Romania swept aside Ukraine 3-0 in the opening game of Group E at Euro 2024 with captain Nicolae Stanciu scoring a goal of the tournament contender in Munich.
Edward Iordanescu’s side came into this competition with a reputation for lacking goals – with just 16 scored in 10 qualifying games – but they managed three on a memorable afternoon in Bavaria.
Stanciu opened the scoring in stunning fashion as he capitalised on the first of two mistakes from Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin to curl a delicious finish from 25 yards in off the underside of the bar (29).
Lunin had looked to play out from the back – and the Ukraine No 1 was again culpable for Romania’s second when he allowed Razvan Marin’s speculative shot to veer underneath his body (53) not long after the interval.
Four minutes later, Romania killed off the contest with a third as Dennis Man crossed for Denis Dragus to convert from close range, played just onside by the outstretched boot of Artem Dovbyk.
It meant Romania scored three goals in a European Championship game for the first time since June 2000 in their infamous 3-2 victory over England – their only previous win at a Euros finals.
Romania top Group E ahead of Belgium’s encounter with Slovakia in Frankfurt later on Monday.
Denis Dragus challenges for the ball with Illya Zabarnyi
Emotions carry Romania to party like it’s 2000
There were tears of joy for Romania at the final whistle, overcome by the emotion and realisation of just what had been achieved – a first European Championship victory in 24 years.
Their 29 per cent possession against Ukraine was the lowest share for a winning team on record (since 1980) in this competition.
Florinel Coman tangles with Yukhym Konoplia
This was achieved in some style with stunning long-range strikes in each half, one from captain Stanciu and the other from midfielder Razvan Marin.
Their tight-knit defence denied Ukraine any real sniff at goal, helping secure their country’s second win across 17 matches at European Championships. Florin Nita made a fine late save from Georgiy Sudakov to preserve his clean sheet.
For Iordanescu, whose father Anghel had three spells in charge of Romania and took them to the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals, the victory was a welcome gift for his birthday a day earlier and showed his side’s unbeaten qualifying campaign may be no fluke. Belief and momentum is gathering.
Rebrov: It is not the last game, we will recover
Ukraine extended their record of most games played at the UEFA European Championship without keeping a single clean sheet (12). They’ve also failed to score in 67% of their games at the EUROs (8/12), the highest rate of any nation to take part in mor
Ukraine boss Serhiy Rebrov told BBC One: “Unfortunately we lost today, We will analyse the game and talk about what happened but this is not the last game and we will analyse it. We lost in some components of the game and that is why we lost today.
“I think all the players know the pressure. We understood this and we started the game well. We had some mistakes and we will analyse this. We are top-level players and we have to show our maximum.
“We have three games and we have to recover and prepare for the next game which is even more serious than today.”
Iordanescu: This generation is limitless
Romania earned just their second win at the UEFA European Championship (D5 L10), while this was their biggest ever victory at a major international tournament (World Cup/EURO)
Romania boss Edward Iordanescu: “I’d like to thank every Romanian everywhere in the world. I know that they were with us today. It was a fantastic effort by my team. If you had any doubts, I think you can believe me now that this is a great team. Congratulations to the lads. It’s just incredible.
“Since I joined the national team, I’ve had difficult moments. It’s not always been easy. We’ve had other big performances. We’ve had golden generations with big performances, but this generation represents the soul. This team has put the biggest effort into everything. As big a heart as this team, nobody has ever had. This generation is limitless.”
“These are emotions that are very difficult to put into words. My family have lived every moment with us. I had to send four cars to pick them up, so I have to thank them for coming with us. My family mean everything to me. Even if I wasn’t coach, my family and I would probably all still be here today.”
Star performer – Nicolae Stanciu
Romania captain Nicolae Stanciu said: “I know myself and I know my team-mates, so I know we’re not going to celebrate after this win. We’re only going to concentrate on Belgium now.
“[The support] was unique, we’ve never felt anything like this before. My siblings, my father and my wife all had tears in their eyes. I’d like to thank them all and I hope we’ve made them very happy today. We have to thank everyone and I hope they’ll celebrate. What we did today was just sensational.
“It was the goal of my career. This shirt means everything to me. To score at a EURO finals and to win in the manner that we did, it’s just incredible.”
Stats: Story of the match
Dennis the menace – Opta stats
Eight of the 25 goals scored at EURO 2024 have been from outside the box (including Romania’s first two today). It’s the highest rate of goals from distance in a single edition of the tournament on record (32%, since 1980)
- Ukraine’s 71 per cent possession figure was their highest ever recorded in a match at a major tournament (World Cup/EURO). Despite this, they managed just two shots on target in the whole match.
- Excluding own goals, Romania had three different goalscorers (Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin, Denis Dragus) for the fourth time in a match at a major tournament, also doing so against Peru (1930 World Cup), Cuba (1938 World Cup) and England (EURO 2000).
- Romania’s Nicolae Stanciu became the first player ever to score at the UEFA European Championship while playing for a Saudi Arabian club (Damac).
- Dennis Man assisted two goals today, the first Romanian to provide multiple assists in a major tournament match since Gheorghe Hagi against Colombia in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.