Euro 2024: Belgium Triumphs Over Romania with a 2-0 Victory
Euro 2024 Showdown: With just 73 seconds remaining in the game, Youri Tielemans gave Belgium an important 2-0 victory over Romania, reigniting their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2024.
The midfielder for Aston Villa gave Domenico Tedesco’s team the much-needed early boost they needed to stave off elimination following a previous Group E setback.
With his goal against Romania on Saturday, Youri Tielemans of Aston Villa gave Belgium’s Euro 2024 campaign fresh life. The midfielder’s strike came after just 73 seconds. If Domenico Tedesco’s team had lost twice in a row in Group E, they would have been in danger of going out.
But Tielemans’ goal in the second minute of the Cologne match allayed concerns about Belgium, a team full of elite players, losing a big event. All four sides in the group are tied at three points as Kevin De Bruyne sealed the victory in the final minutes.
In the race to make it to the round of16, the stage is set for an exciting final round of matches. On June 26, Romania plays Slovakia and Belgium plays Ukraine. The largest upset in the history of the European Championship occurred on Monday when third-placed Belgium lost 1-0 to Slovakia, with 45 places separating the two teams in FIFA’s rankings.
Romania (47th) pursued their own shock with a lively competition, but Belgium’s better class proved crucial this time. The captain of Belgium, De Bruyne, remarked, “I feel the same way as against Slovakia: we played well, but the difference is that we scored and won today.”
“We made a few mistakes and gave away a few chances, but we can be satisfied with our performance, both offensively and defensively.” After losing in the last two European Championship quarterfinals and exiting the 2022 World Cup in the group stage, Belgium’s golden generation has given itself new optimism that they can eventually live up to their enormous potential.
On Monday, Romania easily defeated Ukraine 3-0, their first triumph in a major competition since defeating England at Euro 2000. Edward Iordanescu’s side still has a chance to advance to the European knockout stage for the first time in twenty-four years despite this defeat.
“We battled so hard and never gave up. After halftime, we performed better. We could have scored a point if we had been more fortunate,” Romanian coach Iordanescu stated.
After Belgium’s goal against Canada at the previous World Cup, they had not scored in more than 300 minutes at significant competitions. They needed less than two minutes to end the drought.
Romelu Lukaku’s pass to Jeremy Doku near the Romanian penalty area set up a sweeping move that culminated when Tielemans hit a strong low shot past Florin Nita from the edge of the box.
Moments later, Radu Dragusin, a defender for Tottenham from Romania, came dangerously near to tying the score with a powerful header that Koen Casteels completely missed.
De Bruyne had performed below par against Slovakia following an injury-plagued season with Manchester City in which he fell short of his customary extraordinarily high standards.
This time, the Belgium captain had far more impact. He made a lung-bursting rush that culminated in a pass to Dodi Lukebakio, whose strike was blocked by Nita. After Doku wriggled through the overworked Romanian defence, Nita produced another excellent stop to deny him.
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Shortly after the break, Valentin Mihaila had a fantastic chance to tie the score when he pounced on a misplaced pass from Amadou Onana and raced free, only to rocket high into the seats. With a shot on the turn, De Bruyne curled barely past the far post from 20 yards out and Nita made a great save. He was shifting through the gears menacingly.
Against Slovakia, Lukaku scored twice and had a late equalizer overturned by VAR. In the 63rd minute, the striker converted De Bruyne’s pass but was narrowly offside, and VAR denied him again.
Dennis Man almost made a profit for Romania after breaking away, but he was unable to find the accuracy necessary to defeat Casteels. In the 80th minute, De Bruyne finally got the job done, pouncing on a long punt from Casteels and beating Nita.
“You witnessed a team with exceptional talent, speed, explosiveness, and power. They work as a cohesive one.” Belgium is a contender for the crown, Iordanescu remarked.
Kevin De Bruyne, captain of Belgium:
“Despite giving them a couple chances in the second half, we played well. Above all, though, we deserve to win since we produced a lot. We gave up some opportunities and committed a few errors, but overall I believe we played strong offensive and defensive play.”
“Sometimes you have a lot of opportunities to score but you don’t, and then a long ball comes in and it ends up in the goal. I located a spot and reached out to touch the ball before it sank in.”
“We give him opportunities, and Romelu always finds the net. He reacts when called upon and will score once more in the upcoming game.”
“We need to play as we did against Slovakia and like we did against Ukraine. We are aware of our obligations.”
