The Briefing: Slovakia 1 Romania 1 - Heavy rain and genuine excitement as both sides progress to last 16 (2024)

Romania and Slovakia came into their final Euro 2024 group game today knowing that a draw would take them both through to the last 16… but the match did not begin sedately.

There were 11 shots in the opening 25 minutes and the last of them resulted in a Slovakia goal — via a powerful header from Ondrej Duda. By half-time, Romania were level, thanks to an equally emphatic penalty from Razvan Marin.

The two sides continued to trade blows into the second half, in a match further enlivened by lightning, heavy rain and one of the themes of the summer: a questionable pitch. Despite several close shaves, there was no more scoring, meaning we got the draw many expected, but in a significantly more exciting fashion than most imagined.

Carl Anka, Matt Slater and Jay Harris break down the key moments in Frankfurt…

A group decider played in the right spirit

Before a ball was kicked, Romania and Slovakia knew they could qualify from Group E if they avoided defeat here.

The expectation (but not guarantee) that Belgium would get a positive result against Ukraine in the group’s other match going on at the same time raised fears the Frankfurt crowd might see a repeat of The Disgrace Of Gijon — where West Germany and Austria pretended to play football for 90 minutes to both get out of their group at the 1982 World Cup.

But rest assured, Slovakia and Romania wanted to win this game from the off.

Francesco Calzona’s past with Napoli has seen his Slovakia side play with a certain Serie A flavour at this tournament. Powered by Stanislav Lobotka, they can play neat passing triangles but also hunt for the ball in packs after they lose it. They are also one of the tournament’s most intelligent teams when it comes to set pieces, using plenty of decoy runs and mixed signals to throw the opposition off the scent.

In the other corner, Edward Iordanescu is a manager who appreciates the value of width in football. Romania’s full-backs Nicusor Bancu and Andrei Ratiu push high and wide during their attacking phases. The addition of Ianis ‘Son of Gheorghe’ Hagi to the starting line-up gave them another tricky one-v-one winger.

The opening 13 minutes delivered seven attempts on goal. There was no attempt to ’game theory’ their way out of this group finale, but instead some good old-fashioned footballing fun. The opening goal, scored by Duda, came from a lovely deep cross from experienced (today made for his 130th Slovakian cap) right-back Peter Pekarik.

Romania responded through a Hagi dribbling move that wrong-footed defender David Hancko into giving away a penalty. The screens in the Waldstadion said Marin’s hammered spot-kick reached a speed of 157kph (98mph).

With temperatures pushing north of 30C (86F), both sides could have been content for a score draw after that, passing it nicely around the back, but they went for it instead. It was a little error-strewn, but extremely entertaining.

So what brought it all together? A desire to avoid France in the round of 16 and enter the “weaker” side of the bracket? The old Corinthian spirit?

Slovakia and Romania put on an attacking feast. Purely for the love of the game.

Carl Anka

Another brilliant atmosphere at Euro 2024

To quote the great British football thinker, actor and comedian Russ Abbot in his 1984 UK top 10 hit, “Oh, what an atmosphere / I love a party with a happy atmosphere”.

And the “atmos” inside the Waldstadion for Slovakia versus Romania was quite literally electric for 15 minutes in the second half while an almighty storm broke above our heads, adding several more decibels to a volume that was already set at 11 — as in “one louder”.

This game started loud, with both sets of fans belting out their national anthems, got louder when it became a chance-fest, spiked a few times after the goals and was punctuated by fireworks from both the Romanian fans and the heavens above. And that is before we even consider the Romanian journalists sitting next to me. I will be looking out for their articles later, as they kicked every ball, headed every clearance and also refereed the game.

The demographic split of the crowd was about 80 per cent very loud Romanian yellow to 20 per cent noisy Slovakian red, white and blue. The Slovaks brought a big drum. The Romanians brought pyro. My ears were ringing, my head was spinning, but I didn’t want this game to stop.

Fellas, it’s been a blast.

Matt Slater

Hagi: Remember the name

Hagi had a point to prove on his first start at a major tournament — and within a few minutes, you could tell he was in the mood to show off.

The 25-year-old, whose father Gheorghe played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona and starred for Romania at the 1994 World Cup, has struggled with injuries over the past couple of seasons, and there was no chance he would waste this opportunity.

His first involvement came when he received the ball on the right wing and shimmied away from his marker. Then he showed the other side of his game by winning a tackle right on the edge of Slovakia’s box which nearly led to a shot. Also in the first half, he flicked the ball over an opponent’s head on multiple occasions before firing a left-footed pass across the pitch; not many players can boast such a slick party trick.

Hagi, who spent last season on loan at Spain’s Alaves from Rangers in Scotland, was Romania’s most threatening player and produced a crucial piece of skill just before half-time. He took control of the ball near the corner flag, dribbled towards the box and feinted right before gliding onto his left foot. Hancko was left in a tangle and brought him down.

Referee Daniel Siebert initially awarded a free kick but it was upgraded to a penalty following a VAR check. Romania were losing 1-0 at the time, a scoreline that would have eliminated them from the tournament.

Marin converted the penalty and took all the glory but it was Hagi’s class which dragged them into the round of 16.

Jay Harris

Which of these sides will fare best in the knockout stage?

Slovakia and Romania knew before kick-off a draw would send them both through but that did not prevent them from going all out for three points. In their end-to-end battle — on a Frankfurt pitch which resembled a mudbath by the final whistle — there was enough on display to suggest they could go deeper in this competition than the last-16.

Hagi’s inclusion on the right wing gave Romania an extra dimension in attack and a bit of unpredictability. He was named on the bench for the first two games of the tournament but has surely secured his spot in the starting XI for their next game.

Slovakia are a force from set pieces, with clever signals indicating which routine they are using each time, and possess two top-quality players in centre-back Milan Skriniar (Paris Saint-Germain) and defensive midfielder Lobotka (Napoli).

The one issue which could hold Romania back is they were guilty of defending erratically at times.

The best example of this was evidenced in Slovakia’s goal, when Duda was allowed to stride into the penalty area unmarked. There was also a moment in the second half when Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Radu Dragusin sliced a clearance which looped up into the air over the six-yard box forcing goalkeeper Florin Nita to scramble to punch the ball away.

That was not the only occasion when Nita had to cover for his defenders, and the concern for head coach Iordanescu will be that teams with more quality will ruthlessly punish such errors.

Slovakia went out at the group stage of the last Euros, having been thrashed 5-0 by Spain, while Romania did not even qualify. So reaching the last 16 is a huge achievement for both, and should be celebrated.

Jay Harris

What did the managers say?

Romania’s Edward Iordanescu was keen to defend his team — and Slovakia’s — honour after the game.

“Some people should apologise to us about what was said before the game. Both teams gave everything for 80 minutes to try to win the game. But people spoke before the game and threw mud at us, they questioned our dignity, it was shameful and it was not nice. They should have waited until after the game to comment but they threw garbage at us. Both teams. We showed he had character and if we were going to lose we would have gone home with our dignity intact.

“Today, I am very proud that I am a Romanian — I think all Romanians around the world will be. I don’t know what we can do in the future but I’m very grateful to reach the next stage. Almost the whole stadium was yellow, the fans were so close to us, they were at the hotel, they have been with us when we’ve made trips, at training. It’s been incredible and I hope we can keep it going.”

Recommended reading

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• How Qatar bought a slice of Euro 2024 — and what’s next in its sights?
• Johan Cruyff and the incredible wallpaper drawings that explain modern football

(Top photo: Getty Images)