The players are now taking the field! Leading the parade of footballers is the German referee Daniel Siebert accompanied by his team of assistants. Very soon he will get the ball rolling in the Frankfurt fiefdom! Hymn turn!
03. Slovakia seeks to reach the round of 16 of a major tournament for the third time, along with the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2016. It has not won its third group stage match since 2010, when it beat Italy 3-2; They drew 0-0 with England in 2016 and lost 5-0 to Spain at Euro 2020.
02. Romania seeks to overcome the group stage of the Euro Cup for the second time, in its sixth participation in the competition, after doing so in 2000 with Emerich Jenei, when it won its match on the third day of the group stage by 3-2 against England to qualify.
01. Slovakia suffered a 2-1 defeat against Ukraine in the last round, their fourth in their last 19 games in all competitions; He has not lost consecutive games since September 2022.
Now let’s get to some details about the meeting!
The person in charge of refereeing this match at the Frankfurt Arena will be Daniel Siebert (Germany). Assistants: Jan Seidel (Germany) and Rafael Foltyn (Germany). Fourth referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany). He will be supported in the VAR Room by referee Bastian Dankert (Germany), AVAR for Christian Dingert (Germany) and Massimiliano Irrati (Italy).
Romania bench: Denis Alibec, Daniel Birligea, Alexandru Cicaldau, Dennis Man, Valentin Mihaila, Vasile Mogos, Horatiu Moldovan, Ionut Nedelcearu, Darius Olaru, George Puscas, Bogdan Racovitan, Adrian Rus, Deian Sorescu, Adrian Sut and Stefan Tarnovanu.
The Romanian coach makes two modifications for this clash, changing both wings of the attack. On the left side, Valentin Mihaila leaves his place for Florinel Coman, who this season has shone at FCSB, while on the right side it is Dennis Man who loses his place in favor of Ianis Hagi, on loan this season at Deportivo Alavés in the which was not regular.
These are those chosen by Edward Iordanescu to emulate the success of Euro 2000, where the Romanian team surpassed for the first, and only time, the group stage of a Euro Cup (4-1-4-1): Florin Nita – Nicusor Bancu , Radu Dragusin, Andrei Burca, Andrei Ratiu – Marius Marin – Florinel Coman, Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin, Ianis Hagi – Denis Dragus.
Slovakia bench: Laszlo Benes, Matus Bero, Robert Bozenik, Vernon De Marco, David Duris, Norbert Gyomber, Patrik Hrosovsky, Sebastian Kosa, Adam Obert, Henrich Ravas, Tomas Rigo, Marek Rodak, Leo Sauer, Tomas Suslov and Lubomir Tupta.
Only one change in the Slovak team led by Francesco Calzona who opts to provide the replacement at the top of the attack, leaving out Robert Bozenik who has not managed to have a presence in front of goal, giving on this occasion the opportunity to David Strelec (Slovan Bratislava), who this season with his club has scored a total of 15 goals and given 12 assists in all competitions.
This is the eleven with which Slovakia will seek to seal its presence in the round of 16 (4-3-3): Martin Dúbravka – Dávid Hancko, Milan Skriniar, Denis Vavro, Peter Pekarík – Ondrej Duda, Stanislav Lobotka, Juraj Kucka – Lukás Haraslín, David Strelec, Ivan Schranz
We now have the lineups for both teams!
Furthermore, not only the possibility of passing the group stage must be assessed, but also the rival they will face in the next round, since, if they advance as second classified, they will have to face France in the already called ” side of death”, where a large part of the most powerful teams are located, while if they advance in first place, they will have to wait for results to face, on a friendlier side by names in the table, who is the third classified who will have to deal with.
For its part, Romania starts with the best situation of the four classified in group E, sitting in first place thanks to its DG of +1 and its three goals scored. However, they should not confuse their situation and overdo it with overconfidence, since although they were able to overcome Ukraine forcefully on the first day (3-0), they could not beat a Belgium that, above all, was more forceful on the opposing goal.
Francesco Calzona’s team completed a remarkable first half against the Ukrainians, which led them to go into the break ahead and, in turn, to take six points temporarily to their account, which ensured their presence in the round of 32. But goals from Shaparenko and Yaremchuk would dash their previous hope, now requiring a final effort, calling for the intervention of their attacking men again, where the performances of Lukas Haraslin and Ivan Schranz stood out.
If something is clear in this match, it is that both teams have a lot to lose in this match, and the Slovak team already knows what it is to be filled with that feeling of having it within their reach and then, in just 45 minutes, that feeling to dissipate, or at least that’s how it must have felt after what happened in their duel against Ukraine.
Good luck to all of you! Welcome to this match on the third day of the group stage of Euro 2024 in Germany! The cataloged ‘biscotto’ match, as the duel between Slovakia and Romania is called in its prelude, two teams that, against the prediction of more than one parabolic of the ball, have before them the opportunity to sign a ceasefire that leads both to overcome the group stage, sealing a tie that would give Romania the ticket as first or second classified -depending on the result between Belgium and Ukraine-, while Slovakia would do so as one of the best third places in the tournament.