As it could not be otherwise, Slovakia and Romania tied and thus signed their place in the round of 16. The Slovaks pass as third and the Romanians as first. At least, the expected equalizer was not forged after a shameful chapter. The game lasted 80 minutes, with Slovakia more intense than Romania and enjoying clear scoring opportunities. When that minute arrived, the match did stop. Both teams became afraid and stopped attacking. 14 minutes of non-aggression pact that were the ugliest part of a good match, where it rained heavily at times and where Romania certified its good Euro Cup. 24 years later, the Romanian team reached the second phase of a major national team tournament after reaching the quarterfinals at Euro 2000. They were then eliminated by Italy. Now, they are classified as first in the group to the joy of their fans, the majority in Frankfurt. In the end, the party was for both teams, with players from both teams celebrating the qualification. Slovakia once again passes the group stage, as it did in the 2016 European Championship in France. Of course, it is promoted as third and a very complicated match, against England.
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Martin Dúbravka, Denis Vavro, Peter Pekarík (Norbert Gyömbér, min. 91), Dávid Hancko, Milan Skriniar, Ondrej Duda (Matús Bero, min. 91), Stanislav Lobotka, Juraj Kucka, Ivan Schranz (Dávid Duris, min. 77) , Lukás Haraslín (Tomás Suslov, min. 69) and David Strelec (Róbert Bozeník, min. 69)
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Florin Nita, Andrei Burca, Radu Dragusin, Nicusor Bancu, Andrei Ratiu, Ianis Hagi (Dennis Man, min. 65), Razvan Marin (Adrian Rus, min. 85), Nicolae Stanciu, Marius Marin, Florinel Coman (Deian Sorescu, min . 57) and Denis Dragus (George Puscas, min. 66)
Goals
1-0 min. 23: Doubt. 1-1 min. 36: Razvan Marin
Referee Daniel Siebert
Andrei Burca (min. 45), Nicusor Bancu (min. 47), George Puscas (min. 87), Duda (min. 90)
A huge magnifying glass followed the evolution of Slovakia and Romania. The reason was simple and justified. The tie qualified both for the round of 16 in the unpredictable Group E. The football world had placed its suspicions on a possible match between Slovaks and Romanians. There are obscene precedents in the history of national team football, such as the Germany-Austria match in the 1982 World Cup in Spain. The Germans and Austrians even agreed to a 1-0 draw that qualified both teams to the detriment of a great Algeria. A shame denounced by the Asturian public itself in the El Molinón stadium. 20 years ago, in 2004, Sweden and Denmark split the points (2-2) to eliminate Italy and both qualified for the second phase.
It did not seem that even Slovakia and Romania agreed to a fix to follow the regrettable path of the Austrians, Germans, Swedes and Danes. Slovakia pushed from the start against a Romania with problems in defense. Their defenders swallowed a ball into the area that Duda converted into 1-0 for the Slovaks. The Verona midfielder’s header was very good. Romania is a much better attacking team. He went one more gear and achieved the tie after a penalty that required the intervention of the VAR. Hagi, the son of the mythical Gica, made the maximum penalty well. His father, however, was a better player.
The second half was marked by the storm that fell on Frankfurt. Slovakia was always a little better and had very clear scoring options to score the second goal. Strelec and Haraslin had the second goal in their boots. It stopped raining and the game was over. Fear set in and the tie was preserved by both teams. The end was not very pretty, but both Slovakia and Romania kept their manners. They didn’t notice much that the tie was worth both of them. Only in 14 final minutes devoid of tension.
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