EURO 2024 Day 4: A Victory, Major Upset, and an Injured star
Romania Finally Wins, Slovakia Shocks Belgium, France Triumphs but Suffers a Major Loss
The fourth day of the European Football Championship is now history. It was a day that brought the most surprising results since the start of the tournament.
Romania, Slovakia, and France were the winners on Tuesday. Only “Les Bleus” entered their match as favorites. Meanwhile, Romania and Slovakia were underdogs against Ukraine and Belgium, respectively, but they defied the odds and won their games.
The Romanians knocked out Ukraine 3-0 with beautiful goals, claiming their first victory in a European Championship final after a 24-year hiatus.
The last time the Romanian national team had won was against England in Euro 2000. In their subsequent appearances in 2008 and 2016, they failed to secure a win. This victory is the greatest in the team’s history at a World or European Championship. The win came with just 29% ball possession, a record low for a team winning a European Championship match.
Before the break, Romania took the lead with a fantastic goal by Nicolae Stanciu, who capitalized on a Ukrainian error in ball distribution and scored with a beautiful shot from the edge of the penalty area. Stanciu also hit the post directly from a corner kick.
Romania started the second half much stronger and quickly increased their lead. Razvan Marin scored with a long-range shot in the 53rd minute, and goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was also at fault for the first goal, failed to intervene adequately. Just four minutes later, Romania scored a third goal. Denis Man assisted Denis Dragus, who scored from close range.
In the following minutes, Ukraine tried to return to the game but failed to overcome Romania’s defense.
Slovakia scored only once against Belgium, but it was enough. The “Falcons” are playing in their third consecutive European Championship, and in their previous two appearances, they finished with one victory each. They have now won again, this time in their opening match. The result can be considered one of the surprises of the first round of the group stage, as the Belgian team was favored to top the group.
The Slovaks played a much better first half, with Ivan Schranz scoring in the seventh minute.
The team made four shots on target but failed to hit the Belgian goal after the break.
In contrast, the favored “Red Devils” had 13 goal-scoring chances, with Romelu Lukaku even scoring twice, but both goals were disallowed, the first for offside and the second for a handball in the attack.
Thus, instead of enjoying a dream start in this group, Belgium must work hard to advance in the tournament. In contrast, Slovakia’s disciplined play earned them the three points, putting them in second place in the standings and just one step away from the knockout stage.
The third match of the day was the most anticipated, as one of the tournament favorites, France, faced the less formidable Austrian team.
Although France achieved the expected victory at the start of the group stage, it was far from easy. The French dominated the game for long periods but faced serious challenges against their opponent. The crucial moment came in the 38th minute when a deflection off Maximilian Wöber sent the ball into his net, resulting in the match’s only goal.
The French team had numerous missed opportunities in front of the Austrian goal, which could have been costly in the second half when Austria created several moments of chaos in the penalty area. However, real goal-scoring opportunities for Austria were few.
The big news for France was the injury to their star player, Kylian Mbappe, who left the field at the end of regular time after colliding with an opponent’s shoulder. Initial reports indicate that the French captain has a broken nose.
Romania – Ukraine 3:0
N. Stanciu (29′), R. Marin (53′), D. Drăguș, (57′)
Belgium – Slovakia 0:1
I.Schranz (7′)
Austria – France 0:1
M.Wober (38′ Own Goal)
Group D Group E
1.Netherlands 3pts 1.Romania 3pts
2.France 3pts 2.Slovakia 3pts
3.Poland 0pts 3.Belgium 0pts
4.Austria 0pts 4.Ukraine 0pts
Upcoming matches in Group D: Upcoming matches in Group E:
-Jun 21: Netherlands – France -Jun 21: Slovakia – Ukraine
-Jun 21: Poland – Austria -Jun 22: Belgium – Romania
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