Romania dominates Ukraine, whereas Slovakia stunned Belgium

June 18, 2024- Matchday one of Euro 2024 has not come with as many surprises as we thought, until today during Group E fixtures. First, between Romania and Ukraine, everybody saw Ukraine as favorites, whereas in the second match of the day at Frankfurt Arena, experts and people were hoping for an easy win for the Red Devils. The coach of the Slovakian team also expressed his views during the press conference, stating that "we will be satisfied with our performance even if we draw the match." But before Slovakia's hard-fought win, there was one more upset for war-torn Ukraine as they were thrashed by Romania, the team with no big names but whose cohesiveness, determination, and hunger for victory guaranteed them top place in Group E after the first matchday. Although the pressing from the Ukrainians was so high that Romania's ball possession was only 28% compared to Ukraine's 72%, the shot accuracy was higher by Tricolorii, thanks to the goals by Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin, and Denis Dragus. 

Romanian player celebrating their victory

Whereas during the second match of the day, the Red Devils were playing without veteran center-back Jan Vertonghen due to fitness issues. From the start, Belgium showed aggressive intent by holding possession and creating chances. But due to miscoordination in Belgium's backline, Ivan Schranz converted the opportunity very well and delivered the ball into the goal during the seventh minute of the game. Many chances were created by Belgium, but the dull finishing touches took the game away from them. Credit should also be given to Slovakia's defense, which was led by experienced Milan Skriniar, who, with his men, marked the personnel accurately and cleared many chances. Belgium's luck was also not with them, as two goals were disallowed due to offside. At last, Slovakia registered their first ever win against Belgium, and they also ended the fifteen-game undefeated streak of the Red Devils, who lost their last match against Morocco during the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. After that disastrous campaign, Domenico Tedesco took over as coach and transformed it into a winning machine, but now that it seems like fuel is empty or very low in their tank, they had to refuel to reach knockouts. 

Ivan Schranz celebrating his goal against Belgium

Final Results

Romania     Ukraine

3     -     0

Belgium     Slovakia

0     -     1

Report by Sarthak Khode

Contact- sarthakkhode@gmail.com