EURO 2024: Romania, Slovakia reach last 16 after tense draw
Razvan Marin converted a penalty shot just before halftime as Romania and Slovakia reached the Euro 2024 last 16 after a tense draw.
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ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA REACH LAST 16 AFTER MARIN’S SHOT FORCES DRAW
Romania and Slovakia advanced to the last 16 after Marin’s shot in the 37th minute forced a draw by Romania on Wednesday.
Marin drilled the spot kick high into the net for the equalizer to the delight of the Romanian fans at the Frankfurt Arena in Germany.
Furthermore, the intense action gave way to a heavy storm as thunder, lightning, and rain prevailed around the stadium.
Ondrej Duda converted a Juraj Kucka deep cross into a header in the 24th minute.
That shot got past Romania goalkeeper Florin Nita to open the scoring for Slovakia the early lead before Marin’s equalizer.
PUNDITS ‘SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO US’ AFTER RESULT, SAYS ROMANIA COACH
Furthermore, Romania coach Edward Iordanescu called on pundits who predicted a different outcome “should apologize to us” after the outcome.
“There is some people that should apologize to us. They should have waited to see and then judge us. So this was shameful,” Iordanescu said.
“They throw garbage to us, not just the team but to our fans. We showed we have character,” he added.
Moreover, Romania finished atop Group E to earn a round-of-16 clash against the Netherlands.
Romania led the group on the tiebreaker due to more goals scored than Belgium.
Interestingly, both teams had a better goal difference compared to third-placer Slovakia.
SLOVAKIA COACH HAILS ‘GREAT PERFORMANCE’ AFTER REACHING NEXT ROUND
Moreover, Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona hailed his team’s “great performance” after they reached the next round.
“It was a great performance. It means a lot,” Calzona said.
“We were 55th in the FIFA rankings when I started, so to get here makes me very proud,” he added.
Slovakia advanced to the last 16 for the third time in the club’s history.
England now awaits Slovakia in the last 16 when the two teams collide in Gelsenkirchen.
Slovakia star Stanislav Lobotka cited the weather as a challenge as he experienced this for the first time in his career.
“Heat and the very hard ground at the beginning and within 45 minutes the weather changed completely, with pools of water at some parts of the pitch,” the Napoli midfielder said.
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