Euro 2024: Virtually qualified

Romania - Ukraine 3 - 0

Belgium - Slovakia 0 - 1

Austria - France 0 - 1

Athletic? Since when is Romania's team athletic?

All my bravado about how little I know about Romania, and especially how little I care goes out the window about 10 seconds after the national anthem starts playing. There's just something about that song that's deeply rooted inside of me and can melt away all of the cynicism I use to hide past sufferings and protect from future ones. So as the game started, I was fully geared up to support Romania having a good game. I didn't really imagine exactly how good it's gonna be and in truth, I think very few people did.

I don't know if it was an accident or if this is about the standard of Romania's team, and it remains to be seen over the next two games, but boy oh boy, was it a good watch or what?

Dominant start from the Ukrainians, clearly the better team on paper, but after Stanciu's super-shot went in the game was played in one direction only. Never ever at a final tournament have I seen a Romania team so dominant, not even in the age of Hagi & Lacatus, the World Cups of 1990 or 1994. It's true, we beat Columbia and Argentina in 1994, both very good and in-form teams, but rugged defense and counter-attacking were the order of the day, and lest we forget, we just about squeezed past Batistuta's Argentina.

But today, today was magnificent! And Romania's biggest-ever win at a finals tournament will stand to testify for it in the future. It remains to be seen what the next two games will look like because in truth, Ukraine really had an off day and our boys are still struggling to create in the last third, so they might not be able to put three past a more organized defense. But let's save these worries for Saturday and acknowledge that this result virtually qualifies us for the next round. 

Excellent, really excellent defensive organization, and more courageous going forward than Romania has been in this millennium. And judging by today's performances, we could finish the group with 9 points. We probably won't, but it's still a nice thought.

***

Belgium, on the other side, favorites to win the group, are in a bit of a pickle. Not only did they lose, they never looked like winning. Belgium has constantly underperformed at national team level, and this year they're not even as good as they were in the 2018 World Cup, probably their peak in the last 30 years.

Yeah, two goals canceled might sound harsh, but they were both pretty clear offside and handball, respectively. 

And the group is now wide open. Sure, Belgium might still get 6 points, and Ukraine might beat Slovakia and fight it out with Belgium for one or three points, but look at the games today. Anything can happen. And it would be nice to see Romania & Slovakia through.

***

I couldn't watch most of France's game and I was curious, as they are dubbed as the favourites. One French director I met today was pretty confident they'd win it. I think it's too early too say.

A rather drab 1-0 nil I thought, even though France clearly controlled the game, and Austria is a better team than I thought they'd be. Plus, some Mbappe drama, which could spell really bad news if all of a sudden he's not available anymore. 

It's a more balanced group than I first thought, but I'll stick with France and Netherlands going through.

And looking forward to seeing the last games of Matchday 1 tomorrow, mostly to see if Portugal will have any claim to anything this year. I like Portugal, despite Ronaldo.