pm BST/6pm in Germany.
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Important Events
29th minute: Romania look a bit shell-shocked, they can’t seem to get their feet on the ball in midfield, Stanciu and Coman barely seem to be hitting the ball at all.
26 minutes: With both teams taking a drinks break in sweltering heat, it’s a chance for Romania to bounce back. Let’s see how this goal will affect their standings in Group E.
Goals! Slovakia 1-0 Ukraine (Duda 24)
A simple but effective goal from Duda! Pecaric curls a cross from the right back towards Duda who is completely unmarked between the two Romanian centre-backs. With the Verona players backed up it’s still difficult to get a chance but Duda pounces and scores a fantastic header into the far corner from seven yards out!
21 minutes: Close call for Slovakia! A deep and wide free kick is sent into the box, slipping through the hands of the players in yellow and blue and Strelec smashing the ball behind the post, but just can’t get it there! The ball goes wide.
18 minutes: Neither team played very smoothly. The pitch clearly didn’t help either, with passes back to the goalkeeper looking noticeably shaky. Apparently at UEFA’s request, neither team trained on this pitch yesterday.
15 minutes: Neither team seems to be fighting for a draw at the moment, which is a very good thing.
13 minutes: Romania were awarded a free kick 40 yards from goal and Razvan Marin tried his luck, firing a shot over the Slovakian wall and just wide of Dubravka’s right-hand goalpost. Not far!
11 min: Romania strikes back! Despite appearing to play at right-back, Ratiu is on the left wing and plays a neat one-two with Coman before curling a Zaccani-esque shot into the top corner. But Dubravka responds and smashes the ball away. Hagi grabs the rebound but his shot goes high and wide. If it had hit the goal, Dubravka would have had a tough time!
8 minutes: Slovakia sent a cross into the penalty area, but with Schranz lurking at the back post, it was valid. Remember when Schranz scored a similar goal against Ukraine? But Romania’s left-back Bank held his own and headed the ball into a corner, from which Slovakia’s Kucka (ex-Watford) was free to head it in! What a waste, the ball flew over the goal!
6 min: Very loud, very lively, but still no chance. Unfortunately the pitch in Frankfurt looks just as rough as it was in the previous games.
4 minutes: As PSG players lazily worked their way into midfield, Hagi made a superb tackle on the tall Slovakian centre-back Skriniar, a challenge that Romania coach Iordanescu highly praised.
2 min: The atmosphere is raucous, with Romanian fans thronging the stands, and there’s a pleasing synergy between the blue and yellow of a German supermarket advertising billboard and the team’s colours on the pitch.
Peeeeeep! And then we arrived in Frankfurt, it was 30°C and, unlike last week when I watched England v Denmark, the roof was open.
“Whether he’s a police officer or not“I can only admire the unshakeable self-esteem of someone who is happy to wear the same number as his father, widely considered the greatest player this country has ever produced,” Graham Neal said in an email.
Agreed. I’m not sure if Hagi has confidence issues, but despite his number he doesn’t function as a typical number 10. Today, Hagi would play on the right wing, with Stanciu and Razvan Marin filling the attacking midfield role.
The two teams will face off in Frankfurt! Either team could still advance even if they lose this match, but it will depend a lot on the results of the other teams. Here’s a quick look at the standings before kickoff.
WhisperHowever, Slovakia’s Ivan Sranc has two goals and is tied for first place in the Golden Boot rankings.
Slovakia remains unchanged After the unexpected first two games, they added another goal here, with forward David Strelek coming on for Robert Bozenik.
Romania made two changes to the team that lost 2-0 to Belgium. Hagi, the son of Romania great Gheorghe, was brought on to replace Dennis Mann in coach Edward Iordanescu’s second attacking change, which came as something of a surprise. Mann wasn’t at his best last time out but had a fine season with Parma, helping them return to Serie A.
Florinel Coman started in the first match against Ukraine but was replaced by the speedy Valentin Mikhaila against Belgium, who returned to the starting line-up in place of Mikhaila.
Conducted by Barry Glendenning Another MBM in this group: Ukraine vs Belgium. Interestingly, neither Oleksandr Zinchenko nor Mykhailo Mudryk are included in the Ukraine XI.
Stateing the obvious hereBut it should be said that this is a big deal for both countries. In five previous Euros appearances, Romania has only made the round of 16 once, back in 2000. Whether they enter as group winners or barely make it as one of the top four teams in the top three, it will be a major achievement for Edward Iordanescu and his teammates.
Slovakia have only appeared in the Euros twice as an independent country, reaching the knockout stage in 2016 before losing 3-0 to eventual semi-finalists Germany in the round of 16, if you don’t count 1976 winners Czechoslovakia’s record. If you count 1976 winners Czechoslovakia’s record (and you probably should), this will be Slovakia’s sixth knockout stage appearance.
This is breaking news From the England camp.
Teams!
Slovakia: Dubravka, Pekarik, Vavro, Škriniar, Hanko, Kucka, Lobotka, Duda, Schranc, Strelec, Halaslin.
subtitles: Oberto, Rigo, Gömbel, Suslov, Bozenik, Tupta, Beneš, Rodak, Frosovski, de Marco, Duris, Bello, Ravas, Sauer, and Kosa.
Romania: Nita, Ratiu, Burka, Dragusin, Bank, Marius Marin, Hagi, Razvan Marin, Stanciu, Coman, and Dragus.
subtitles: Rus, Nedelcheal, Alibec, Tikardau, Puskás, Moldova, Mikhaila, Oral, Tarnovanu, Man, Mogos, Soresk, Racovitan, Birligea, Sut.
Judge: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
preamble
Never before has a European Championship group stage seen all four teams on three points after two matches, yet that is now the case.
This means a few things, but the most relevant for this match is this: Whatever the outcome of Belgium and Ukraine, a draw between Slovakia and Romania would ensure that both teams would progress to the knockout stages and that Slovakia would finish with four points, enough to finish as one of the top four teams in the top three.
This could be problematic and there would undoubtedly be cries of dissent if both teams play out a boring goalless draw to ensure their place in the last 16, but both the Slovak and Romanian managers are doing everything in their power to win this game.
“We are professionals. We know that the draw might help us reach the last 16, but it doesn’t mean anything. We want to play our game. We have been playing good football and we deserve this opportunity to go through,” Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona said.
“We are aiming to win our group, which, at least in theory, gives us certain advantages, especially in terms of extra rest days and opponents. But the most important thing is to qualify. That is our goal,” Romania coach Edward Iordanescu said.
Hmm. Let’s hope it’s a great match.
kick off: 5pm BST/6pm German time.
