EURO 2024 TEAM GUIDE – Romania: The Tricolorii sprung a surprise by going unbeaten in qualification… and they are looking to bring the feel good factor of the 90s back in Germany
There was once a golden generation of Romanian football in the 1990s, but in the 21st century they have more than often flattered to deceive. However, have times changed? The current crop of Romanian talent should not be underestimated.
The team enters the European Championships with the aim of reaching the heights of the great team led by perhaps the country’s best ever player, Gheorghe Hagi.
Three decades into the team, which includes Ianis Hagi – Gheorghe’s son – may not have much star quality, but they are a well-oiled unit that works for each other in their quest to become a force in the sport. again.
Romania may not be the best choice for everyone to get out of the group stage, but while it may seem like a tough task on paper, they will feel like it can be done.
Mailsport takes you through Group E Romania, including how they qualified for the tournament, their history in the competition and who to look out for.
Romania will participate in its sixth European Championships and first since 2016
There are no high expectations from outsiders for Romania, but they do want to provide a surprise
Who is the administrator?
The man who led Romania to the European Championship, Edward Iordanescu, was once more known as the ex-boyfriend of a famous Romanian singer, Delia Matache, and as the son of the national team’s all-time best coaches, Anghel Iordanescu, than his own technical skills.
Those times have certainly changed. Iordanescu now wants to emulate the successes of his father, who led Romania to reach the quarter-finals of a major tournament – the 1994 World Cup.
The youngster Iordanescu’s coaching career started at Steaua Bucharest in 2010 as an assistant manager. However, he did not have the brightest managerial role in the twelve years before his appointment as Romania manager.
When he arrived in January 2022, fans had low expectations. However, he proved the doubters wrong and guided Romania to Euro 2024 qualification after the country failed to reach the final stages of the competition.
Edward Iordanescu took charge of Romania in 2022 when he was still relatively untested
Who is their star man?
Premier League fans will know who I’m talking about. Although Romania are known more for their unity than their individuals, they still have a standout star in Tottenham centre-back Radu Dragusin.
The defender has not been given the chance to shine many times since arriving at Spurs in January, only nine times to be precise, but his form at Genoa prior to the transfer has been impressive.
It’s hard to believe that the 6-foot-4 defender is only 22 years old. His big, aggressive playing style fools people into believing he is a veteran.
Dragusin showed promise early in his career when he joined Juventus at the age of 18, but his three years at the Old Lady did not go entirely to plan, with him making just four senior appearances.
Times changed for the centre-back in 2022, even before he left Juventus. He spent his final season with the Italian giants on loan at Genoa, and a year later the move was made permanent, although he left for London six months later.
Dragusin was made his debut at the age of 20 by current boss Iordanescu and has served him well. The central defender has only fifteen international matches to his name, but many more will follow.
Radu Dragusin has struggled to get minutes at Tottenham but has still shown his ability when called upon
Dragusin (left) played a key role in the backline of Romania’s Euro 2024 qualification
How did they qualify?
To many people’s surprise, Romania qualified for Euro 2024 with relative ease, dominating the qualifying group and finishing unbeaten and five points clear at the top of Group I.
Iordanescu’s side won six of their ten qualifying matches and drew the other four. Their defense was very impressive during that unbeaten run as they conceded just five goals while scoring 16.
The most impressive of their six victories came against Switzerland, who finished one place lower in second. They defeated the Swiss with a measly score of 1-0 to take first place in the last match of the group.
If they show the defensive resilience and will to win in the tournament proper, Romania could go further than most expect.
Romania finished top of their qualifying group, not losing a single match along the way
Fixtures
Romania head to Germany knowing their first two games of the tournament will likely decide their fate at the 2024 European Championship.
They open their campaign against Ukraine, who are 24 places above them in the FIFA world rankings, before a battle with Belgium awaits them on matchday two.
If they manage to avoid losing both matches, Romania will certainly fancy their chances of qualification going into their final match against Slovakia.
June 17 – Romania vs Ukraine, (Munich, 2pm BST)
June 22 – Belgium vs Romania (Cologne, 8pm BST)
June 26 – Slovakia vs Romania (Frankfurt, 5pm BST)
*All times are British Standard Time*
Tournament history
Romania’s participation in Euro 2024 will be the sixth at the tournament, and the fourth this century.
Their first appearance in the competition took place in 1984, but they failed to progress from the group stage and finished on a low note. In 1996 they arrived with their golden generation expecting much more, but they got even worse and again finished bottom of their group, but this time with seropoints.
Things could only go from there when they qualified four years later, and they did. I’m sure English fans will remember how Romania qualified for the knockout stages for the very first time.
They beat the Three Lions in Group A, coming from behind in the final match to beat Kevin Keegan’s side 3-2 via a last-minute penalty. However, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual finalists, Italy.
2000 proved to be the only time they would make it past the group stage, as they fell at the first hurdle in both 2008 and their most recent outing in 2016.
1984 – Group stage
1996 – Group stage
2000 – Quarter-finals
2008 – Group stage
2016 – Group stage
Romania dumped England in the Euro 2000 group stages by scoring a last-minute penalty to beat the Three Lions 3–2
Their best result at the tournament came in 2000 when they reached the quarter-finals
Chance to win the trophy
The bookmakers are certainly not sold by Romania; they have been rated by them as the fifth least likely side to come out on top in the tournament.
Sky bet has them at 200/1 to win the tournament. The odds are correct at the time of publication.
Team
Goalkeepers: Florin Nita, Horatiu Moldova, Stefan Tarnovanu, Razvan Sava
Defenders: Nicusor Bancu, Andrei Burca, Ionut Nedelcearu, Adrian Rus, Andrei Ratiu, Radu Dragusin, Vasile Mogos, Bogdan Rakovitan
Midfielders: Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin, Alexandru Cicaldau, Ianis Hagi, Dennis Man, Valentin Mihaila, Marius Marin, Darius Olaru, Deian Sorescu, Florinel Coman, Adrian Sut, Constantin Grameni
Forward: George Puscas, Denis Alibec, Denis Dragus, Daniel Birligea