Ukraine’s football team, the Zbirna, was dealt a blow in its opening game at the 2024 European Championships after a shocking 3-0 loss against Romania. The Ukrainians will now have it all to do as they prepare for their match against Slovakia this upcoming Friday.
Ahead of the tournament, Ukraine were some pundit’s dark horses in this year’s competition. With the talent and experience in the side, many thought that they would do well. Several of their players currently ply their trade in European football’s top leagues, with progress from the group stages seen as the minimum target for the Ukrainians.
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The Zbirna, however, have a much harder task ahead of them given this surprising loss. Statistically, the Ukrainians dominated in time of possession, passes completed, and total shots on goal. They were also ahead in the number of corners awarded and number of duels won during the match. Unfortunately they failed to register the one statistic that matters most.
Generally, Ukraine controlled the ball well. During the opening stages of the game, they plowed forward, threatening Romania’s goal on occasion. As the match progressed, however, the Romanians slowly began to come into their stride, eventually being more clinical in front of goal. In the 29th minute, Romania found themselves ahead.
A miscommunication saw Ukrainian defender Mykola Matviyenko pass the ball to goalkeeper Andriy Lunin under pressure. The keeper then made a poor clearance which fell to Romania’s midfielder Dennis Man who collected the ball and passed to captain Nicolae Stanciu, who fired into the top corner from the edge of Ukraine’s box. The Ukrainians tried unsuccessfully to muster something at the end of the first half but went in one down.
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When the second half returned, it was more of the same. Ukraine failing to turn their domination of possession into goals while the Romanians scored two more n quick succession. Failure to clear Ukraine’s lines early in the second half saw Romania’s Razvan Martin score blasting the ball through traffic in the 53rd minute. Then, four minutes later, the Romanians delivered the final blow when Dennis Man registered his second assist from a Romanian corner. He collected the ball, beat several defenders in the box, and slotted the ball across goal allowing Denis Draguș to tap the ball home.
By the time the match was 3-0, the Ukrainians finally woke up. Ukrainian manager Serhiy Rebrov made several substitutions, and Ukraine came closest to scoring a consolation goal in the 77th minute through Volodymyr Brazhko shooting from distance, registering Ukraine’s only shot on target. But ultimately, the Ukrainians were unable to deliver on Matchday 1 and the game ended with a Romanian 3-0 victory.
Now, Ukraine will need to win their match against Slovakia should they have any hope of advancing out of the group. Anything other than a victory would likely see the Ukrainians eliminated from the competition ahead of the final match against Belgium.
All hope is not yet lost. Ukraine still has two matches to play, and anything can happen in football. But there are concerns following Monday’s performance. Rebrov must work with his team quickly to resolve these issues and eliminate any doubts in the minds of his players. Unless they do, the squad of EURO 2024 will bring back reminders of of the disappointing team performance in EURO 2016.
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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