Thousands of Romanian fans saluted their team on Tuesday despite a blistering 3-0 defeat against the Netherlands in the EURO 2024 knockout stage.
Netherlands, the clear favorites, offered their best performance at the championship so far, but eyes were on the underdogs Romania who were not expected to reach the knockout stage let alone put up a fight.
“We leave with our heads held high and a broken heart….It’s the end of a beautiful story,” said Romania coach Edi Iordanescu.
“Everyone I spoke to before the Euro2024 started said ’it’s great we qualified, if we can just pick up a couple of points that would be great’ And actually Romania’s played really well.. and they thoroughly deserve to get through the group,” he said optimistically.
Romania held its own until the Dutch striker Cody Gakpo broke the deadlock in the 20th minute and substitute Donyell Malen scored two late goals to send the Dutch to their first quarterfinal in the tournament since 2008.
Romania had dominated possession until Gakpo’s goal, but never really tested Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
„We congratulate the team for their performance. They entered history and performed really well,” said former soccer star Gheorghe Hagi. Fans cheered the team in defeat in a show of solidarity for a better-than-expected performance.
Hagi’s son, Ianis Hagi, 25, who plays for Scotland’s Rangers wore a hair net during the clash with the Netherlands after he collided with Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries, leaving him bleeding. Medical staff gave him a hair net to stop the flow of blood and allow him to continue playing. After the game, he went to hospital.
His father, the legendary Hagi, who was part of Romania’s golden team of the mid-90s, said: ”We had some chances but the Netherlands are a very good team. They controlled the rhythm and the intensity of the game. We did what we could. It was a learning process. We need to look to the future.”
In Britain, there was also praise for the Romanian side.
“The team have done Romania proud,” said Danny Murphy an ex-Liverpool player and former England international commenting on the match.
Gary Lineker, English sports broadcaster and former professional footballer, poetically said that victory was unrealistic for the Romanians calling it “a bridge too far.”
The BBC called the 25,000 Romanian fans at the game at the Fußball Arena München a credit to the nation.
In Bucharest, about 5,000 turned out to watch the match at an improvised stadium in Revolution Square, where late Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fled from to his execution in December 1989. Many fans were dressed in yellow shirts, waved flags and sang the national anthem, and probably not aware of the history.
A downpour which started during the first half failed to dampen spirits even as Romania failed to score against the Netherlands.
Fans gathered at bars and cafes in the Romanian capital and other cities, leaving normally busy roads deserted. Even after the game, fans celebrated in the balmy evening and were philosophical about the loss.
Ahead of the match,coach Iordănescu and his staff went to church. They were pictured participating at a service at the Romanian Orthodox Church in Würzburg earlier Tuesday. “We are a Christian nation, our nation is close to God,” Iordănescu was quoted as saying.
The Bible doesn’t say much about God intervening in soccer games or any other sporting competition, but perhaps the prayers helped them accept the loss with good grace.
