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Key events
57 minutes: Romania made the first change: Coman instead of Sorescu.
55 minutes: Lobotka continues to pull the strings in the middle of the field Slovakiawho look most likely to win this match.
53 minutes: Hagi is punished for a duel in the air with Hanko, of which Slovakia defender performs worse. Iordanescu, the Romania manager, was shown a yellow card by the referee for protesting the decision.
51 minutes: Haraslin, so quiet in the first half Slovakia, prevailed over Ratiu on his way to the Romanian copyright row. Haraslin checks back inside with his right foot and ignores the options in the middle instead of firing through a crowd of players. Nita is once again her equal. Slovakia is certainly the better side in these early stages.
49 minutes: A miscue allows Hanko to break free on the left for Slovakia, he hooks a rather loose cross into the middle where Romania make a mess of their clearance. The ball ballooned into the area and looked set to bounce just under the crossbar before Nita cleared it off Strelets’ head with a perfectly timed shot that the Romanian keeper celebrated as a goal.
Peeeeeeeep! We are in Frankfurt again.
Reading for half an hour:
Half time: Slovakia 1-1 Romania
We are all fair, but no one can say that neither party has done it.
“Wow, atmosphere, go, great game to watch,” email from Paper Roses.
45 minutes: Three minutes have been added.
44 minutes: Romanian Burka leaves one to Pekaric who was really effective going forward Slovakia on that right flank. Another free kick from deep, but Dragushin got away.
42 minutes: Kutzka fumbles in his pocket in midfield and suddenly Romania break through in numbers. Dragus has options down the right but dribbles towards the edge of Slovakia’s box before firing a shot well wide. I really should have done better, Slovakia were fighting for numbers and Hagi was unmarked to Dragus’ right.
39 minutes: And so it was. All four teams with the same number of points, with both games currently tied. Romania back from above.
GOAL! Slovakia 1-1 Romania (Razvan Marin pen 37)
What an accurate shot! Marin drove the ball into the top left corner and Dubravka helplessly threw himself the other way. I don’t think the Newcastle man would have gone that far even if he had guessed correctly.
Penalty for Romania!
It’s definitely a foul, but there were two contacts by Hanko with Hagi. One was outside the area and one was inside before Hagi crossed… the referee has VAR in his ear and awards the penalty!
34 minutes: Penalty for Romania! Hagi has his first chance to deal with Hanko and the Rangers winger is fouled just on the edge of the Slovakia penalty area! The referee blows… for a free kick, but the decision will go to VAR! Nervous waiting for Slovakia!
33 minutes: Raciu, Romania’s best player so far, tries his luck from distance but the shot is straight at Dubravka. It was a trip though!
31 minutes: Lobotka, Napoli’s dynamo, has been everywhere.
29 minutes: Romania look a little shocked. They can’t seem to get a foot on the ball in midfield. It feels like Stanciu and Coman barely had a shot.
26 minutes: Drinks break for both sides in the sweltering heat. A chance for Romania to regroup. Here’s what this goal does to the Group E table.
GOAL! Slovakia 1-0 Romania (Duda 24)
Duda’s easy but impressive goal! Pekaric curls in a cross from the right-back to Duda, who is completely uncovered between the two Romanian centre-backs. It’s still a difficult chance as the Verona player falls back, but Duda jumps and curls a wonderful header into the far corner from seven yards!
21 minutes: Close to Slovakia! A deep, wide free kick is swung into the box. He misses a host of players in both yellow and blue before Strelets just fails to poke the ball onto the back post! It slides wide.
18 minutes: Not much fluidity on either side. The pitch certainly doesn’t help, with returns to the keeper clearly fueled. Apparently, neither side trained at this ground yesterday, due to UEFA’s wishes.
15 minutes: It has to be said that neither side looks like they are playing for a draw at the moment. Which is a very good thing.
13 minutes: Romania win a free-kick 40 yards from goal and Razvan Marin tries his luck, curling a shot past the Slovakian wall and just wide of Dubravka’s right-hand post. Not a million miles away!
11 minutes: Romania answered! Ratiu, who is on the left wing despite obviously playing right-back, plays a good one-two with Coman and curls his shot – a la Threats – to the top corner. But Dubravka is equal to it, sending it wide. Hagi latches on to the rebound but sends his shot high and wide. If that was the goal, Dubravka would fight!
8 minutes: Slovakia put in a hopeful cross into the box but it proved useful as Schranz lurked at the back post. Remember the goal he scored against Ukraine in the same way? But Banku, Romania’s left-back, stands his ground and manages to tap in a corner from which Slovakia’s Kuchka – a former Watford player – has a free header! Fly by, what a waste!
6 minutes: Lots of hustle, lots of hustle, but still no chances. I’m sorry to say that the pitch looks like it’s being cut up in Frankfurt as it has been there in previous games.
4 minutes: Cracking little approach from Hagi on the towering one Slovakia centre-back Skriniar as the PSG player strolls in midfield. A challenge greatly appreciated by Iordanescu, the Romania manager.
2 minutes: The atmosphere is raucous, with Romanian fans duking it out in the stands. There is a nice synergy between the blue and yellow of the billboards for a certain German supermarket and that of the teams on the field.
Peeeeeep! And we leave for Frankfurt, where the temperature is 30°C. The roof is open, unlike when I was there for England v Denmark last week.
“Whether he’s a cop or notyou have to admire the indestructible ego of someone who is happy to take the same shirt number as your dad when he is perceived as the greatest player the country has ever produced,” emails Graham Neill.
Agreed. I’m not sure Hagi has a confidence problem, although despite his shirt number, he doesn’t really operate as a classic number 10. Today Hagi will play on the right wing, while Stanciu and Razvan Marin will fill the attacking midfield roles.
The two sides come out in Frankfurt! It has to be said that either side can lose this game and move on, but a lot depends on results elsewhere if that happens. A reminder of the table as it is before the start.
Whisper itbut Slovakia’s Ivan Schrantz tops the Golden Boot standings with two goals.
Slovakia remained unchanged for the first two games, but they do one here: striker David Strelets comes on for Robert Bojenik.
Romania make two changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Belgium: Hagi, son of Romania the great Gheorghe was brought in to replace Dennis Mann in a second attack change by coach Eduard Iordanescu. I’m a bit surprised by this: Mann wasn’t at his best in the last game, but he had a great season with Parma, helping them back to Serie A.
Florinel Coman started the first game against Ukraine but was dropped for the clash with Belgium, replaced by the speedy Valentin Mihaila. Coman returns to the XI here at the expense of Mihaila.
Barry Glendenning is in charge the other MBM in this group: Ukraine vs. Belgium. Interestingly, neither Oleksandr Zinchenko nor Mykhailo Mudryk are in the Ukrainian XI.
Stating the bleeding obvious herebut it has to be said that it is a big deal for both nations. Romania have qualified for the last 16 just once in their five Euro appearances, and that was in 2000. Whether they qualify as group winners or slip through as one of the top four third-placed teams, it would represent a huge achievement for Eduard Iordanescu and co.
Barring Slovakia’s record as champions Czechoslovakia in 1976, they have reached the Euros twice as an independent nation, including in 2016 when they reached the knockout stages before being knocked out by semi-finalists Germany 3-0 in the round of 16. count Slovakia’s record as champions Czechoslovakia since 1976, and you probably should, this is their sixth appearance in the finals.
This is a shattering story from England’s camp.
The teams!
Slovakia: Dubravka, Pekarik, Vavro, Skrinyar, Hanko, Kuchka, Lobotka, Duda, Shrantz, Strelets, Haraslin.
subtitles: Obert, Rigo, Gombert, Suslov, Bojenik, Tupta, Benes, Rodak, Hrosowski, De Marco, Duris, Bero, Ravas, Sauer, Kosa.
Romania: Nita, Ratiu, Burka, Dragusin, Banku, Marius Marin, Hagi, Razvan Marin, Stanciu, Coman, Dragus.
subtitles: Rus, Nedelcearu, Alibec, Cikaldau, Puskas, Moldovan, Mihaila, Olaru, Ternovanu, Man, Mogos, Sorescu, Rakovitan, Birligea, Sut.
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
Preamble
There never has been before European championship the group had four teams all on three points after two games. But here we are.
This means several things, but the most relevant to this match is this: no matter what the score is between Belgium and Ukraine, if Slovakia v Romania draw, both will qualify for the knockout stage, with Slovakia finishing with four points, which will surely be enough for them to finish as one of the four best third-placed teams.
This could be problematic and there will no doubt be dissenting voices if the two teams play out a boring goalless draw to guarantee passage to the last 16, but both head coaches of Slovakia and Romania they were falling over themselves that they would try to win the game.
Slovakia head coach Francesco Calzona: “We are professionals. We know that a draw could help us qualify for the last 16, but that doesn’t mean anything because we want to play our game. We deserve this opportunity to progress as we played good football.”
Romania head coach Eduard Iordanescu: “We want to win the group. If we win the group, at least in theory you have some advantage, especially in terms of the extra days off and also the opponents. But the most important thing is to qualify, that’s our goal.”
Hmmmm. Let’s hope for a game of belts.
Kickoff: 17:00 BST/18:00 in Germany.
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