Having recently completed their two-week training camp, the Ukrainian team now eagerly awaits the Romanians on Monday. This match will be Ukraine’s first of three during the group stages of the 2024 European Championships.
The Ukrainian squad will feel ready for this match. During their preparations, they played Germany, Poland, and Moldova in a series of preparatory matches, fielding a strong line up against the Germans. This saw them earn an impressive draw.
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Ukraine then experimented with a reserve side against Poland, which resulted in a loss. A final preparation match ahead of the EUROs saw a strong lineup, similar to what was featured against Germany. The Ukrainians dismantled the Moldovans in this third game. The results against the Germans and Moldovans should inspire confidence in this Ukrainian side as they participate in this summer’s competition.
Manager Serhiy Rebrov will likely field a youthful but experienced side in the opening match. He will know this is no time for experiments and will hope to begin this tournament with a victory.
Ukraine’s team will look to use their pace and quick counterattacking ability as they face Romania on Monday. Anything other than a win in this fixture would be seen as a disappointment.
Meanwhile, Romania had a more challenging preparation period ahead of the EUROs. During their two-week training camp, the Romanians faced Bulgaria and Liechtenstein. Both matches resulted in goalless draws. While this will be encouraging for Romania’s defense, as they did not concede in either game, the national team manager Edward Iordănescu will hope that he can get more out of his side.
This will be Romania’s sixth appearance at the European Championships. Their best performance in the last five was at EURO 2000, where they finished in the competition’s quarterfinals. During their other four appearances, the Romanians failed to advance out of the group stage. They will hope that this will not be the case during their sixth appearance at the competition.
Romania will use their defensive abilities to try to hold their opponents at bay. They overcame the likes of Switzerland and Israel to win in their qualification group, meaning they will be a force to be reckoned with during the group stages.
Team news
- This will be Serhiy Rebrov’s first major competition as manager of the Ukrainian national team.
- Vitaliy Mykolenko went off injured during the friendly match against Moldova. It is unlikely he will start in the match against Romania.
- More than half of Ukraine’s current squad also competed at EURO 2020, meaning they will be well-experienced and prepared for this competition.
- This is Edward Iordănescu’s second major competition with Romania, the first being the UEFA Nations League, where Romania participated in League B. albeit relegated to League C.
- Romania has a fit squad ahead of EURO 2024.
- It did not participate in EURO 2020, meaning this summer’s competition will be new for many of Romania’s players.
Ukraine’s Predicted Starting XI Against Romania:
- Lunin
- Konoplya
- Zabarnyi
- Matviyenko
- Zinchenko
- Stepanenko
- Tsygankov
- Sudakov
- Shaparenko
- Mudryk
- Yaremchuk
Romania’s Predicted Starting XI Against Ukraine:
- Niță
- Rațiu
- Drăgușin
- Racovițan
- Bancu
- Man
- Stanciu
- M. Marin
- R. Marin
- Mihăilă
- Drăguș
Mark Temnycky is an accredited freelance journalist covering Eurasian affairs and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. He can be found on X @MTemnycky
The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.
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