MMUNICH.- Romania achieved only its second victory in a European Championship, and the first in 24 years, by beating 3-0 on Monday Ukrainea belated birthday gift to his coach Edward Iordanescu.
Nicolae Stanciu put Romania ahead with a shot from far outside the area in the 29th minute. The Romanians settled the match with goals from Razvan Marin and Denis Mihai Dragus at the start of the second half.
Romania had not won a major tournament since their unexpected 3-2 victory against England at Euro 2000.
Iordanescu, the first coach to lead a Romanian team to the European Championship since his father Anghel in 2016, turned 46 on Sunday.
Stanciu also shook the crossbar in what was a clear Romanian dominance against a Ukraine that is competing in Euro 2024 in the midst of the war in the country and with the desire to bring hope to its cities when Russian missiles fall on its territory.
Message about war:
Before the match, the Ukrainian football federation displayed in Munich the stands of a stadium destroyed by Russian troops in May 2022 to highlight the armed conflict.
“There is a team on the field, but there are a million soldiers defending Ukraine,” said Andriy Shevchenko, the former striker and former national team coach who currently presides over the soccer federation. “We are all together. Today we play for the country. “We play today for the people who defend our lives and our countries.”
It was an emotional match for both teams.
In the case of Romania, they had been absent from major events for eight years and several of their players shed tears when the national anthem was played.
The challenge involved two teams that are not expected to make a big impact on the competition, but it ended up being one of the most emotional so far.
Source: With information from AP
