Euro-2024: Stanciu leads Romania to success against Ukraine (3-0)

Ideally launched by a superb strike from Nicolae Stanciu, Romania outclassed their opponents. Ukraine Monday afternoon & Munich (3-0) for its entry into the running at Euro-2024 and takes a good option for the round of 16.

In this group E, Romelu Lukaku's Belgium was the favorite for first place, but Domenico Tedesco's men were surprised by Slovakia (1-0) and thus find themselves under pressure before facing Romania on Saturday. Only the first two as well as the four best thirds from the six groups will qualify for the direct elimination phase.

This meeting under the blazing Munich sun was marked by a context strong geopolitical, since Ukraine has been at war since February 24, 2022 and the invasion of the country by Russia.

Serhyi Rebrov's players rehearsed before the start of the meeting wanting to play for the soldiers defending the country. This heavy setback complicates their task towards the round of 16.

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Exiled since September 2023 in the very lucrative Saudi Pro League of Saudi Arabia at Damac FC, Romanian captain Nicolae Stanciu was the great architect of his team's victory.

– Ukrainians overwhelmed in the second half –

After bowing down for 25 minutes, Romania took advantage of a poorly negotiated recovery by Real Madrid's Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin to open the scoring shortly before the half-hour mark. Dennis Man recovered the ball and served Stanciu, whose curling shot found its way into Lunin's right top corner (29th).

“This is THE goal of my career. I've already said it, this jersey (of the Romanian selection) means everything to me,” Stanciu reacted after the match.

The 31-year-old midfielder came close to scoring a double about ten minutes later. After his blocked attempt that ended up just off Lunin's post, Stanciu attempted a direct corner, which hit the crossbar of Lunin, who was beaten on the spot.

Dominating possession of the ball in the first half, the Ukrainians lacked realism in front of Florin Nita's goal, against a well-positioned Romanian defense.

In the second half, the Ukrainians were totally overwhelmed. Razvan Marin took advantage of a mistake by Lunin to double the lead (53rd) with a shot from 20 meters, to the great delight of the Tricolorii supporters, who were clearly superior among the 66,000 spectators at the Munich stadium. Four minutes later, it was Denis Dragus who increased the score for Ukraine.

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